ProCigar Festival In Dominican Republic Selling Out Fast
If you’ve always wanted to visit a cigar factory or tobacco field but never knew quite how to do it, then the ProCigar Festival in the Dominican Republic might be the perfect chance for that cigar-centric winter retreat you’ve been thinking about. There are still some openings left but ProCigar tells Cigar Aficionado that they’re selling out quickly, so, this might be the time to take some decisive action.
It’s an immersive week where the major manufacturers of the Dominican Republic open up their fields and factories for tours that will have you smoking morning, day and night. And you’ll learn something about the cigarmaking process along the way.
The weeklong event is a fairly simple arrangement: tours and field trips in the daytime, cigar dinners in the evening. These are all casual, cultural excursions with Dominican cigars as the central focus. Smoking is not only permitted, it’s encouraged.
Meals and transportation are taken care of and every tour is the right balance of leisure and education. All the major Dominican cigar companies participate from large operations such as Arturo Fuente, General Cigar, Altadis and Davidoff to mid-size and smaller producers such as Quesada Cigars, La Flor Dominicana, Casa Carrillo, Tabacalera Palma and La Aurora. It serves as the perfect opportunity to interact with cigarmakers in a socially convivial atmosphere.
The tour starts at La Romana at the coastal Casa de Campo resort where guests can enjoy beach activities and close each day with a cigar dinner. This portion of the festival ends with a tour of Tabacalera de Garcia, which produces brands such as Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo and H. Upmann.
You can opt to skip the La Romana leg of the tour and go straight to Santiago—the absolute epicenter of the country’s premium cigar industry. Should you decide to go, be sure to bring an extra-large suitcase. You’ll be returning home with a lot of cigars.
The ProCigar Festival starts on February 16th and lasts until the 21st. To register and to find out more, click here.