Oscar Valladares

Until 2011, Oscar worked for one of the heavyweights of the cigar industry, Rocky Patel. “When I first visited Danlí 15 years ago, I didn’t even smoke cigars!” admits Oscar, who, at the time, was driving visitors around Honduras for Rocky. “But I immediately fell in love with the wonderful process of making cigars. I realised just how special it is to smoke a cigar, because so much individual effort goes into it,” he recalls. He began to think about how he could become part of that process. Rocky Patel, seeing Oscar’s thirst for knowledge and passion for cigars, offered him a full-time position in quality control. Shortly afterwards, Oscar managed the distribution of Rocky Patel Premium cigars in South America as an independent contractor. But this venture was short-lived: for various reasons, the business did not thrive, and Oscar found himself with a mountain of debt. However, what seemed like an ending marked a new beginning for him.