Oenophiles make pilgrimages to wine châteaux in the south of France, and Scotch lovers often tour ancient distilleries in the Scottish highlands, but few cigar smokers ever venture into the Caribbean tobacco finca and fabrica that give life to their favorite pastime. But turn a simple factory tour into two full-blown, multiday cigar festivals, and airline Web sites almost crash as cigar enthusiasts rush to book their tickets.
Every winter for about a decade, Cuba has hosted the Festival del Habano in Havana, an industry conference/trade show spiced up with a heaping load of celebration. Cuban cigar trade partners and plain ol’ enthusiasts pony up $1,150 — hotel not included — for a festival pass, which includes the opening night reception (typically held in an iconic location like the Grand Teatro de la Habana or Morro Castle); a day trip to visit tobacco fields and curing barns in areas such as the San Juan y Martínez fields, the Viñales Valley, or Vuelta Abajo; a factory tour of El Laguito, H. Upmann, and Partagás; and the closing gala dinner (a companion program swaps certain industry events for tours of Havana). Somewhere in there is an industry conference and trade show, too — featuring the newest Cuban cigars, including some hard-to-come-by edición limitada, combined with technical seminars, contests, and lectures. The upcoming 2008 festival is set for February 25–29; the Web site at habanos.com will update with details closer to that time.
Don’t carry an EU passport or feel like paying a $10,000 fine? The Dominican Republic will hold its first-ever cigar festival courtesy of ProCigar, the Dominican Republic’s manufacturer association, from March 5–7, 2008. Since this tropical paradise accounts for 55 percent of all premium cigars sold in the U.S. — over 171 million cigars last year — it’s a natural to host its own annual cigar celebration.
The festival, centered in Santiago de los Caballeros — in the heart of the Valle de Cibao, the Dominican Republic’s center for tobacco farming and cigar manufacturing – allows participants (for $595) to tour multiple factories and tobacco fields (La Aurora, General Cigar Dominicana, Tabadom, MATASA) and see their familiar brands brought to life (León Jimenes, Partagas, Macanudo, Cohiba, Davidoff, Zino, Avo, Fonseca). There are daily luncheons with top cigar makers, seminars featuring cigar tasting and the pairing of cigars with spirits, nightly dinners featuring exotic Dominican cuisine, and parties.
Extend the trip an optional three days to spend the weekend in La Romana and you can tour the vast Tabacalera de Garcia factory, home to the Dominican Montecristo, H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta, among other brands, and participate in a golf tournament at Casa de Campo. (Procigar. org offers additional adventures and hotel options).
Whichever one you choose, it’s sure to prove a higher read on the excitement meter than puttering through yet another gray and damp French ville.