66 TOBACCO BUSINESS | JULY / AUGUST | 22 its shipping and receiving capabilities—the company wanted to turn the factory into a tourist destination for cigar enthusiasts in the U.S. By opening the doors of El Reloj to the public, J.C. Newman Cigar Company hoped to make the cigar making process more transparent and educational. “When El Reloj was built in 1910, newspapers wrote that it was ‘the largest and finest cigar factory in the world’ with capacity for 1,000 cigar workers. Newspapers said that El Reloj ‘embodied every convenience, in fact, every luxury known to modern commercial construction’ and ‘represented the highest type of factory building,’” states Drew Newman, fourth-generation cigar maker and general counsel for J.C. Newman Cigar Company. He continues: “El Reloj is a prime example of the typical Tampa cigar factory, which is a brick building oriented from east to west with three stories, a basement and a tower. What distinguished each factory was the length of its building and any ornamental features. Tampa cigar factories share the same architectural features for two reasons. This design was thought to be ideal for cigar manufacturing because it maximized the amount of natural light. Also, it allowed the same job to be located in the same place in every factory, making it easier for workers to move between factories. In the basement, we cure and ferment wrapper tobacco. We also have aging rooms both for tobacco and for cigars. Our offices are on the first floor along with our shipping department. On the second floor, we sort tobacco, remove stems using antique machines from the 1910s, roll cigars using hand-operated antique cigarmachines from the 1930s and pack cigars using antique machines from the 1930s. On the third floor, we roll cigars by hand and also blend our filler tobaccos.” As part of J.C. Newman Cigar Company’s 125th anniversary, El Reloj was restored to its former glory in 2020. As part of the renovations, a new threelevel cigar museum was constructed that houses an interactive theater showing old cigar films. The space can also host large events that the public can rent out. Guided tours are offered daily, and a new rolling school within the factorywill give visitors a chance to learn how to blend and handroll their own cigars. The goal of most of the renovations was to highlight the historic charm and elements that had been part of the building since it was first built. There Left: Drew Newman in his office at the historical El Reloj factory. Right: The entrance to the El Reloj factory with a working astronomical clock that locals referred to as the “wishing clock.” Left: The gift shop and cigar humidor at the El Reloj cigar factory. Right: The theater located on the second floor of El Reloj that plays old cigar movies.
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