FEBRUARY 24 – TOURING GENERAL CIGAR DOMINICANA The next day, I saw firsthand how General Cigar Dominicana farms from the bottom of the tobacco plant up. Nicotine is produced in the root of the plant. It takes about six weeks for the leaves to turn brown. We were also taught about the multiple different curing methods used at the factory. General Cigar Dominicana’s factory is significantly bigger than what I toured the previous day. You can tell how a lot of the processes here have been streamlined. The factory has two large aging rooms. I also learned that General Cigar Dominicana produces about 85 percent of its own boxes. The tour began with a presentation, followed by the attendees being walked through all the different areas of the factory and being shown the different processes that are involved in cigar making. The second leg of the tour took us to another processing plant. In this second building I saw just how massive this operation is. Having this much square acreage gives you a sense of the magnitude of product that General Cigar produces. After this, we went to General Cigars’ box factory, where they showed us all the equipment they use, from the carpentry stations to the staining and printing processes for the boxes. Later that night, the white party was the go-to party. Everyone from major cigar industry leaders to politicians were in attendance. Like the previous night’s party, there was plenty of food and drink to go around and lots of dancing and singing once everyone had a little liquid courage and a full belly. FEBRUARY 25 – FIELDDAYAND GALANIGHT On the last full day of the festival, we all hopped on a bus and headed to La Aurora’s fields for a day outside. When we arrived, we received a Boveda bag with four trading cards that had the leaders of each company printed on them. We were encouraged to swap with each other in search of the perfect set based on our tastes. There were food stations, bars and games for everyone to take part in. This field was a little different: La Aurora had trees sprinkled throughout the field. The weather was beautiful: sunny and not too hot. That night, there was electricity and compassion in the air at the closing gala and charity night. With the auction being the main attraction, people were ready to give on top of the price of the items to aid those in need—so much so that $340,000 was raised by the end of the night. During the night, a band came out and performed, followed by a DJ that turned the main floor into a dance club. Everyone left tired but happy—it had been a good, long week. FINAL IMPRESSIONS Procigar Festival is an event that takes cigar lovers to their own paradise. There’s no expense spared on the parties or the variety of cigar boxes that are gifted to attendees every night. Froman educational perspective—and coming from someone who is inquisitive and curious— it was really intriguing to see firsthand just how cigars are made, from the seedlings placed in the ground to how the boxes are designed. I learned so much during this event! Since I’ve only been in the industry for a year, Procigar was like “Cigars 101” for me. My favorite part of Procigar had to be the tours. You get to learn about their specific process and meet the folks who create these cigars that you smoke. And obviously, all the swag that comes with the event is a given highlight—all were high quality and will easily find a place in my collection. I’ve hosted and worked large events in previous jobs and can say those organizing and working Procigar did a really good job. My only suggestion would be to try to centrally locate everyone to avoid long bus wait times and perhaps have more than one COVID-19 testing center (if that’s still a thing a year from now). If you love cigars, then attending next year’s Procigar Festival should definitely be in your plans. TB 56 TOBACCO BUSINESS | MARCH / APRIL | 22
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzMDM=