POWER SURGE
With bolder blends and an increasing amount of home-grown wrapper leaf, the Dominican Republic is shaking off its medium-bodied perceptions and tackling the growing market for stronger, full-bodied cigars.
By: Mark Bernardo
For those of us old enough to remember them, the 1970's were indisputably an era of change and not just here in the States. While Americans witnessed a sobering end to a controversial war and the spectacular fall of a tainted presidency, wore bell-bottoms, and danced the Hustle, Angel Daniel Nunez, and men like him, were growing the first wrapper leaf tobacco in the Dominican Republic. It was an experiment whose full impact would not be felt for years to come, but which would usher in a new identity for the island nation as one of the world's premier suppliers of fine cigars. Today, Nunez is an executive vice president for General Cigar Company, overseeing all tobacco farming operations, and with last year's release of the new Ramon Allones (General's first premium cigar with Dominican-grown wrapper) he is returning to trails he blazed in the 1970's.
Before the boom, there were three wrappers that were, in my opinion, acceptable in the U.S. market", Nunez says. They were Connecticut, Cameroon, and Cuban.
Remember that the whole industry was declining through mid-1993, and the market wasn't there for anything new." General's early attempts at wrapper growing, Connecticut shade and candela (for mostly machine-made cigars), were mostly low-profile and it wasn't until last year's release of the Ramon Allones that the company made public its dedication to home-grown product. "Wrapper, for us, is the ultimate condition of tobacco leaves," he states, adding that plans are also afoot for a Dominican puro, a cigar with all-Dominican binder, filler, and wrapper, another concept still relatively new to the Dominican cigarmakers. Meanwhile, another brand managed by General that receives much of its filler from Dominican fields, La Gloria Cubana, is highly regarded for its bold, full-bodied character. Nunez and a host of his contemporaries some older and wellestablished, some younger and full of new ideas are now running roughshod over two long-held misconceptions: one, that the Dominican Republic is incapable of growing great wrapper; and two, that Dominican cigars are by nature milder than their counterparts from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
THE OLD GUARD
The story of Dominican cigars goes back a bit further than the 1970's, a full 100 years, in fact. The oldest Dominican cigar producer, La Aurora, is nestled in a massive, estate-like complex outside of Santiago, the nerve center of Dominican cigar making. The company celebrated its centennial in 2003, with the release of a limited-edition anniversary cigar. The specifics of which are still being kept a closely guarded secret by Guillermo Leon, current proprietor of the brand and head of Group Leon Jimenes which also owns the Dominican beer Presidente, and distributes Marlboro, Tang, and other products in the D.R. "It's going to be very limited. It's going to have good, aged tobacco. It will be in numbered boxes. Frankly, it's going to be a hit," he states, with pardonable pride. And yes, this one will be a cigar produced with all Dominican tobacco, including the wrapper that has been set aside specifically for the centennial release. "You can achieve very good blends with 100% Dominican tobacco," Leon says. Back in 1903, Leon's grandfather was one of the first to recognize the potential of the D.R. as a cigar producer if not yet as an exporter of them. La Aurora was created chiefly for the domestic market, and remains ubiquitous throughout the D.R. The cigars were not exported until 1945, and not in large amounts to this country until the beginning of the cigar boom.
Leon admits that, like many manufacturers, the quality of his products may have been undermined by the scarcity of good tobacco available. "We try to maintain our quality always," he states, "but sometimes [back then] you had to acquire tobacco less than your standard. The demand here was very high at the time. Some people were buying cigars just to sell them in the U.S. And everyone was having problems with labor. We trained 300 rollers here, and a lot of them left because they could make more money elsewhere." Nevertheless, as befits a century-old company that has grown into a virtual empire, La Aurora has weathered the storms and, with the gorgeously packaged (and fuller-bodied) Preferido Maduros, along with the Leon Jimenes brand, and the upcoming anniversary blend, may be sailing into a bright new day indeed appropriate enough for a cigar whose name means "the sunrise."
