After sharing with Plasencia her dream of introducing a high-quality premium Honduran cigar to the French market, she began learning the business, with him as her mentor, in his Tabacos de Oriente factory in Danli, Honduras.
[8] In 1995, Maya started Flor de Selva, her first brand, made from tobacco grown in the highlands of the Jamastrán Valley, in El Paraíso, Honduras.
Flor de Selva included five cigars that went on sale in France the same year:[3] Panetela, Robusto, Corona, Churchill and Doble-Corona.
[9] In 1999, Maya Selva debuted with a new brand called Cumpay, made from tobacco grown in the volcanic highlands of the Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua.
[4] Villa Zamorano was created to offer aficionados a real handmade cigar from the finest tobaccos for a machine-made price.