A Guide to Dominican Cigars: Origins, Flavor, and Best Brands

Say ‘cigar’ and most people picture Cuba. But the Dominican Republic has spent decades rolling some of the world’s most renowned cigars, and this post covers how it got there, why the soil around Santiago grows such good tobacco leaves, and how the DR cigars compare to their Cuban and Nicaraguan counterparts.

Experts disagree on when Dominican tobacco began. Some date it to the 1700s, when immigrants from the Canary Islands brought tobacco with them. Others look further back to the Taíno people, who were growing and smoking tobacco in the Caribbean well before Europeans arrived in the 15th century.

However, it is well documented when the industry gained solid footing in the DR, which was after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The US embargo followed soon after in 1962, and Cuban cigar families and master blenders began relocating to the DR and other surrounding countries. With Cuban cigars shut out of the US market, American smokers turned to Dominican cigars, and that demand drew even more attention to the island. By the 1990s, the DR had become a global hub for cigar production and export.

Santiago, the cigar-making capital of the DR, owes its rise largely to climate and growing conditions. The city sits in the Cibao Valley, whose fertile land stretches toward the Haitian border along the Cordillera mountains. Flowing through the peaks and valleys of Cordillera are two rivers named the Yaque del Norte and the Yuna which naturally replenish the valley soil with key nutrients that aid in the production of such remarkable tobacco leaves. 

Soil composition varies from town to town, and each has its own mineral makeup, so yields can differ significantly even within a short distance. Agricultural canals keep water moving through the seasons, giving growers a dependable way to irrigate their crops. Together, Santiago and its neighboring cities help the country produce about 15,000 metric tons of raw tobacco, according to Tobacco Reporter.

Among the many types of tobacco that grow here, Piloto Cubano and Olor Dominicano tend to be the most popular. Piloto Cubano is a Cuban-seed leaf grown in Dominican soil, whereas Olor Dominicano is native to the island. Both are widely used as filler, and their distinctive flavors are the signature of many Dominican cigars.

Dominican cigars are known for being mild, sweet, and easy to enjoy. They also tend to show a cedar taste featuring a creamy undercurrent, which makes them some of the most approachable cigars on the market. 

Two popular examples are the Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Cañones Maduro and the Romeo y Julieta 1875 Churchill en Tubos. What they share, beyond their origin, is an earthy sweetness that comes through in the aroma of the wrapper and on the cold draw.

The scale of the industry shows how far it has come. According to Forbes Global Properties, the DR makes about 8.4 billion cigars a year. The vast majority are machine-made, and only about 180 million are premium handmade cigars. The cigar industry accounts for roughly 10% of the country’s export revenue, which Forbes puts second only to gold.

A handful of names account for much of the DR’s reputation:

• Arturo Fuente: the largest premium brand exported from the island, shipping around 35 million cigars, and the maker of the Opus X.
• Davidoff: the Swiss luxury brand moved production to the DR in the early 1990s and now owns 15 tobacco farms there, most of them around Santiago.
• La Aurora: founded in 1903 in Santiago, one of the country’s oldest cigar makers.
• Tabacalera de García: a large factory in La Romana, home to brands such as Romeo y Julieta.
• E.P. Carrillo: founded by Cuban-born master blender Ernesto Pérez-Carrillo, who brought Cuban blending know-how to Dominican-grown leaf.

As a rule, Dominican cigars are the mildest of the three, Cuban cigars the priciest, and Nicaraguan cigars the boldest. But these are oversimplifications of a very nuanced and complex industry. We know that the Dominican Republic cigar capital is Santiago, but when we look west at Cuba, we’re met with a different story. 

Positioned at the back of the island is the region known as Pinar del Río province, a place famous for producing tobacco leaves for brands like Montecristo and H. Upmann. This region specific taste is not only robust, but also mineral-like in taste. 

And if you travel even farther south away from Cuba to Nicaragua, you’re met with an equally multifaceted smoking experience. Nicaragua’s fertile growing regions include mineral-rich volcanic soils, though the soil and growing conditions vary from one region to another. Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa are among the country’s most important tobacco-growing regions, each contributing its own character, producing flavors like the classic peppery spice and earthiness to softer sweetness. Depending on the tobacco and blend, Nicaraguan cigars can offer notes of pepper, cocoa, coffee, and earth. Major cigar makers like Drew Estate and Perdomo use Nicaraguan tobaccos throughout their blends, showcasing the country’s range.

These are generalizations, and blends vary a lot within every country. Of the three, Cuban cigars are probably the most expensive. Cuba produces some great tobacco, but more importantly, embargoes and other laws make its cigars hard to get, which makes them sought after for their rarity. Some single sticks cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Dominican and Nicaraguan cigars can also run pricey, but they offer plenty of affordable options too, with some boxes going for as little as $50. They also tend to have more variety in their blends, which is a big part of their appeal.

Beginners often migrate toward Dominican cigars naturally because they offer a smooth and creamy tasting experience.

Since the DR produces such approachable cigars, it’s easy to identify those slight flavor distinctions throughout a session. As an inaugural smoke into the cigar world, the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic, is a popular choice. The Classic is part of Arturo Fuente’s Hemingway line. It’s a perfecto, meaning the cigar tapers at both ends, and it’s wrapped in African Cameroon leaf with a Dominican binder and filler. Coined as a medium bodied cigar, the Hemingway Classic denotes flavors of cedar, spice, and an edge of sweetness, resulting in an extremely balanced smoke.

To elevate the experience even further, you can pair the Hemingway Classic with a drink. There’s more obvious choices like a wine and cocktail pairing. But my personal favorite drink pairing is a Thai Iced Tea. 

It may sound weird, but the sweetness from the Thai tea is complimentary to the rich and slightly saccharine taste of the Hemingway Classic. The cardamom and sugary taste of the tea lends itself to the cedary and spicy tone of the cigar. 

While Arturo Fuente makes great cigars, they’re not the only ones that have perfected the art of the beginner cigar, the Ashton Classic Cigar is also a contender. 

The Ashton Classic Cigar is available in a variety of vitolas, but the most foundational is the corona. The wrapper is a Connecticut Shade that houses Dominican filler and binders in a mellow, yet, endearing blend. 

The first third of the cigar opens with a nutty, cedar flavor. As the session progresses, those flavors give way to coffee and honey that murmur gently beneath the nutty surface. This is not a robust, loud cigar. Instead, it’s simple and sits politely with you as it takes its final bow.

It’s definitely worth the hour or two of your time, and it goes best with a gin and tonic topped with cucumber. The herbal flavor of the cocktail marries well with the light cedar taste of the cigar. This is one of those pairings that only really works with light cigars: the more robust the cigar, the heavier the drink.

The Dominican Republic has more than ideal growing conditions for tobacco. It has become a hub of knowledge and craftsmanship in the cigar world. Dominican cigars have made their mark, and with celebrated brands like Arturo Fuente carrying on a rich history of cigar making, their legacy will endure. The industry continues to grow far beyond its early beginnings, and from the fertile soil of Santiago and the Cibao Valley comes the flavor that makes Dominican cigars iconic.

Check out our blog on Nicaraguan cigars to learn more about another of the world’s top three cigar exporters.