Another cigar maker that knows a bit about celebrating anniversaries in style is Davidoff: their Avo Signature Series, commemorating the 75th birthday of the brand's founder, and the Davidoff Millennium Blend, celebrating the ever-popular year 2000, were both instant hits. Both came from the well-appointed Dominican factory of Hendrik Kelner, the company's cigarmaking guru. A gleaming Davidoff logo on the gates greeted me as I pulled in to the factory to speak to Kelner in his sun-drenched office. Kelner is one of the Dominican cigar industry's elder statesmen, commanding respect from his peers, as well as advice and expertise from many a would-be client. Right now, in addition to Davidoff 's sizeable production, Kelner's factory makes the private label Occidental brands for Alec Bradley. His pride and joy, like that of many of the cigar makers I spoke to, seems to be his first Dominican puro: Davidoff's new and very limited Capa Dominicana. "We started growing the wrapper for the Capa Dominicana in 1996," Kelner reports.
"This year we're growing more, so we will have enough for a whole line, rather than a limited edition." And does Kelner see home-grown wrapper as the wave of the D.R.'s future? "I think everybody is working in that direction ... to use only Dominican wrapper. I believe this country needs that, because there is so much competition from other nations who grow it." The Capa Dominicana, like the Millennium Blend before it, is an uncharacteristically strong cigar for Davidoff, a brand whose post-Cuban incarnation has been characterized by a milder/medium-bodied flavor profile. And another Davidoff product, The Griffin's, has introduced a Fuerte ("strong") line, as well. I ask Kelner if the American market seems to be looking nowadays for stronger cigars. "The American market looks for new cigars," he clarifies. "It's not a completely mature market, and the boom increased the number of smokers. In Europe it's more traditional; people know what they like and look for it. In the States, you need to continue to try new things. Our concept is a strong, but balanced cigar."
The strong-but-balanced model is also being explored by Manuel Quesada, the driving force behind Manufactura de Tabacos S.A. (MATASA), makers of Fonseca and Cubita, a man wise enough to not let personal taste be the sole factor in determining the direction of his business. "Overpowering cigars, for me, are not fun to smoke," he tells me, with unabashed frankness. "Saturday night, I was invited to dinner, and I had a cigar, one of our new Cubitas. I started smoking that, and it just overpowered me! Maybe I'm a wimp," he chuckles. Quesada, who has been in the tobacco business his entire life, is one who acknowledges the fuller-bodied pendulum swing, but refuses to paint himself or his products into a corner. "I don't think it's a fad, but I also don't believe it's a radical shift of the market," he says. "There's a growing percentage of the market looking for a stronger cigar, but I feel the majority, the mainstream, still want cigars in that medium-bodied neighborhood as well." Nevertheless, MATASA's newer releases have begun to cater to the former market segment, with the Fonseca Serie F (for Fuerte), described by Quesada as "strong but not overpowering," and the aforementioned new Cubitas. Through it all, the existing Fonseca line, known for its mellower character, continues to be the flagship.
Quesada's perfect English the benefit of an English-teacher mother would not immediately reveal his Cuban heritage. The tobacco aging in one of his warehouses, however, is another matter: the bales are sealed in tercio bark, from tropical palm trees a more expensive and time-consuming alternative to the plastic, burlap, and cardboard used by many other factories, and a traditional Cuban-style process that Quesada adheres to religiously. "When you make the bale completely out of this bark, it becomes a sealed container," he explains, as a factory worker opens a bale to reveal the aromatic leaves within. "There's a certain amount of filtration within the bale, so there's a dryness that enters in. In the tercio, that moisture takes a much longer time to be lost. None of the aromas are lost; everything stays and recirculates throughout the bale." The intended result is a cigar that displays more of its natural flavor ... and that, to Quesada, is much more important than knocking a smoker's socks off. The full-bodied trend, however, is fairly prevalent among the Dominican's leading companies. Even some of the most successful, milder cigar brands are sending in muscled-up versions of themselves to attack the ever-demanding U.S. market.
