The Story of Dominium Cigars
Dominium Cigars of Nicaragua is founded by the renowned master-blender and producer Donaldo González and international tenor and entrepreneur Iván Gancedo. Their combined expertise and passion for cigars led them on the path to create an exclusive smoking experience - Dominium Cigars - an elegant music for the palate.
We invite you to enter our world of art and culture and indulge in the perfect balance of flavor, aroma, and craftsmanship.
Behind the curtains
What do you get when an opera singer from Argentina partners with a tobacco expert from Jalapa in northern Nicaragua? That's right, you get a new premium cigar line like no other.
After opera tenor Ivan Gancedo bought a 150-hectare tobacco plantation in Jalapa, it was initially with a view that local long-term friend and factory owner Donaldo Gonzalez would use the harvest to produce for him a steady supply of cigars for fueling his own consumption.
"You know, the kind of cigar that only tobacco growers and factory owners smoke themselves, but which are not available for anybody else out there," Gancedo grinned.
A couple of years went by, visiting friends regularly complimenting Gancedo for the outstanding quality of his essentially no-name product.
It didn't take long thereafter before Gonzalez floated to his close friend the idea of going commercial – and importantly – without compromising one iota on the quality. Gancedo was thrilled.
A brand name was needed, of course.
"We initially came up with 'Dominion'," Gancedo told Tobacco Asia. "It's a strong word in the sense of having power over someone or something; or in our case dominating the tobacco… if that is possible at all. "
In the end, and after many discussions with Gonzalez, the partners settled for Dominium.
Going to market only a bit over one year ago [2023], Gancedo's global social connections helped kick off the neonatal brand with "the rich and powerful" set from Qatar to Buenos Aires, from New York to Delhi, from Zurich to Dubai. So, for all intends and purposes Dominium was already well established in certain circles before Gancedo showcased its brand to the broader public at InterTabac 2024.
In line with Ivan Gancedo's own multi-faceted personality, Dominium cigars are available in an eclectic spread of formats. All of them use Nicaraguan longfiller, much (if not all) of it presumably from Gancedo's own plantation, and Indonesian Besuki as binder leafs. Depending on the format, the wrappers range from Mexican Maduro San Andres to Ecuadorian Habano or Connecticut.
One more aspect makes Dominium a very intriguing choice for any cigar lover seeking out the unusual: while Estelí may be Nicaragua's undisputed "cigar capital," Dominium hails from Jalapa. That fact alone should be reason enough to give this excellent and versatile cigar a try.
Being a man with an imbued sense for the dramatic, as we left Ivan Gancedo's InterTabac booth, he sent us on our way with a deeply philosophical observation: "Once you get into the cigar world, it grips you with a passion, you become obsessed. It's like a burning fire within that will never extinguish," he mused.
Perhaps only an opera singer could have said it so beautifully.
- by Thomas Schmid, TobaccoAsia, 2024