In 2025, Plasencia expanded their super premium “Alma” lines with the new Alma del Cielo, or “Soul of Heaven.” This is a Nicaraguan puro, but what really makes the cigar special is the fact that at least some of the tobacco used in it (they never specify how much) is grown at their Condega farm, Finca San Julián, located 1300 meters (or about 4,265 feet) above sea level. They claim this is the “world’s highest elevation cigar” because of that.
The Plasencia Alma del Cielo has the same style of banding as the other “Alma” cigars, this time with a dark blue background. The wrapper leaf was a medium brown with a hearty reddish hue under some lighting. It was smooth and slightly oily to the touch and had a clean sweet aroma to it…almost a touch of caramel along with a little cedar. The foot had more cedar, a little earthiness, and more sweet and floral notes. After clipping the head, I got an excellent cold draw that I swear had distinct notes of mint. There was other stuff in there, too, but every test draw ended up leaving me surprised because of the mint flavor.
Thankfully, after lighting up, I didn’t get notes of mint anymore…after all, I didn’t buy a Java Mint here! What I got from Alma del Cielo was flavors of cedar and earth, along with a very nice sweet grassiness. The company’s website goes on at length about the sweeter notes you can expect to get with this cigar, but honestly, I didn’t find it all that sweet. Yes, there is that sweet grassiness, along with more floral and citrus notes, but cedar definitely leads from the outset. The retrohale had a sharp red pepper spice that lasted only a few seconds each time. The body was medium-plus and overall I found the cigar very enjoyable.
As the smoke went on, I did get a little more influence of the sweet wrapper leaf, along with a nice nuttiness. The cedar diminished a bit at the same time bringing the profile closer to what they published…although still not quite “nougat” or other candy notes. Really, though, another excellent cigar from Plasencia.
