Nica Oro Releasing Three Different Belleau Wood Blends Next Month

Indiana Ortez, Jared Ingrisano and Trevor McKnight have launched Nica Oro, LLC, a new Florida-based distribution company, and the trio has announced their first new cigar line.

It’s called Belleau Wood, named after a famous 1918 World War I battle that took place in France.

Ingrisano is the former president of Mombacho Cigars S.A., whose new company Favillii Trading LLC was granted the rights to develop, market and sell the Favilio brands in the U.S. and international markets in December 2022. Ortez is the former general manager at Mombacho Cigars. She is also the daughter of Omar Ortez, a noted Nicaraguan cigar maker in his own right and the owner of the AgroIndustrial Nicaraguense de Tabacos S.A. cigar factory in Condega, Nicaragua where the Belleau Wood cigars are being made.

Belleau Wood is a Cuban sandwich-style cigar that will launch with three different wrapper choices: Ecuadorian Connecticut shade, Ecuadorian habano and Ecuadorian maduro. Cuban sandwich-style cigars are typically made with a mix of both long and short filler tobaccos, while traditional premium cigars are made with 100 percent long filler tobaccos.

Each wrapper choice will include Nicaraguan tobaccos used for the binder and filler and will be available in the same four vitolas packaged in 20-count boxes:

• Belleau Wood Shade/Habano/Maduro Toro (6 x 54) —$4.10 (Box of 20, $82)
• Belleau Wood Shade/Habano/Maduro Robusto (5 x 52) —$3.95 (Box of 20, $79)
• Belleau Wood Shade/Habano/Maduro Presidente (7 1/2 x 50) — $4.15 (Box of 20, $83)
• Belleau Wood Shade/Habano/Maduro Gordo (6 x 60) —$4.25 (Box of 20, $85)

“Our cigars namesake pays homage to the Devil Dogs we remember every day, by presenting an everyday cigar,” said Ortez, who blended the cigars, in a press release. “This project is very exciting for me! Learning about the history and significance of the battle really allowed me to take what is normally a regular cigar for this market segment and focus on a memorable blend using choice tobaccos, something I don’t think is given its due with these types of everyday cigars.”

In an email, a representative for Nica Oro told halfwheel that there be a fourth line of flavored cigars named Belleau Wood Sweet that has not been finalized.

According to the company, all three versions of the Belleau Wood cigars are scheduled to begin shipping to retailers in early May.

Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.