When you are a part of the media, the first quarter of the year is typically viewed as “festival season.” This is the time of year you know will spend time in many airports, your passport, early mornings and late nights. It’s a busy time but also the most productive time of the year outside of “trade show season.”
From February 16-21, 2025, all eyes were on the Dominican Republic for the 17th Procigar Festival. This annual festival brings attention to the Dominican Republic’s cigar culture and industry. Cigar enthusiasts from around the world travel to the Dominican Republic for several days of activities, networking, and factory and field tours. While some may view this as a vacation, it’s more like an educational deep dive into the world of premium cigars with the backdrop of one of the world’s leading cigar-producing countries.
There are certain givens when it comes to Procigar that you can count on: there are plenty of factory tours, you will see a tobacco field (or two) and learn about the life of a tobacco plant from seed to shelf, you will smoke your share of premium cigars by the end of the week, and you will be treated to plenty of good Dominican food and rum. There are plenty of reviews across the Internet that provide a thorough recap of the tours and parties that take place during the week, but there’s more to the Procigar Festival than a tour and nightly party.
The Procigar Experience is getting a chance to see firsthand how much work goes into making just one premium cigar. No two cigar factories are the same; each one has its own vibe and process of doing things; walking through Fuente’s impressive factory helps to understand why “Only Fuente is Fuente” and hearing and seeing Ernesto Perez-Carrillo explain why the people are so crucial to the cigar making process behind the doors of Casa Carrillo gives you a good idea of why he’s raked up so many accolades over the years. The experience you have in the Dominican Republic during Procigar is a memorable one and one that leaves you in awe of the work, dedication, and heart that goes into making a premium cigar.
The 2025 Procigar Festival was not just another one for the books; it was the evolution of an ongoing mission of the Procigar’s members to highlight their country and the cigar industry within it. This was the festival’s first year under the leadership of La Flor Dominicano’s Litto Gomez, who helped take the festival into new territory, and the festival’s executive director Agustín Fernández. There were subtle changes, from changing the host hotel to the recently opened Residence Inn Santiago to ditching the Friday Field Day for another tour. There were some big swings taken as well, such as adding more theatrics and entertainment value to the Gala Dinner and turning the final event of the week into a fundraising opportunity for several charities (the annual auction brought in nearly $451,600 for various charitable organizations in the Dominican Republic).
What also made this year’s festival stand out is the rising presence of “the next generation” of many of these companies starting to take center stage. Nirka Reyes led the way during De Los Reyes’s field and factory tour, while Raquel and Patricia Quesada opened the doors to their family’s cigar factory as its official new owners. Klaas Kelner’s new factory, Kelner Cigars, was announced as the latest member of Procigar as brothers Tony and Litto Jr. Gomez continue to step up into prominent roles at La Flor Dominicana. This was a year of transition, with the sons and daughters of many legendary Dominican cigar makers stepping into the spotlight in leading rather than supporting roles.
After 17 years, Procigar and its organizers are more than willing to show that it can show cigar enthusiasts a good time. It’s essential for anyone who works in the premium cigar industry to take the time and make the investment to take part in Procigar. Reading about how cigars are made and seeing videos and pictures posted on social media is nice, but your appreciation for the craft and the many people responsible for making cigars can only be experienced in person. If you are an advocate, Procigar gives you plenty of examples of how many men and women depend on this industry to support their families; if you’re a retailer, Procigar allows you to speak and interact with the people who make the products you sell and allows you to speak more confidently about the products your customers are interested in. If you are a consumer, Procigar is a fun time and allows you to ask questions directly to some of the biggest names in the industry as they show you around their businesses and factories. To say Procigar is “just a week of tours and smoking cigars” doesn’t do it justice–it’s an experience that will leave an impression on you and make you a better cigar enthusiast overall.
To learn more about the Procigar Festival, visit procigar.org.
Disclaimer: Procigar provided accommodations and waived registration so that I could cover this year’s festival on behalf of the Premium Cigar Association (PCA).
– Story and photos by Antoine Reid, content director at Premium Cigar Association (PCA). You can reach him at antoine@premiumcigars.org.