Rocky Patel Plans New 60,000 Cigar Per Day Factory in Nicaragua

Rocky Patel is building his second cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Today, the company will announce plans for the new Rocky Patel Premium Cigars S.A. factory, which could open as soon as the second half of 2026. The new factory complex sits on eight manzanas, roughly 14 acres, of land in Estelí, Nicaragua. It will have eight buildings and capable of making up to 60,000 cigars per day. In addition to cigar rolling, it will handle tobacco processing including areas for pilones to ferment, sorting, stripping and tobacco storage.

Other buildings will include offices, a cafeteria, medical facilities and something that is being described as “cigar entertainment,” a man cave-style lounge.

Patel plans on this being an all-in-one facility, which makes sense as it’s adjacent to the company’s Finca Villa Cuba farm. The new complex is located on Miraflor, down the road from AJ Fernandez’s main factory and the Oliva Tobacco Co.’s Estelí-based facility.

In 2008, Rocky Patel opened up Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A. (TAVICUSA) in Estelí. Patel told halfwheel that this factory’s rolling room will be 15 times larger than TAVICUSA. In addition to its own factory in Nicaragua, Patel contracts the company’s manufacturing to the Plasencia family, Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Drew Estate. Once this new factory is open, Patel said the company will shut down the TAVICUSA factory.

Patrick Lagreid contributed to this story.