ProCigar Festival- Dominican Republic

Well there is no doubt about it. The first annual ProCigar Festival in the Dominican Republic was a sensational hit! Unlike the festival thrown in Havana each year, the ProCigar festival was an intimate group of less than 200 people from around the world.

Divided into groups of no more than 40 people, we piled onto buses and over the course of 3 days visited 4 factories, 2 fields, through several towns and consumed immeasurable amounts of Presidente beer, Brugal Rum, and the best Dominican Cigars the country has to offer.

Day one we were met at the Santiago Airport by a lovely young lady wearing a cigar tray, and very little else. I jumped on the bus with some of my guests and headed up to Camp David Ranch where we’d be staying. That night, once everyone arrived we had a small welcome party for my group. A humidor filled with Davidoff Cigars was at hand all night. Manuel Quesada, owner of MATASA joined us and brought a wonderful assortment of MATASA products as well.

Wednesday morning, we were up early and headed out to Jicome- about an hour or so away west of Santiago. Here we saw some of the fields Davidoff uses to grow tobacco. Hendrik Kelner, his son, and some of the other folks from Davidoff walked us through the fields, showing us the characteristics of one plant versus another. As it was well already March, much of the tobacco was already harvested- indicated by completely filled curing barns. After the fields, we headed to the processing center where we were walked through the steps of planting tobacco. As tiny seeds, they’re germinated in small planters. The best of the best are transplanted as small seedlings into individualized compartments where they’ll remain for about 45 days until they’re transplanted again, by hand, into the fields.

Once inside the facility in Jicomé, we followed the same journey the tobacco takes once it’s brought in from the curing barn. The leaves are sorted and bailed. Fermented, resorted, and aged for several years before ever being considered for use on a Premium cigar.

We left Jicomé after an impressive lunch and headed back towards Santiago, stopping at Villa Gonzalez on the way- to see the OK factory and the Davidoff factory. The OK factory makes the famous Avo, Griffin’s, and Zino Platinum brands. And as luck would have, we bumped into Avo Uvezian there and gave him a ride back to his hotel before continuing back up to Camp David for a little rest before the evening’s festivities.

That evening, we gathered at Centro Leon. This impressive facility is owned by the Leon Family- most known in the cigar business as the founders of the La Aurora factory, the oldest factory in the Dominican Republic dating to 1903. After an interesting tour through their museum on the history and influence of Baseball in the country, we stepped outside and gathered with the other festival attendees as well as some of the industry’s more recognizable faces like Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Benjamin Menendez, Guillermo Leon, and many others. I even bumped into Aaron Sigmond, Editor and Publisher of The Cigar Report with Deputy Editor Nick Kowlakowski... and that was only Day ONE!

On Day Two, after a quick Dominican Breakfast we headed to the La Aurora Factory. La Aurora had recently moved their cigar production from the “Centro Leon” location to another larger facility in Tamboril. I had seen it while it was still being built but was amazed with the final construction. Jose Blanco, La Aurora’s Marketing Manager, met the group and spoke to us about cigars in general and some of the trends in today’s market. Most notably, he recognized the connoisseurship among today’s cigar smokers, and gave us each a cigar to smoke that he wanted our “expert opinions” on. Then we toured the entire facility from sorting to packaging with all the manufacturing in between. I spent some time with their head of production and a good friend of mine, Manuel Inoa and smoked some fun experiments while we walked around.

After lunch at Rancho Steakhouse, we headed to the MATASA factory. Manuel Quesada greeted us along with his daughters Raquel and Patricia, and his nephew Jose Manuel. The group was walked through their facility from beginning to end and was even shown MATASA’s box factory where all of the boxes are made from scratch for all of their brands including Fonseca, Cubita, and a host of others.

After we said Adios, we zipped back to the hotel to change and prepare for the evening’s parties. We began at The Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration in the center of Santiago. The Mayor of Santiago greeted us as we exited our bus. Brugal was the favored cocktail of the evening, which I was sure to enjoy my share of. After cocktails, we were carted off in a procession through town by horse and carriage, to the Centro de Recreo, a social club popular in the very early 1900’s that was restored to its original grandeur, for dinner and dancing.

Day Three begain with a very early breakfast followed by a 90 minute bus ride southeast of Santiago to Mao. After a warm welcome from General Cigar Company’s Angel Daniel Nunez, Benjamin Menendez, and Victoria McKee we headed out to their fields. Infinite acres filled with tobacco were spread as far as the eye could see with curing barns popping up throughout. Besides growing tobacco, they also grow corn, plantains, and raise various livestock that they then sell back to their employees very inexpensively to help support their community.

We returned to Santiago for a great lunch and a full tour of General Cigar’s production facilities. From Macanudo’s to La Gloria Cubanas, this is where some of the industry’s most popular brands are made. The production was impressive, with some of the most beautiful Connecticut Shade wrapper I’ve ever seen!

After a quick siesta at the Hotel, we donned our most formal wear, and went south across the Cibao Valley to Centro Español for the final gala evening. After wonderful food, a few awards, and amazing entertainment- it was time for the real reason we were all together. ProCigar auctioned off some amazing lots to benefit the Hospicio San Vicente de Paul, a home dedicated to providing a place of comfort for Senior Citizens in the Dominican Republic. Each member of ProCigar donated a limited edition humidor with an assortment of limited or one-of-a-kind cigars for the lot. Those lots were followed by smaller lots of exclusive cigars or unique ‘opportunities’ including a chance to come to the Dominican Republic and create your own one-of-a-kind blend with Angel Daniel Nunez and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. The evening raised $50,000 for this most worthy charity.

We made our final ascension up the mountain to our hotel for several rounds of Barcelo Imperial and reflected on the incredible 4 days that had just flown by. After a very brief night’s sleep, I sent the first groups of guests back down the mountain to the airport, and soon after the rest of us was in the air and headed back home. One thing is for certain. The Dominican proved to some of its biggest fans that there is no other country more deserving of the nickname “Cigar Country”. I can’t wait until next year’s festival.

Michael Herklots

3/11/08