The Dominican Republic is now one of the world's leading filler tobacco growers. This was not the case twenty-five years ago when they grew just a small percentage of the tobacco used around the world. The reason for the sudden explosion in their tobacco industry is their ideal climate and weather for growing.
Let altGreenGO! show you spectacular regions with climate and composition almost exactly the same as Cuba. Nestled among mountainous terrain, the Cibao River Valley is the perfect area for growing and producing tobacco, located well inland in the northern part of the country. This area is home to many cigar factories.
Santiago is the area's biggest city. Many of the cigar factories can be found in and around it. It's quite a trip just to get to Santiago.
Although you can fly directly to the city, you usually have to end your trip in Puerto Plata (a touristy, coastal city), and take the two and a half hour ride by land to Santiago.
In the Cibao River Valley you will find two basic types of filler tobacco, both famous: Piloto Cubano and Olor. These two tobaccos deliver rich, peppery flavor that is coveted by cigar smokers all over the world. These tobacco leaves are the ones that come closest to the Cuban leaves in flavor and character.
There are many tobacco factories and in some of them you can watch cigars being handmade. Cuba used to be the place for cigars but when Fidel Castro came to power, many of the wealthy tobacco companies migrated to the Dominican Republic. Practically all the prestigious brands - among them Davidoff, Avo, Arturo Fuente and Romeo y Julieta - contain Dominican tobacco.
DR RUM HISTORY and FACTORY TOUR
Rum is the Dominican national drink. It is obtained from the distillation of alcohol from sugar cane and its derivatives, enriched through various processes of blending, resting and ageing.
Its history goes back to the discovery of America by Admiral Christopher Columbus, who brought sugar cane from Spain in one of his first trips to the New World. It has been established that around the year 1630, the British Colonials initiated the elaboration of rum in the island of Barbados and that in 1651 the traveler Richard Ligon, in his report of his visit to the mentioned island wrote: "the main inebriating drink fabricated in this island is "Rumbullon", also called "Killdevil"; it is based on distilled sugar cane and constitutes a devilishly strong alcohol."
"Rumbullion" comes from an ancient English word, which means "Tumult". By abbreviation, the British called it "Rum" and the French called it "Rhum". Even though the origin of rum is more attached to the British Antilles, its most appreciated and pure type is original of our island. The most popular Rums of the country are Ron Barcelo, Ron Brugual, Ron Bermudez
