Built on Belief
From a backyard in Estelí to one of the most acclaimed boutique cigar companies in the world.
The Beginning
In 2011, Michael Rosales of Costa Rican Imports and Skip Martin of Galveston Bay Tobacco came together to build RoMa Craft Tobac. The operation started with CroMagnon and just six people working in the backyard of a home in Estelí that you would never find without the address. To reach the “factory,” visitors walked through a living room and kitchen before entering the backyard where two rolling pairs worked.
Ro and Ma. RoMa Craft. Their first blend gained notoriety immediately and helped establish a strong foothold by delivering tremendous value and uncompromising quality.
The Three T’s
The company’s philosophy crystallized around three non-negotiable principles: Tobacco, Talent, and Time. Rather than chase rapid growth, Rosales and Martin let consumer demand drive the business. They committed to producing fewer than 1.2 million cigars annually and handpicked approximately 300 retail partners who shared their values: quality over quantity, every time.
New blends followed: Intemperance EC XVIII and BA XXI, steeped in the history of America’s Temperance Movement and Prohibition era. Aquitaine, a bold CroMagnon extension and finally Neanderthal, the strongest, most uncompromising expression of their blending philosophy to date.
In Barrio Óscar Benavides, a purpose-built facility designed to produce some of the best cigars in the world was inaugurated in 2014. Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion; WR 1794 was launched the same year.
RoMa Craft Tobac and Nica Sueño Today
Production in the new factory reached 1.2 million cigars annually in 2016. Innovative new brands were brought to market exploring more rare and interesting tobaccos from Africa and Brazil: Baka and Wunder|Lust. Intemperance was expanded to include Volstead – VO 1920. The operation expanded, post Covid, to include dedicated pre-industry processing and tobacco bodegas to house expanding tobacco inventories.
Today, Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño continues to employ 12 rolling pairs making the same limited number of cigars, but has expanded to almost 70 ‘people around us helping’ in Nicaragua. To celebrate this milestone we launched Maestranza, a US exclusive, in 2024 and are set to bring the final CroMagnon blend, Visigoth, to market in 2026.