At Altadis, the stronger La Habana Serie has been added to the popular Montecristo line, and another offering, Trinidad, a new version of the exclusive Cuban brand, is being marketed chiefly on its powerful flavor. These brands, along with well-known favorites like H. Upmann, Don Diego, Por LaraZaga, and others are made in the Tabacalera de Garcia factory in La Romana. La Romana is a four-to-six-hour drive from Santiago, depending on whom you ask, and on the condition of the D.R.'s notorious roads and traffic patterns. Despite the distance, Jose Seijas, the man in charge there, is a close contemporary of Quesada, Kelner, and the other veterans. He has worked his entire career with Altadis, starting in the Canary Islands and moving to the D.R. in 1980. Seijas also sees more exciting evolutions of both his venerable company and his adopted homeland. "I think the poor quality of the many fly-by-night operators tarnished the image of Dominican cigars during the boom", he states, "but I believe the quality has improved considerably since then. We are constantly coming up with new blends, line extensions, new brands. The rate of innovation in our company is quite high, and this direction will continue in the years to come."
Perhaps no one company has done more to elevate the status of the Dominican Republic as an elite cigar-producing nation than Tabacalera A Fuente, and its highprofile leader, Carlos ("Carlito") Fuente, Jr. His Fuente Fuente Opus X, possibly the most sought-after non-Cuban cigar in the world, is the epitome of what the Dominican cigar community is working to achieve: a Dominican puro, with an exclusive, home-grown wrapper, famed for its full-bodied spiciness and rich flavor. Success came after a hardfought battle for the Fuente family, who migrated from Cuba to Florida during the Spanish-American War. Their cigar company was established in 1912 in Tampa's Ybor City. Since then, neither factory fires, the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the Sandinista revolution, or downturns in the cigar market, all of which dealt blows to the beleaguered company, could halt its inevitable growth into an industry leader.
Along the way, Carlito has earned the admiration (and in some cases outright envy) of his peers in the D.R. Still, despite the perks of celebrity that festoon his Santiago office, including an array of baseball paraphernalia autographed by his buddy Sammy Sosa, he has not lost touch with his humble roots. He also is determined to give something back to the country that has been most instrumental in that success. "There is no question I am an American," Fuente declares. He has set up the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which has been involved the past year in some very worthy, high-profile causes in the U.S. as well as the D.R. "The Foundation has actually become a large part of my daily responsibilities," he says, "and in a sense, a big part of my heart is there. We've raised a lot of money for the Twin Towers Fund in New York, for the policemen and firemen. Here in the D.R., we're building a school, funding medical services, a boys' and girls' club. We do a lot of events. We also create cigars that are unique, and donate them to charities as collectibles. It's inspirational when you create a product that can actually help people." It also helps when that product is so universally lauded and desired. The Fuente roster reads like a cigar maven's Christmas list: The Arturo Fuente and Don Carlos lines; Fuente Hemingway; the entire Ashton line; private labels for Mike's Cigar, Savinelli, and others; and the aforementioned Opus X. Fuente, however, is quick to point out the advances made not by himself, but by the entire nation. "There was not really a cigar culture here," he reminisces. "It was more of a tobacco [growing] culture. Then there was this big leap in quality the past few years. It's come a long, long, way."
THE RENAISSANCE MEN
Somewhere between the well-known industry icons and the next generation of cigar innovators are the prolific factories their proprietors largely unheralded outside the industry that turn out consistently good products for a variety of contractors, many of which also put out signature brands. Radhames Perez is the owner of Tabacalera Real S.A., and is the prime example of a tobacco industry businessman. "You want strong? You want medium? If people want the cigar, I make it," he states with a smile, struggling admirably with his English. Perez is most closely associated with Felipe Gregorio, his partner in running the factory, turning out a wide range of styles, from the sweet, mild, candela-wrapped Iguana to the fuller-bodied Frank Sinatra line. In the same vein are Luis and Sergio Cuevas of Cuevas & ToraZo (formerly Cuevas & Hermanos), a small factory in Navarette that since 1997 has produced La Perla Habana, one of the first post-boom cigars recognized as a Dominican powerhouse. In addition to that trendsetting brand, and the Carlos ToraZo Dominican Selection (another cigar that scores consistently high in SMOKE's reviews), Cuevas has been entrusted with the new version of the venerable and much-travelled Dunhill brand.
