To some, cigars are a status symbol representing wealth, luxury, and elegance. For many, however, cigars are far more. Cigars are a way of life, they are a profession, a business, a culture. Each year, cigar connoisseurs from around the world all travel to the Dominican Republic for Procigar, an annual festival that celebrates the Dominican Republic and the cigars made within it.
Those new or unfamiliar with premium cigars may not think of the Dominican Republic as having such deep rooted history and ties to premium cigars. The Dominican Republic is home to some of the world’s most renowned and iconic cigar brands including Fuente, E.P. Carrillo, La Flor Dominican, Macanudo, and La Aurora among many others. This year was the fourteenth Procigar Festival, the first since 2020 when the pandemic forced the organizers to cancel the annual celebration for the first time in years. Over 450 guests from more than 20 countries attended this year’s festival, held in Santiago, Dominican from February 22-25, 2022.
During an episode of Deep Cuts Live on March 15, 2022, Enrique Seijas of Matilde Cigars described the Procigar Festival as, “… a very special event. For people that don’t know, Procigar Festival is the festival that we have every year … and it’s where the cigar association of the Dominican Republic throws this awesome week-long event. People are able to come: they may be retailers, consumers, anybody that wants to come can come down and enjoy tours of factories, tours of the fields. They can meet all the manufacturers, all the company principles. Every night there is a dinner party. The first night you have a welcoming cocktail. The second night you have a Caribbean-type of party. Then you have our White Party, which is in the monument and [that] is an amazing party. You finish up with a gala dinner and that is always a treat.”
Tours and Education During the Day …
The 2022 Procigar Festival kicked off on Feb. 22 with a welcome reception. The next day, attendees had the chance to take part in guided tours of cigar factories and tobacco fields. Participating manufacturers of these special tours included Quesada Cigars, La Aurora, General Cigar Dominicana, Tabacalera Palma, De Los Reyes Cigars, Tabacalera A. Fuente, PDR Cigars, Tabacalera La Alianza (E.P. Carrillo), La Flor Dominicana and Montecirsto. There was also a special tour provided of Chateau de la Fuente, Cigar Family Charitable Foundation and the House of Dreams. On the final day of the tour, attendees were treated to the second Procigar Field Day which offered each the chance to interact one-on-one with well-known figures of the Dominican cigar industry. For anyone who appreciates a fine cigar, seeing the fields where the blends begin and how those leaves are cured, dried and ultimately hand rolled by skilled artisans in a factory is a must-have experience. There are few events like Procigar where anyone–whether they be a brand owner, retailer or a consumer–can go inside a working factory and see how it’s done firsthand and the process responsible for producing a cigar.
… Getting Festive and Giving Back by Night
In addition to the guided tours, Procigar is known for its parties. These festive parties are all different and bring everyone together to partake in Dominican cuisines and Dominican cigars. On the night of Feb. 23, Procigar held its Welcome Dinner at the Parque Central. At this event, guests received an exclusive cigar box manufactured by Zanwill International and enjoyed Dominican fusion cuisine and live musical performances from local musicians and artists. Afterwards, a bachata contest took place where the winner received 4 cigar boxes from past Procigar Festivals.
The next night, the famous White Party took place at Santiago’s Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración. With everyone dressed in white, the party is held outdoors and offered stunning views of Santiago. This year, the White Party also had another function–it payed tribute to all the Dominican women who work in the tobacco industry.
On the final night, Procigar’s Gala Dinner was held at Centro Español, a private club founded in 1965. During this special night, guests had the opportunity to bid on several special items during an auction with proceeds benefiting Voluntariado Jesús con los Niños, a non-profit organization for ill children; Sociedad San Vicente de Paúl, senior retirement home for low-income elders; and Procigar’s charitable initiative “A Home for My Family,” housing program for disadvantaged yet deserving employees of the members companies. The auction raised a total of $350,000.
Michael Herklots, who serves as emcee each year during the Gala Night auction, commented on the importance of this year’s auction:
“Let me tell you, I mean, what a year. You know, we we went into Procigar having missed last year. And you know, one of the things that have gotten hit the hardest through the pandemic is obviously charities and and philanthropy where there just hasn’t been the opportunity to support. Those were my opening remarks when we started the auction. Like, look, we missed a year, the charities missed a year, but the need did not miss a year. The need has been there throughout all of this, if not more so, and so everyone is going to leave this auction broke. And I’ll tell you what, man, we raised $350,000. It was unreal.
“Not to take away from what the festival is–learning about premium cigars, learning about tobacco, spending time with manufacturers, spending time with one another–but just that one night is about something a little bit different. It’s doing all of that, and being being able to help people. And I mean, if you think about how much money is raised via this, how many lives are made better because of this, and the generosity of people in our industry, whether they’re consumers or retailers and manufacturers, the the generosity is really overwhelming in the premium cigar world. I feel super blessed to be a part of it.”
Procigar is a unique experience that everyone can and should take part in. From the educational opportunities it offers to cigar enthusiasts to learn and see first hand how cigars are made to the entertaining leisure activities, Procigar is a trip worth taking if you want to discover and experience all that Cigar Country–aka the Dominican Republic–has to offer.
For more information on the Procigar Festival, visit procigar.org.
– Photos courtesy of Procigar. Written by Antoine Reid, a writer and host of the live interview series Deep Cuts Live. You can follow Antoine on Instagram @editor.reid.
