#Don Lucas Cigar Factory | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blindmanspuff · 7 years

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Introduction

After nearly two decades of marriage, it is not uncommon to find yourself in a bit of a rut. If you have kids, you can find yourself going through the motions every day. Some days can be considered a success simply because the house didn’t catch on fire and no one ended up in the ER. We make our own sacrifices and do the best we can to make each day interesting, but the routine can cause us to fall into a pattern of sameness. One day in the Spring of 2017, my wife and I made an out of the blue decision to change things up and we are so glad we did. Since she is a teacher it makes the most sense to take our trip during her spring break. That did not coincide with spring break for our kids, but we were fortunate enough to have family and friends nearby who could help us out at home and keep an eye on the kids (see the earlier comment about catching the house on fire). We decided on a destination that would give us a tropical setting, beautiful beaches, and a vibrant local culture. Since we are also just average working people the overall cost was also a big factor.

After a lot of searching, we settled on Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. In today’s market we are so fortunate to have multiple sources on the web with reviews and recommendations related to travel destinations. So many people raved about Punta Cana, and the prices for local all-inclusive resorts were outstanding. Since Dominican Republic has such a wonderful cigar related history, I looked around for a cigar related excursion that would not take me away from the beach for an entire day and would not break the bank. I searched quite a bit online and had a conversation with Emmett, the Founder and CEO of Blind Man’s Puff and Don Lucas Cigars was at the top of the list. Emmett put me in touch With Kelmin Nacor. Kelmin is one of the lead representatives for the Don Lucas cigar brand.

The Don Lucas factory in Punta Cana is only one portion of the wonderful Muno Autentico. The Mundo Autentico facility is open and available to people staying at resorts in the Punta Cana area. In most cases, they will provide free transportation from your resort as well as free return transportation to your resort. On the surface, Mundo Autentico may look like a shopping and tourism experience, but it is so much more. It is almost like a history lesson about Dominican Republic and a glimpse into some of the industries that have provided such a great name to Dominican Republic. Not only can you tour the Don Lucas Cigar factory, you can also experience the process behind Dominican coffee, chocolate, and rum. All of this capped off with a visit to a beautiful all-in-one shopping center. Being Blind Man’s Puff, we will focus on the cigar factory, of course.

The Cigar Factory

Since I have already been to some cigar factories, I had some idea what to expect. What was so wonderful about the tour at the Don Lucas cigar factory was the close family atmosphere. While it is a small factory by some standards, they do not cut corners on quality or final product. They meet or exceed some quality control and aging standards that I have seen from other manufacturers. They don’t disclose what daily production rates are, but they vary. It all depends on what leaf they have in stock that day that is ready to be rolled. They do not base anything off production quotas, but only on quality standards. I greatly admire that practice, especially considering how rare it is becoming in the cigar industry.

I was very pleased with the attention to detail in all aspects of the cigar operation. From the storage of the bales in that pungent and overwhelming smell of ammonia, to the sorting room, all the way to the rolling floor. It is evident that they take great care of the tobaccos that are sourced from farms in and around Santiago, as well as some tobaccos from other major producers around the world. About 60 percent of all the cigars rolled at the Don Lucas Factory are sold right there at the Mundo Autentico gift shop. The rest are sold at retail cigar shops in the United States and Columbia. Don Lucas can be found at about 20 brick and mortar stores in the United States and 5 or 6 stores in Columbia.

The cigar lines from Don Lucas are varied and well-tailored to any palate. The Classic Series is a blend of Dominican binder and filler under a CT wrapper from Ecuador. While mild, it still has plenty of flavor and natural sweetness. The HS Series has a bit more punch, thanks to some higher priming Dominican leaf in the filler, along with a tasty Sumatra wrapper. The AL Series bring the bold strength that Dominican cigars are known for. Earthy and strong, with just the right balance of sweetness from some USA Broadleaf. The 20th Anniversary Series is an ultra-refined Dominican Puro that really showcases the flavors that the native tobaccos are known for. Almost a perfect mix of the HS and AL Series. The Family Reserve Series, in both natural and maduro, are a true statement of the history of Don Lucas Cigars. It is a blend that is incredibly refined, and yet still has enough boldness and nuance to please the most experienced cigar lover. Needless to say, all of the blends are made in extremely small batches.

