Top Takeaways:

• Joya de Nicaragua to end U.S. distribution partnership with Drew Estate after 17 years.
• Company to launch its own U.S. distribution entity beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
• Both companies label the transition as an evolution of friendship, not a breakup.

Joya de Nicaragua will begin distributing its cigars in the United States directly starting Jan. 1, 2026, ending a 17-year partnership with Drew Estate.

The Nicaraguan cigar maker announced it is creating a new U.S. entity to handle sales, marking the conclusion of an arrangement that began in early 2008 and made Drew Estate responsible for distributing Joya de Nicaragua products across the American market.

“This transition is not the end of a relationship; it is the natural evolution of one,” said Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, chairman of Joya de Nicaragua, in a press release. “We are standing on the shoulders of a friendship that has helped shape who we are today. This evolution is not about a change in philosophy—it’s about taking ownership of the path ahead.”

Martínez Cuenca added that the company is grateful for the partnership and praised Drew Estate leadership. “I thank Jonathan (Drew), Glenn (Wolfson) and the whole DE team for being part of our story,” he said.

While the companies have long been competitors, their relationship in the U.S. extended beyond sales. Drew Estate’s national sales force represented Joya’s brands, and Joya de Nicaragua has produced certain products for Drew Estate, such as select MUWAT vitolas. The companies have also frequently appeared side-by-side at events.

Jonathan Drew, co-founder and president of Drew Estate, described the connection between the two companies as deeply personal. “Joya de Nicaragua has played a meaningful role in my life since 1998, far earlier than the beginning of our distribution arrangement 17 years ago,” Drew said in the announcement.

“Most notably, their dedication to honoring their staff, Nicaraguan brothers and sisters who so loyally stand behind the brand and stand side-by-side with our dear friend, Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca,” stated Drew. “It was as easy to fall in love with the Joya family as it was to fall in love with Nicaragua itself: complex, beautiful, mysterious, serious – Joya is Nicaragua and Nicaragua is Joya. The admiration that each of us at Drew Estate feel for the Martínez and our Joya family is extraordinary and will never change.”

The move will give Joya de Nicaragua full control of its U.S. market presence for the first time in nearly two decades.