Highclere Castle Cigar was meticulously crafted by master blender, Nicholas Melillo, inspired by the style and flavour profile of cigars imported by the earlier Earls of Carnarvon to Highclere Castle at the turn of the 19th century.

The result is a hand-rolled cigar from Estelí, Nicaragua, using the best Connecticut Shade wrapper available. The filler includes both Criollo and Corojo from the volcanic soils of Jalapa and the island of Ometepe. For the binder, the ancient Mata Fina, a carefully selected dark tobacco from Brazil, is used to tie the flavours together. Our special blend is finalized with our very own exclusive hybrid seed that we have named Nicadán, whose flavour is reminiscent of tobacco leaf from a bygone era.

The resulting smoke is silky smooth, exceptionally creamy with a lite peppery profile. Close your eyes and you’ll get a nose of fireplace and leather books that brings you right to Highclere Castle’s library. Subtle, sweet notes lend themselves well to hints of citrus and the finish is elegantly clean.

We control each step of the production process starting with carefully selecting the tobacco, monitoring the weather and growths year to year, and managing the rolling process. Even our boxes are handmade from sustainably grown cedar logs grown on Nicaragua’s east coast at our friend Pedro’s family business, also located in Esteli.