Not only do they take great care in the making of their cigars, they also make all of their cigar boxes with the same attention to detail, and the best in materials. The boxes are made from solid locally sourced cedar and cedar veneer plywood. Every aspect of the box production happens in-house. The boxes are for all retail sales, but directly at the factory you can buy some of the Don Lucas blends in cellophane wrapped bundles.

Dominican Coffee & Chocolate

If you are a cigar connoisseur you may not be aware of the delicious coffee and chocolate grown and made right in Dominican Republic. The tour at Mundo Autentico gives a nice look inside. The sections they have dedicated to coffee and chocolate are each like a mini-museum. With beautiful artwork and displays showcasing the history and the process that go into producing some of the most highly regarded products in the world. Interestingly enough, in my experience, Dominican chocolate and coffee share some of the same characteristics that also tend to define Dominican tobaccos. They lean towards an earthy quality that give a nice balance when properly blended. The chocolate is very smooth, but has a unique boldness that really stands out in the darker blends with higher cacao content. One of my favorite versions they had was a dark chocolate that was molded with sesame seeds. The nutty flavor of the seeds was an almost perfect balance with the chocolate. The coffee operation was just as impressive. You can see right inside the rooms where the beans are sorted, blended and roasted. It smells like absolute heaven. Similar to the chocolate display, you are given a museum-like tour through the world of Dominican coffee, with great detail and passion. I loved many of coffee blends that I tasted, but one was especially delicious and unique. It was a blend of cold brewed Dominican coffee, dark rum, and some local spices. It has such a kick and yet in the end I could still taste the coffee. The section with the coffee and chocolate really impressed me, and adds such a nice touch to the tour and the facility as a whole.

Dominican Rum

From there, we moved on to the most wonderful rum bar. This place was fantastic, and reminded me of the kind of sports bar you would regularly find in the USA. The walls on one end of the bar are lined with signed soccer jerseys from all over the world. It also boasts another walk-in humidor that rivals what you would find in many cigar shops. The star is, of course, the rum. It is truly mind-boggling to see the selection that they have behind the long, narrow bar. I was able to sit down and sample Dominican rums ranging from 4-year-old, all the way up to a 35-year-old rum. I would be willing to swear that the 35-year-old rum was like drinking liquid butterscotch. It was truly one of the most luxurious spirits I have ever tried, and one that I must try again someday.

Shopping Extravaganza

To close it all out, the tour ends at the massive shopping complex. It is simply incredible to see all they have to offer. There is a huge selection on the main level of every kind of souvenir you could possibly imagine. From t-shirts to can coolers, and fridge magnets to baseball caps, they have all of it, in every conceivable style and size. At the time I was there, they also had a beautiful jewelry counter but they were finishing up a separate building dedicated exclusively to jewelry. The upstairs of the shopping complex has a great selection of the Dominican coffee and chocolate, and one thing that could have held my attention all day. The majority of the upstairs was dedicated to one of the biggest walk-in humidors that you will find anywhere. Of course I found a large selection of Don Lucas cigars there, but also cigars from almost every other mainstream brand you can think of. This also included a very large selection of cigars from Habanos, SA. A nice touch, considering the unreal amount of counterfeit Cuban cigars available throughout the resorts in Punta Cana. It is nice to know that the Cuban cigars at Mundo Autentico are truly legitimate. In addition to peace of mind in knowing they are legitimate, they also take an extra step to keep you safe as a cigar consumer. We know that Cuban cigars are not wrapped in cellophane, so at their shop they take the time to individually encase each and every Cuban cigar in cellophane to reduce the risk of damage or contamination while on the retail shelf. As far as I’m concerned, that is going above and beyond.

Conclusion

All in all, this retail space was a wonderful touch. I saw a couple of online posters bash the retail portion saying it was tourist trap and money grab. That kind of narrow-minded view makes no sense to me. As safe as it is in Punta Cana, you have to be more aware of your surroundings and aware of your own lack of knowledge of your environment. That doesn’t mean that Punta Cana is an unsafe place, but some tourists might not feel safe leaving the resort and going into town. With Mundo Autentico, they keep everything close and in-house to basically eliminate the risk. They give you free transportation to a site that will take you on a museum-quality tour of some of the best handmade industry that Dominican Republic has to offer. They also allow you to sample some of that wonderful handmade product. Then, they take you directly to a one-stop shopping center that has everything a tourist could ever hope for, at reasonable prices, in a gated and safe environment. To top it all off, they drive you back to your resort in Punta Cana free of charge. Aside from the fact that my wife decided not to join me, it was one of the best experiences of my trip. And she was glad to have a couple of hours to herself to just lay in the sun by the ocean. I would call that a win-win, but that doesn’t do it justice. Most of the resorts in the area have a listing in their activity book for Mundo Autentico, but it’s always a good idea to plan it before you even arrive in Punta Cana. You can find out more HERE.

