Jessi Flores Joins Mombacho Cigars S.A. as Creative Director

Mombacho Cigars S.A. has announced that it has hired Jessi Flores as its new creative director, a role that will have him responsible for brand development and design. The company made the announcement via a YouTube video, with Flores making the announcement himself, who also said he would have some involvement with the blending of cigars as well as consumer relations.

Flores is best known for his work with Drew Estate, having spent 20 years with the company and being the main person behind some of the most colorful pieces of cigar art created as part of his role as the director of Subculture Studios. Flores was a street artist in Estelí whose work was discovered by Jonathan Drew. He joined the company as a driver and rose to become the leader of the in-house art program now known as Subculture Studios, which has produced custom Drew Estate-branded items as display pieces for retailers, including shoes, cigar molds, cigar cases, hats and ashtrays, and has been responsible for the silk-screening of some of the company’s boxes. In addition, guests to Drew Estate’s factory tour program, Cigar Safari, would often bring items—both large and small—to have custom decorated by one of the dozens of artists at Subculture. That also extended into getting tattoos, another medium for Flores. He left Drew Estate in February 2019.

It is the latest development for the company, which is based in Granada, Nicaragua. Earlier this month, the company announced that Indiana Ortez would be its new general manager, while Cameron “Cam” Heaps, a co-founder of Mombacho Cigars S.A., returned to the company in a formalized role as its president. Those changes came as Claudio Sgroi, the company’s former president and master blender, announced that he was stepping away from the company.

Flores said his work with Mombacho will not be like his work of the past, adding that he will be focusing on his Nicaraguan roots and introducing more Nicaraguan culture to his designs.