Esteban Carreras

Esteban Carreras is a name nobody quite knows the bearer of, and the trade press is honest enough to say so: the brand is said to have been started in the 1990s by a Cuban roller who remained anonymous, and the name is said to come from a smuggler who helped Cubans flee after the revolution — or, according to what the owner told a retailer in 2024, from a story of corojo seeds taken out of the island. This atlas attributes these tales to those who tell them and retains none as a founding date.

What is established begins in the early or mid-2000s: Craig Cunningham, an American entrepreneur, has owned and run the house since then, and he established his own factory in Estelí, Tabacalera Carreras, where everything is grown or bought, blended and rolled. The house has its headquarters in California and its market in the United States; in 2024, at Inter-tabac in Dortmund, it announced worldwide distribution with Kopp Tobaccos. The factory also rolls for other brands, which it does not name.

The catalogue counts thirteen lines — Cashmere, Dictator's Hand, Hellcat, Chupacabra, Unforsaken, Black Cross, Brown Cross, Bloodline, Mr Brownstone — and the house says most are Nicaraguan puros. Chupacabra, in three versions, is the one that made its reputation.

Range Depth

• Chupacabra

  Wrapper Nicaraguan; San Andrés for the 10 Años · Strength Full

  The line that made the reputation — Natural, Maduro and 10 Años, pigtail cap.

• Cashmere

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium

  One of the thirteen lines; the house says most are Nicaraguan puros.