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Given that Cuba is the most popular cigar-producing country, it would be logical to think that it holds the title of being the Cigar Country. Apparently, this isn’t so since the prestigious title has been bestowed to the Dominican Republic, paradise located in the very heart of the Caribbean. Why this became so was a result of historical events that not even the people of Dominican Republic could have anticipated.
The cigar industry of the country started quite small but even then, it boasted of good soil and perfect climate for tobacco. The trade embargo imposed by the US on Cuba during the 1960’s started a series of events that would end up benefitting the cigar industry of Dominican Republic. Many notable Cuban cigar-makers opted to transfer to Nicaragua and Spain to take advantage of the low salaries of trained cigar-makers. Dominican Republic merely saw this as a chance to export tobacco leaves to these two countries.
The Cuban cigar families that chose to move to the Dominican Republic contented themselves in selling cigar on a wholesale basis. The production of cigar in the Dominican Republic remained the same until the move of big cigar manufacturers due to the civil war in Nicaragua, and the increased taxes in Spain. These people found an ideal place within which to continue their profitable cigar-making operation. Noted cigar-makers from Florida also came and established themselves in the country.
Dominican Republic became a haven for these big cigar manufacturers because of the country’s duty-free industrial parks and conducive lifestyle. The tobacco planters of the country who were formerly poor peasants became proud cigar makers with good income and stable jobs. The Dominican Republic has indeed become the cigar country.