Same strong soul. Lighter leaf. Ten years of patience wrapped around it.
When Plasencia finally put their own name on a cigar, Alma Fuerte — "Strong Soul" — was the statement piece: dark, oily, unapologetically full. In January 2021 they came back at it from the other direction. The Alma Fuerte Colorado Claro keeps the Nicaraguan puro construction but swaps the dark cover leaf for a lighter, faintly reddish Colorado Claro wrapper grown in Jalapa and aged ten years before it ever touched a roller's bench.
It isn't the same cigar in different clothes. The blend underneath was adjusted to sit properly beneath a lighter leaf, and the result lands medium where the original lands full — more nuance, less punch, and a good deal more room to taste what the aged tobacco is actually doing.
The Eduardo I
The Colorado Claro launched with a single size, the six-sided Sixto I. The Eduardo I arrived in 2022 as the line's first traditional shape — a box-pressed 6 1/4 x 54 toro, and for most smokers the format that shows this blend best.
It is named for Eduardo Plasencia, among the first of the family to grow tobacco. The Plasencias have been at it since 1865, across five generations and two countries, and for most of that history their leaf was quietly making other people's cigars famous. The Alma Fuerte line is where that stopped.
Blend Information
- Series/Line: Plasencia Alma Fuerte Colorado Claro (launched January 2021)
- Vitola: Eduardo I — 6 1/4 x 54, box-pressed toro
- Wrapper: Nicaraguan Colorado Claro, Jalapa — aged 10 years
- Binder: Nicaraguan
- Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo '98 — Jalapa, Condega, Estelí, and Ometepe
- Body/Strength: Medium
- Origin: Nicaraguan puro
- Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A., Estelí, Nicaragua
- Packaging: 10-count boxes
Tasting Profile
First Third
- Toasted almond
- Spanish cedar
- Cream
- A light natural sweetness
Second Third
- Cocoa
- Mild earth
- Baking spice
- Espresso
Final Third
- Deeper chocolate
- Seasoned wood
- Gentle pepper
- A smooth, dry finish
The box press gives a firm, easy draw and the burn holds its line. Ten years of wrapper aging shows up as a rounded edge that a younger leaf simply can't fake.
How It Compares to the Original
Reach for the standard Alma Fuerte if you want the dark wrapper and the full-bodied hit. Reach for the Colorado Claro when you want the same family of flavors dialed back to medium — better before dinner, better in the morning, and easier to sit with for the length of a toro.
Pairing Notes
Espresso, a lighter aged rum, or a dry Champagne. It has enough sweetness to stand up to coffee without fighting it.
Available at Tinder Box as a single or a 10-count box.