Here are some more images from my visit to Don Lucas/Puro Autentico. Click each image to enlarge.

Editorial: Don Lucas Cigar Factory | Mundo Autentico - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Introduction After nearly two decades of marriage, it is not uncommon to find yourself in a bit of a rut.

#Dominican Republic #Don Lucas Cigar Factory #Emmett

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aravinthdigi-blog · 4 years

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Top 10 Cigars You Should Buy Now

It is hard enough to bring out an annual list of top cigarettes, but to do so for the best overall is a whole different animal. The number of cigar shops in India is growing gradually along with a subsequent increase in cigar aficionados. To pick a pool of best cigars from such a large pool of quality shops in a tough challenge.

Bangalore has been the upcoming hub of cigar aficionados and will continue to garner their affection in the near future. From amongst the best cigar shops in Bangalore, Cigar Conexion, is a name which is reducing the demand-supply gap with their highly premium selection of cigars. These are the top picks from the Cigar Conexion shop for best cigars of all time, after a thorough elimination process.

1. Ashton VSG

Ashton VSG Cigars are regarded as one of the world's top ten rarest cigars. The VSG takes advantage of a meticulous mix of widely sought after tobaccos. The equally delectable mix of aged long fillers is covered by a smooth silky Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper, while a premium binder encapsulates tobacco used for the filler. Ashton VSG is dreamy and extremely hard to find a dream of a cigar connoisseur.

2. Debonaire

These cigars are created using only the most perfect tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, the United States, and Nicaragua. The finished blend is then wrapped in Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro or Nicaraguan Habano wrappers. The final product is a well-balanced, full-bodied smoke with sweet tobacco notes and a woody-leathery portion with a peppery spice ribbon.

3. Don Fidel

Don Fidel cigars are handcrafted by using selected fillers from Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. These are then bonded with Habano binder and Habano wrapper. The cigar when lit up, has a bitter influence of the Dominican tobacco and a touch of black pepper taste of the Nicaraguan origin. Don Fidel has earthy, coffee, and cocoa notes with a sweet & salty ending.

4. Don Lucas

Don Lucas cigars are handcrafted in the Dominican Republic using the best fillers and binders. They constitute amongst one of the heaviest cigars in the industry. On completion, the finished cigar has a rich and robust pepper flavor with an earthy ending note.

5. Indian Motorcycle

Indian motorcycle cigars, made at Del Los Reyes / Debonaire House in the Dominican Republic, are elegant and expertly handcrafted in four shapes with Dominican and other Central American tobacco and your choice of Ecuadorian Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro or Habano wrappers. The Habano binded blend issues notes of coffee, nutmeg, sugarcane, and caramel. The equally smooth Maduro delivers notes of dark chocolate, leather and earth.

6. Oliva

Oliva cigars are handcrafted using selected Nicaraguan ligero long fillers from the Dominican Republican. The flavor-packed cigars are then wrapped up in a dark Habano wrapper leaf. The finished cigar has a well-balanced smooth taste, and will leave your taste buds dancing!

7. Padron Cigars

The Padron cigars are known for using their signature 5 year aged tobacco in making the perfect blend. A Maduro wrapper is employed to embody the finished blend of cigar so as to provide a balance and smoothness in taste. The finished cigar when lit up has a distinct earthy taste and a superb note of coffee.

8. Rocky Patel

The legendary Rocky Patel is one of the pioneers of the enormously popular boutique-cigar category. In addition, all of Rocky’s blends have consistently remained near the top of the list of quality small-batch cigar brands. At a factory in Nicaragua, Rocky Patel cigars are crafted with copious, complex flavors via the finest blends of premium tobaccos from a variety of nations and growing regions around the world. All of Rocky Patel’s premium cigars remain in high demand by consistently scoring 90+ ratings in top industry publications, and offering a dizzying array of blends that range from mild to knock-your-socks-off strong. The finished product when lit up, exudes notes of earth, coffee and vanilla.

