The Flor de Copan factory is the single best reason to stop in Santa Rosa. This is where some of Central America's finest cigars are made, including the Flor de Copan, Zino, and H. Upmann Yarguera lines. The factory sits on a compound north of the centre and offers tours Monday through Friday (8am to 4pm, Saturday until 11am).
A tour walks you through the full production process: warehouses stacked with drying tobacco leaves, rooms where workers strip the central veins from leaves by hand, the rolling tables where experienced torcedores shape each cigar, and the packing room where the finished products are sorted by colour and boxed for export. The skill of the rollers is remarkable — many produce over 200 cigars a day with near-perfect consistency. You can buy cigars at the factory outlet, which is separate from the factory itself, located about two blocks west of the central plaza, at prices well below what you would pay abroad.