I got a preview glimpse of the new limited release cigars, and marveled at the innovative quality control process: all boxes are numbered individually, and each phase of production is signed off by the person in charge, from rolling to final quality control and packaging. Essentially, a smoker who has any issues with the Dunhill he's smoking would be able to trace it not just to the factory, but all the way back to the torcedor who rolled it.
Puros de Villa Gonzalez is a name known only to tobacco industry insiders, but anyone who's ever even seen a cigar display in a drugstore knows the company behind it: Swisher. PVG, however, is where the company's premium long-filler brands not its more widely-known short-filler "Sweets" come from. If you've ever enjoyed a MacBeth, Siglo 21, or Bering Hallmark, you've tasted the fruits of the 50-year experience of owner Leocadio Pena and his expert hand-rollers.
Jose Blanco of Tabacalera Palma is a relatively young man who brings modern expertise to the tobacco company started by his grandfather in 1942. Blanco (or "Hochi" as he's known to nearly everyone in the business) revolutionized Palma by bringing in new molds in 1980 to improve the quality level of his cigars. His small company, which kept a low profile throughout the boom, produces many private labels, and is known mostly for the Cibao brand, which comes from the same farm which produces La Flor Dominicana, one of the biggest success stories among the new generation of Dominican cigar companies. Family is important in the cigar business.
Some, like Blanco's, establish a firm foothold in the land of their birth; others, like the Reyes family, spread far and wide across the spectrum of the tobacco community. Rolando Reyes, Sr., the Cuban expatriate who established the Puros Indios brand in Honduras, is an almost mythic figure amongst that community, but most of the family has been quietly plying the trade for six generations. Augusto Reyes heads up De Los Reyes Cigars, a large factory that turns out the Fittipaldi line, as well as an array of private-label brands for clients like Indian Tabac, Tropical Tobacco, and others. Although he is throwing his hat into the ring with a signature brand of his own, Rey de Reyes (literally, "king of kings"), Augusto seems quite content that the great majority of his cigars will end up adorned with the bands of various other companies. It seems to be a Reyes family trait to trust the work to speak for itself.
THE YOUNG GUNS
Augusto's brother Emilio, while also meticulous in his craftsmanship, he once worked directly for the Cuban government to supervise quality control, seems more comfortable bringing some long-delayed spotlight to the family name with his brands for CTI Tobacco. CTI (abbreviated from its original name, Consolidated Tobacco Industries, after legal wrangles with Altadis), one of the youngest and fastest-growing companies in the D.R., has at its core a formula reminiscent of a cop-buddy movie: the brash, energetic youngster teaming up with the cagey old veteran. Kristian Baso, a 29-year-old investment fund manager and longtime cigar lover, met Emilio Reyes in a cigar store. The latter's dedication and over 41 years industry experience convinced Baso that even in this treacherous, post-Boom economy, starting a new cigar company was worth pursuing. "If you look at overall cigar sales before the boom, those sales haven't decreased," Baso points out. "Sales have maintained the height they'd grown to. All [the boom] did was create new cigar connoisseurs. I've probably looked at 5,000 business plans and ideas, and none of them made as much sense to me, as an investment, than making cigars."
