Tabacalera El Artista opened its doors in 1956. While the factory’s primary operations are based in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, it also has warehouses and other factories in Moca, La Vega, and San Juan. Among some of the brands produced at this factory include Big Papi by David Ortiz, Buffalo TEN and the new Artista Harvest and Midnight cigars. The factory had long figured in the life of Ram Rodriguez, even before he officially joined the family’s tobacco business in 2010.
“The first memories I have there [at the factory] are of me playing hide and seek in the warehouses and climbing the bales with my cousins. Also, all the trips to the farms. Every time I feel or smell recently cured tobacco, it takes me back to the travels I used to do with my father to the farms every Sunday when I was around 7 or 8 years old,” Rodriguez shares.
“The fact that we are vertically integrated impresses people,” says Rodriguez. “I think our great team sets us apart. We are a very large family, and we feel proud of what we have achieved.”
Though a lot is going on in Artista’s factory, and there are plenty of unique processes and tobacco to explore, it’s the people within the factory that Rodriguez is most excited to talk about. These are not just employees who work for Rodriguez. He refers to those within Artista as family and, more than that, as artisans. As he describes it, each person working in the factory has a skillset that they use in a certain way to create something incredible every day.
“Be it tobacco fermenting, cigar rolling, or leaf growing, everyone has an opportunity each day to use their skills and the latitude to be creative within their abilities,” he explains.
Every decision at Tabacalera El Artista is made with the “artisans” in mind. Their needs are prioritized above all else, something that Rodriguez views as his factory’s advantage. Rodriguez believes the more Tabacalera El Artista’s family understands and knows that they are being taken care of, the better cigars the factory puts out into the world.
“We are always looking for people with a heart for tobacco. Passion and dedication are necessary because the work is not easy,” states Rodriguez.
Just who are these artisans with heart, passion and dedication? How do they view their work and contributions to Tabacalera El Artista and the premium cigars that are crafted there? Here are three Tabacalera El Artista artisans giving you a look at their careers at Artista, what happens within the factory, and what they want you to know about their roles and contributions.
Juan Francisco Almone Rodriguez – Production Manager and Master Blender
Within Tabacalera El Artista’s tobacco plant you’ll find Juan overseeing various parts of the production process, such as tobacco stemming, wrapper selection, quality control, and work within the binder department.
Before working at Tabacalera El Artista, he worked as General Cigar Dominicana’s galera supervisor. He gets to work directly with Rodriguez and the company’s other owners in his current position at Tabacalera El Artista, a position Juan has held for eight years. He has the opportunity to exchange ideas with them. While the factory is hard work, he and those he works with strive to give 100 percent to the tasks they must complete. Juan and his team know the goal they are working towards: excellence in everything they do and the cigars they make.
“My life has changed positively because Tabacalera El Artista always supports its employees in finding solutions to work-related and personal issues,” he shares. “We are willing to positively contribute to the development of this institution both within and outside the company.”
Juan wants the world to know that he contributed to the overall development of Tabacalera El Artista and the quality of its portfolio of premium cigars. Knowing he can provide cigar enthusiasts worldwide with an exceptional smoking experience through his work is one of the most fulfilling parts of his work at Tabacalera El Artista.
Marcos Antonio Pimente Martinez – Fermentation Supervisor
Marcos has worked at Tabacalera El Artista for six years. Before he worked at Artista, he served as the fermentation and sorting supervisor at another tobacco company. In his current position, he manages and coordinates all activities in the fermentation packaging area, including keeping an eye on the temperature and humidity the tobacco is stored in.
When asked what he likes about working at Artista, he responded, “I really like the work environment we have. I feel like part of a family where we are all following the same path.”
Each day at Tabacalera El Artista presents a new challenge to Marcos as he tackles various activities and responsibilities related to his position. Even though the factory is fast-paced, he concludes it’s enjoyable and great for keeping his mind sharp. To those reading this story, Marcos hopes the premium cigar industry recognizes the drastically positive changes he and others at Tabacalera El Artista are making and how their factory is being positioned to compete with the standards of some of the largest tobacco companies in the industry.
Alfonso Reinoso – Operations Manager
For Alfonso, Tabacalera El Artista serves as his second home—not because of the time he spends at work, but because of the culture within Tabacalera El Artista, which he describes as simply feeling like being part of a family.
Alfonso has several responsibilities at the factory, including order and request management; development and coordination of private brand projects; supervision and coordination of different teams; and customer communications. With so many different functions he has to oversee, the ability to work with others excites him and motivates him the most.
“I value and am motivated by the passionate focus on the quality of our products, from cultivation to packaging,” he says. “Interacting with clients and building strong relationships, especially working on private brand projects, fulfills me. I am excited about the opportunity to create unique and exclusive projects for each client, representing a new challenge and chance to innovate, making my work interesting and stimulating due to the industry’s dynamic nature and constantly evolving customer demands.”
Before working at Tabacalera El Artista, Alfonso was a graphic designer and project manager at a different company. With Tabacalera El Artista, he’s developed new skills and competencies and has taken on new responsibilities. Being the operations manager of Tabacalera El Artista has challenged him professionally. Still, it has been very satisfying as he sees his efforts contribute to Tabacalera El Artista’s legacy.
“Our work at Tabacalera El Artista goes beyond simply manufacturing cigars. We create experiences,” Alfonso states. “I want to highlight the hard work and artisanal talent that our teams put into each cigar and how we aim to satisfy each customer. These individuals are the true heroes of the industry, arriving at the factory every day with a smile, ready to transform that joy into cigars.”
This only begins to tell the story of the artisans of Tabacalera El Artista. In order to get the full picture, look no further than the company’s expansive premium cigar collection. When Rodriguez and his team decided to rebrand the company’s premium cigar business to simply Artista in 2022, the factory’s artisans and agronomists were tasked with creating something new. They were given few directions other than to use new materials, get access to often overlooked tobaccos and develop something different from what the company had previously released when it was known as El Artista. After they accepted this challenge, the medium-bodied Artista Harvest was created. This cigar features a top-grade Sumatra wrapper, flavorful Habano Seco binder, and filler composed of proprietary Dominican tobaccos. The factory’s artisans used their skills to craft the Artista Midnight, the company’s first premium full-bodied cigar. This rich, earthy cigar has a dark Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, and a Connecticut Shade binder that offers cigar enthusiasts some sweetness through filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the U.S.
Cigars that were released originally by El Artista are also still available within different collections. The Rugged Country series comprises Buffalo TEN, Cimarron and Fugly Cheeroots. The brands that helped put Tabacalera El Artista on the map—Pulita, Puro Ambar and Exactus—make up the Factory Classics Series. The cigars made with famed Dominican-American former professional baseball player David Ortiz, Big Papi, and its follow-up, The Slugger, are still vital to Tabacalera El Artista’s premium cigar portfolio and are being made.
If you want to learn what makes Tabacalera El Artista unique, you need only smoke one of the many cigars that its many passionate, skilled artisans carefully and masterfully craft.
– Photography by Juan Carlos Fondeur. Story by Antoine Reid, content director at Premium Cigar Association (PCA). You can reach him at [email protected].
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 3, 2023. To receive a copy of this magazine you must be a current member of PCA. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.