Puro Sabor Festival 2025: Day One

After having departed Miami by air for Managua, the in-cabin flight crew welcomes everyone traveling to Nicaragua and also makes mention of “the big cigar festival this week”. This elicits scattered applause from throughout the plane, indicating that there are handfuls of festival goers who like me, are eager to touch down in Nicaragua for a week of its historic culture and some of the world’s finest cigars. 

9 hours, 2 planes rides, and 2 gate changes later (my journey began in Toronto), I’ve reached Managua, and am greeted at the airport by a small fleet of Puro Sabor staff who usher people into busses after a relatively hassle-free security prior to embarking on a 50 minute drive to the quaint, Colonial city of Grenada for registration at the Hotel Dario. 

Here, festival goers are welcomed with a beautiful limited box of 20 Puro Sabor 2025 Festival cigars, as well as an attractive, useful all-leather cigar satchel equipped with various cigar-related items that will no doubt come in handy throughout the week. As a bonus, everyone also receives a crisp, white Puro Sabor Guayabera – just incase you forgot to pack a shirt for the upcoming white party on Thursday evening. 

After registration, groups are taken to two separate hotels in smaller busses for a short bit of respite (and possibly another cigar) before dinner back at the Hotel Dario, where more cigars are handed out, including a Padron Anniversary 1964 and a new Dunbarton & Trust Red Meat Lovers Meat Stick release that, cigar maker Steve Saka proclaims, is “like the original, only meatier” as he welcomes the crowd on the mic during a diverse buffet-style dinner showcasing Nicaraguan cuisine. 

Tomorrow after breakfast, the day will begin with a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua and its islets. Weather is looking very promising at projected 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) as we will cruise the water with music, rum, and of course more cigars. 

All in all, it’s a great start to the 2025 Puro Sabor Festival.