Brocatus Anejo Churchill

Luis Tomas Mendez may not be a household name, but he has been in the industry for years as a tobacco grower and dealer and has recently started manufacturing cigars in a factory located in Tamboril, Dominican Republic. His Brocatus Anejo line of handmade cigars features a blend packed full of long-leaf fillers from Pennsylvania, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua with a Dominican binder, and finished with an oily San Andrés wrapper. Mild to medium in body, expect earthy and creamy flavors that pair great with a cappuccino after a Sunday brunch.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.