9. Vedado

Vedado cigars are known to employ a handpicked selection of tobacco fillers from Nicaraguan regions, which have aged for a minimum of 18 months. The blend is binded in a zesty bider and wrapped up in Habano Ecuador wrapper. The finished cigar has a peppery and sweet aroma.

10. Vedado Flat Black Cigars

These cigars are handcrafted using a batch of tobacco which has been fermented and aged for 48 months. The fillers fermented for a minimum of 48 months are procured from Nicaraguan regions. The finished blend is then wrapped in a San Andreas wrapper. The cigar is soft on the palate and has a distinct combination of taste including earth, coffee and spices.

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gramilano · 6 years

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Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Another Carmen? Well, yes, but there is a slightly different slant to this new production for the Rome Opera Ballet because Jiří Bubeníček has used Prosper Mérimée’s novella as his starting point, not Bizet’s opera. The ballet does, however, use Bizet’s music for the main part, which instantly removes originality from the score. Apart from a few interventions with musicians onstage — a piece for guitar and flute by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, some traditional flamenco with guitar, and a piano piece by Albéniz arranged for guitar — the only departures from Bizet in the pit were a little of de Falla’s ballets The Three-Cornered Hat and El amor brujo. They were used principally to accompany a scene from the novella which was not in Bizet’s opera, and maybe for good reason as it adds little and slows down the action. The scene is quite bizarre, as it recounts Don José going to Gibraltar disguised as an orange seller to look for Carmen and he finds her in the house of an English General. The significant moment — which is not in the same scene in the novella anyway — is when one of the gypsies, El Remendado, is wounded during an escape and Carmen’s husband, Garcia (again from the Mérimée), finishes him off with a pistol shot as taking him with them would slow them down. Don José is horrified at the cold-bloodedness of it.

Susanna Salvi and Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

However, the timing and focus of this scene is typical of several significant events in Bubeníček’s choreography. Often the audience’s eye isn’t drawn to the right place on stage to observe an important plot point, and at times the action is so quick that the dramatic possibilities are lost. Remendado’s death comes during a very busy stage picture and we lose its significance yet for Don José it is fundamental because it is by this action that he realises the ruthlessness of Garcia and it leads to him killing Garcia soon after and momentarily winning back Carmen. The lack of focus on stage also happens during the long, complex fight among the women in the cigar factory, when the moment Carmen cuts an X into a fellow workers forehead is easily missed, yet vital to explain the aggressivity that follows. Another moment comes when Don José kills his Lieutenant. Bubeníček has them fighting with martial arts sticks for some reason (in the novella he kills the Lieutenant with a sword), in fact it’s the standard weapon throughout the ballet except for the dagger in the closing moments and rifles in the Englishman’s house. Don’t ask me why; I couldn’t work it out. The ‘kill’ comes in the form of crushing the Lieutenant’s neck between crossed sticks, but aside from the fact that he seems to be doing it to himself (to avoid eliminating too many dancers during the run I assume), it happens in a fraction of a second — it would hardly have left a bruise.

Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 05

Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 01

Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 02

Another huge annoyance was the ‘pantomime’ horse. There are two operators inside and Bubeníček says that he was inspired by the marionettes in Prague, though it seems more likely that he was taken with the London’s National Theatre’s production of the play War Horse — in fact there is a gallop scene which is almost identical. In the novella there are horses, so it seems like a fun idea. However, as this horse remains onstage a good while, it’s not a just a prop but a character… a two-dimensional one. Instead of a stylised horse, as in War Horse, it is more like a marionette, so Bubeníček wants it to be a believable horse in a context where everything else is real, whereas a marionette horse would be surrounded by other marionettes. The woman sitting next to me chuckled every time the horse came on, and indeed the effect was sometimes comical even if the two men who worked it were very talented. When the horse places its muzzle on a downcast Don José’s shoulder, it was a cheap, clichéd moment that should have been avoided.

Maybe it’s unkind to start with so many negative aspects, but they were all the more irritating because there were several good ideas in this Carmen and it could have been so much better with a more rigorous and theatrical approach to the storytelling. It was, for example, a nice touch to have Prosper Mérimée on stage, observing and noting the story. This is how it happens in his novella as he meets Carmen and Don José and writes of these experiences. The fact that he looks like a bank manager is unfortunate. But we see the scene with Mérimée meeting Carmen when she manages to steal his gold watch (another blink and you’ve missed it moment) which is a useful prologue to the story. The ballet also begins with Don José recounting his story from prison before he is hanged for murder. We see him swing as the ballet bursts into life and the final scene returns to the hanging. Framing the entire action is a wandering accordion player, presumably giving it that French Mérimée/Bizet touch, playing a couple of Bizet’s opera’s themes. The flavour is good, but it seems inadequate and added on, much like the horse — a possibly decent idea but half-baked.

Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

The bullring sequence is well done. Half-naked toreros with their cloaks make the ring, with Carmen and Lucas (not Escamillo here, and as he’s a picador he duly arrives on a horse… ‘that’ horse) in the centre. Their actions are half that of bull and bullfighter and half that of a couple flirting with dangerous sex, and projected above them is a horrific stylised video of a dying bull.

The set design, with occasional projections, is one of the highlights of the production. Gianni Carluccio’s semi-realistic sets sometimes hover above the dancers — just suggesting not being — and are elegant, functional and emotionally symbolic. The heavy walls hanging above Don José are an oppressive reminder of how his story will finish and the weight of his moral dilemma. For the most part, Anna Biagiotti’s costumes are very attractive and they are beautifully made, though the occasional tourist-postcard look, which I imagine was intentional, made some costumes appear cheap.

Bubeníček doesn’t have a distinctive choreographic stamp, and sequences occasionally become repetitive, such as Carmen continually being tossed around like a juggler’s club, but they sure all get opportunities to dance. He gives the company lots of movement, such as the cigar makers dancing over, around and under their work benches, and the bandits leaping around during their various fight sequences, and it shows that the company in Rome is in excellent shape, but for the most part it is the pas de deux and solos that are the most memorable.

Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 01

Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 03

Amar Ramasar in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 04

Susanna Salvi as Carmen was dancing with former New York City Ballet principal dancer Amar Ramasar. She didn’t allow him to steal the show, which is to her credit, as Ramasar is impressively charismatic, a fine actor, and moves beautifully contrasting his noble line with more modern contortions, most notably during his Flower Song solo which Bubeníček has constructed with loving care. He has a twinkle in his eye, style in his body and warmth in his heart. Salvi has a lot of spark and was fiery without being hand-on-the-hips ordinary as often happens on the opera stage. She has a personality that hits you between the eyes and was never obviously trying to be sexy unless she was deliberately teasing. It was clear why Don José was smitten by her and the chemistry between Salvi and Ramasar was winning. Alessio Rezza looked suitably arrogant as the picador Lucas, cutting a fine figure in his spectacular traje de luces costume and Gaetan Vermeulen as Garcia was seedy and mean and no tears were shed onstage or off when he was killed.

A second cast saw principal dancer Rebecca Bianchi paired with Giacomo Castellana. Castellana was a substitute for an injured Claudio Cocino who was to have alternated with Ramasar, and he played just two matinée performances, leaving Ramasar all the evening shows. He was inadequate and it was evident that he wasn’t secure with the choreography or the characterisation — the touching detail seen with Ramasar was lost. He also had an annoyingly inappropriate tattoo on the back of his neck which glistened brightly. Bianchi was sensibly cautious in his arms — some of the lift sequences were complex — and became another when she was dancing without him, full of verve and with technical ease.

Susanna Salvi in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček with Giuseppe Depalo ® Yasuko Kageyama

Notable in the smaller roles were Loïck Pireaux at the Lieutenant and Giuseppe Depalo as the slightly ridiculous Englishman.

It is evident that a lot of money has been lavished on this production and much of it is good and it would be criminal for it to disappear. To approach the levels of the Roland Petit or Mats Ek versions, however, it needs some judicious pacing cuts, clearer storytelling and less generic choreography before its next outing.

Giacomo Castellana in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 01

Rebecca Bianchi and company in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Giacomo Castellana in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Rebecca Bianchi and Giacomo Castellana in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama 01

Rebecca Bianchi and Giacomo Castellana in Carmen di Jiří Bubeníček ® Yasuko Kageyama

Ramasar and Salvi shine in Jiří Bubeníček’s new version of Carmen in Rome Another Carmen? Well, yes, but there is a slightly different slant to this new production for the Rome Opera Ballet because Jiří Bubeníček has used Prosper Mérimée’s novella as his starting point, not Bizet’s opera.

#Carmen #Mats Ek #New York City Ballet #Roland Petit #Rome Opera Ballet

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