ProCigar Ends On A High Note
The 17th ProCigar Festival came to a close last Friday night in the Dominican Republic. The closing night event brought together about 900 revelers for a night of excellent cigars, food and drink, a lively closing spectacle of song and dance and an auction that raised more than $450,000.
The final night was a gala dinner at the Centro Español, a private venue in Santiago where the event has always concluded. Upon entering, all guests had no choice but to pass by the 14 lots for the auction: humidors made especially for the ProCigar Festival by its 12 members. The line-up showcased one-of-a-kind humidors filled with cigars, such as one from General Cigar with 150 cigars from the Partagas 150 brand. Others included a Davidoff humidor with 70 Winston Churchilll Limited Edition 2025 cigars that tied for the top lot of the night at $45,000. The other lot that went for that price was from Tabacalera La Palma. The last lot was a humidor with 300 cigars from each of the 12 active ProCigar members. The console-style cabinet sold for $22,000.
This auction benefits a number of local charities, and in addition, individual cash contributions were solicited to the “A Home for My Family” charity, which builds homes for cigar industry families.
Litto Gomez, the recently installed president of ProCigar, told the crowd, “We appreciate all the generosity that you have given us over the years . . . I have to tell you something, I am the only person here who doesn’t have previous generations in this industry. When I arrived here many years ago, I fell in love with tobacco, with the industry but most of all as I got to know these people here, I fell in love with the people of the industry. I have so much respect for all of you. In most other industries, competitors try to cut each other’s throats. In the cigar industry, it is made up of very special people who try to help each other, help their competitors. They are friends. We help each other because we like each other, not just because we have business together.”
ProCigar is an organization that consists of the principal cigarmakers in the Dominican Republic. The companies include: Arnold Andre, Casa Carrillo, De Los Reyes, General Cigar, La Aurora, La Flor Dominicana, PDR Cigars, Quesada Cigars, Tabacalera Arturo Fuente, Tabacalera de Garcia, Tabadom (Davidoff) and Tabacalera Palma.
ProCigar was founded in 1992 at the beginning of the cigar boom. It has been a constant presence in the life of the Dominican cigar industry, led until last year by Henke Kelner, who produced Davidoff cigars for many years. The festival was launched in 2008.
This year’s festival began on February 16th, in La Romana, the home of the Casa de Campo resort and the Tabacalera de Garcia factory, one of the largest cigar factories in the world and the facility responsible for non-Cuban versions of Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann and Montecristo. The guests were treated to a night of golf at the driving range and a daytrip to a nearby island before getting a tour of the big factory.
The attendees then traveled overland for four hours to Santiago—the cigarmaking epicenter of the country—where the more cigar-centric leg of the festival continued. There were daily activities that ranged from factory visits and field trips to a blending seminar that gave a first-hand tutorial on putting together a cigar, leaf by leaf. On Thursday night, the guests were treated to the White Party, an event where the dress code is all white. On Friday, there were more visits to factories and farms before the closing dinner.
“After 30 years, I love all the people who make up the industry,” continued Gomez. “What do we do? We make a product that is so special that is part of special moments for people all over the world. They enjoy this magical product that we make. We make people happy.”
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