Puro Ambar Legacy Gran Robusto

Starting out as tree resin, amber hardens and fossilizes over the course of millions of years before it’s pulled out of the ground. The Dominican Republic is famous for its amber, and the Puro Ambar in your shipment today is inspired by pure Dominican amber. This Dominican puro (meaning all the tobaccos are from the Dominican) starts with a T13 wrapper that is exclusive and one of kind. This T13 wrapper encases a wine fermented Criollo ’98 binder and a long-filler mix which is exclusive to Tabacalera El Artista and includes Criollo ’98 and 1900 leaves. Medium to full bodied, you’ll find a plethora of unique fruit flavors, spice, and citrus. Smooth and balanced to the nub, try pairing it with Johnny Walker Black.

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.