Cigar Review – Maya Selva Franco-Honduran cigars
It’s women’s month. Believe it or not, the cigar world has incredible women creating magnificent cigars.
One of these strong, energetic women with Franco-Honduran roots lives for her cigars. Who is she? Her name is Maya Selva.
Maya Selva talks about gaining Cigar knowledge:
“It’s a knowledge that you can’t gain in books but can only get by experiencing the tobacco.” “You learn the theory in books but then discover that the theory is a bunch of B.S. I learned to follow their techniques. The work that produces the consistent results you want is dynamic and is never consistent in its own right.”
Maya Selva, a global cigar Brand
Maya Selva Cigars. A global player in the cigar world.
It all began with a young woman loving her country of origin.
100 Percent Honduran made
Maya Selva. Daughter of a French mother and a Honduran father. Born and raised in Honduras and then moved to Paris at 16. Maya had a dream. A dream to create a product in Honduras that can sell worldwide.
Maya Selva studied engineering while acquiring a bit of cigar knowledge. She found the Honduran exported cigars of the Nineties mild and disappointing.
In 1994, Maya met Nestor Plasencia. The meeting with the exiled Cuban and tobacco expert led to a decision. They started working together on quality and production standards. To this day, Plasencia still produces the Flor de Selva cigars for the brand.
In 1995 the first box of Flor de Selva launched in France. It gave Europe its first real taste of Honduran cigars. The cigars reflect the terroir of Maya’s homeland. And also, Maya’s elegant yet strong, distinctive and determined personality.
Maya Selva Cigar Milestones
- The first Maya Selva Cigars story in print
- Receiving the first Cigar Trophy
- Accepted by the passionados
- A stand at the InterTabac for the first time.
- Professional partnerships with Nestor Plasencia Senior and Andrés Diaz.
Further significant steps were opening her San Judas Tadeo farm in Danlí in 1998. Together with Andrés Diaz.
Maya lost two close friends and work partners. Losing two important companions within a few weeks was a sad reality of growing up.
Maya Selva brand growth
After only four years, Flor de Selva became a classic in Europe. In 1995, the company launched 50,000 sticks. In 1999, it had already become 600,000.
“Never stop learning. Keep developing year in, year out.”
She launched a second brand.
The second brand transports the terroir of the volcano earth of the Jalapa valley. The Jalapa Valley is in northern Nicaragua. The cigars are more flavorful and spicier than the elegant Flor de Selva.
In 2002, Maya Selva launched the third line on the market. The Villa Zamorano produced in her Honduras factory San Judas Tadeo.
“Alongside the entry into the duty-free business in 1998, the launching of Villa Zamorano was my biggest professional success in the last 20 years.” Maya Selva
Maya Selva Brand Loyalty
All the importers speak of Villa Zamorano as a top seller. The Longfiller tastes more rustic than a Flor de Selva, with an unbeatable price-performance ratio.
Maya’s supporters and cigar dealers are loyal. Today, Flor de Selva is our number one selling brand.
Maya Selva Cigars currently employs more than 200 people. But what is very important to her is that her employees, importers and dealers remain loyal.
Selva Cigar Production
She divides her time between the farm and manufacturing in Danlí. Production control in Nicaragua, the head office in the heart of Paris, and the new office in the USA.
But for more than half the year, she’s on the tobacco fields or at the respective production plants. Only this way can she live her passion for perfection and guarantee the best results.
New Maya Selva Cigar Markets
In 2013, the company debuted in the USA with a stand at the IPCPR trade fair and opened a location in Hollywood, Florida.
Maya Selva is well-versed in the respective markets. The company is successful with Flor de Selva in the States.
“Americans have a different relationship to tobacco,” she explains. “Shaping their taste were the traditional Virginia and Kentucky tobaccos. I’d even go so far to say that the cigar has a different meaning to them than for us in Europe. In America it has a less exclusive touch.”
Maya Selva cigars are performing well in China, with huge growth in sales expected.
Maya admits that it has been difficult for her to assert herself in the industry as a woman. But her cigars are favourites in the humidors of cigar-lovers all over the globe.
From a young engineer’s dream to manufacture a 100 per cent Honduran-made product came the birth of a cigar brand.
Today Maya Selva cigars are global.
Maya Selva Flor de Selva Cigar Review
Flor de Selva Robusto – 20 Anniversary
Flor de Selva’s Appearance
The Habano wrapper of the Flor de Selva Colección Aniversario Nº20 Robusto has a medium brown color with some colorado red.
Flor de Selva Cold Draw and aroma
Vanilla aroma
Earthy moisture
Mild honey spice
Easy light draws cigar.
The light-coloured cigar has light veins.
Once you light the cigar, aromas of vanilla and burned caramel release with every puff.
Smoking the 20th Anniversary Flor de Selva
Flor de Selva blend Profile
The Flor de Selva Colección Aniversario Nº20 is a Honduran puro. The cigar has a Habano wrapper grown in the Jamastran valley. It complements the other two wrapper offerings in the Flor de Selva line.
- The Flor de Selva Connecticut
- The Flor de Selva Maduro.
Wrapper: Habano Jamastran
Binder: Olancho / Azacualpa
Filler: Honduran (Various)
Country of Origin: Honduras
The cigar is smooth. The smoking experience is light, almost fruity, with delicate caramel tastes. The cigar has earthy flavours from start to finish.
Flor de Selva’s strength
The Flor de Selva Colección Aniversario Nº20 Robusto is a medium smoking cigar. The cigar trength and body balance each other perfect.
Flor de Selva Pairing
The cigar pairs with a light tomato, spicy pasta and oaked Chardonnay. The pasta has sardines that add salty and meaty tastes to the palate.
The wine and cigar pairing delivers a blend of caramelized fruit and warm toffee flavours. The salty Putanesca pasta is ideal with the buttery Chardonnay and smooth Honduran tobacco.
It’s a cigar brand that I would encourage a cigar enthusiast to try.
If you want to order and smoke a Maya Selva cigar,
Send Warren an e-mail right now to order a Maya Selva cigar.
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