For Baso, Reyes's reputation, as well as that of his nephew, Rolando Reyes, Jr., a master of cigar blending who made his name on Puros Indios and others, lent his fledgling company legitimacy. "Nobody wants a rich, snot-nosed kid coming onto the block, thinking he can do it better," he admits, "but Emilio and Rolando had a passion and respect for the business. The rest of it is marketing, and you need money to do that. The big boys (General, Altadis, Fuente) took the traditional cigar business to the next level. We're just taking advantage of those same marketing principles. We already knew the quality was there." CTI is obviously thinking big. Almost right out of the gate came their flagship cigar: a Dominican puro, with wrapper grown from one of Emilio's hundreds of acres of farmland. The Reyes DRG for Dominican Republic Gold is the pride and joy of both the Reyeses and Baso, and it is the native-grown wrapper that sets it apart. "Growing wrapper in this country is very expensive," Reyes says. "It is easier to buy it. That is why it's rare: very few people grow wrapper here, so when they do, they are going to use it. They are not going to sell it to anyone." CTI grows wrapper solely for the DRG, and given the expansion of their own portfolio Pirate's Gold, Reyes Unidos, Flor de Los Reyes, Trader's Reserve, all incorporating filler from Reyes' farms the company has no plans to add private labels to the workload. An expansion of CTI itself, however, is not out of the question. "The sky's the limit," Baso says, beaming and lighting up a Reyes DRG. An even younger company than CTI has a man at the helm who has used what he describes as "Rockefeller tactics" to go from supplier to premium cigar manufacturer.
As the end of the cigar boom drove many companies to liquidation, Luis Tomas Mendez bought tobacco inventory and cigar factories for fire-sale prices and began pumping out inexpensive cigars for eager distributors. He reinvested the profits to build his La Caya brand, an optimistic entry into the crowded premium cigar market. Is it going to be an uphill battle, I ask him, to stand out from the pack? "For me, it is a challenge," he agrees. "I don't need 100 years, like Leon Jimenes or Fuente. I think when you make a good cigar that smokes well, people will trust you. I don't see it as competing with anyone. I just see it as doing my part." Some would say he's doing more than that: while not yet jumping into the Dominican puro sweepstakes, Mendez is using his vast tobacco resources to create four different wrappers for La Caya: Nicaraguan Habana 2000, Brazilian maduro, Connecticut shade from Ecuador, and Indonesian Java.
For U.S. smokers' widely diverse tastes, it would seem he's got the bases covered. Victor Sinclair, a company that has bought Mendez's tobacco, has upped the ante even more on the American craze for new wrappers. Jose Dominguez, born into a multi-generational tobacco family, had a career as a veterinarian before the cigarmaking bug bit him around 1995, when he started Victor Sinclair with only six employees. (Company legend also has it that he purchased his factory with prize money from his rooster Harry, a renowned champion in the still-popular Dominican sport of cockfighting.) Along with his brother Rafael, Dominguez grew the company swiftly, introducing the Bohemian brand in the U.S. last year, as well as foraying into the flavored cigar market with Honey Delights. The Bohemians' ftlinegrowing appeal lay in the popularity of their Brazilian maduro and Nicaraguan corojo wrappers. The company's newest line, Revolution, takes it a step further. All four of the new cigars have double wrappers: the Sidewinder (Brazilian maduro and Brazilian corojo); Predator (Cameroon and Ecuadorian Connecticut); Hellfire (Connecticut and Brazilian maduro); and Hawkeye (Connecticut Shade and Virgin Sun-Grown). The result is a supremely unique smoke with complex nuances. In contrast to many, Dominguez is not one to obsess over crafting a Dominican puro. "A good cigar maker knows how to blend," he maintains. "Why limit yourself to one country?" Dominican cigar makers are a diverse lot, but their goals seem fairly consistent: Quesada calls them "noble smokes", "cigars where the punch is with a velvet glove rather than a naked fist. The glove leaves a nice feeling, whereas bare knuckles just leave a mark on your face ... and scratches in your throat." The metaphor is apt: After taking some hits from the boom, the Dominican Republic is getting off the canvas for Round Two ... and for some, the gloves are coming off.
Reprinted with permission from SMOKE Magazine
