My tour for the final day of Procigar 2025 (February 21) would take me to a factory I had not visited before: Arnold André Dominicana S.R.L. This experience proved to be one of the most unique and enlightening factory visits I have ever participated in, deepening my appreciation for the art of cigarmaking and Dominican culture.
Arnold André became a member of the Procigar organization in 2023. It is the newest of the twelve active (main) members. At the same time, this company has been around for 208 years, making it one of the oldest cigar companies in the world. The Arnold André manufacturing company is based in Germany. In 2011, the company opened its production facility, Arnold André Dominicana S.R.L. The factory is located in Zona Franca Industrial de Santiago (the Free Trade Zone where many cigar companies are situated). The factory mainly produces machine-made cigars but also has a good-sized hand-rolled operation.
The Welcome
As I have said, when it comes to the factory tours on Procigar, the companies work to integrate Dominican culture into the tour. Arnold André may be relatively new to the Dominican Republic and Procigar, but they exceeded our expectations when our group visited Arnold André Dominicana S.R.L.
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The music was entertaining, and this Dominican snow cone was simply awesome.
The tour opened with a short presentation in a conference room. Our host was Managing Director Thomas Strickrock. I really like the conference room/presentation format. I’ve seen it at the Joya de Nicaragua, and I think it sets the tone well.
Of course, we were proffered a cigar. In this case, it was a selection of Montosa Natural.
Some Background on the Factory Operation
The Arnold André tour provided a comprehensive overview of the company’s history and operations. Established in 1817, Arnold André stands as Germany’s largest cigar manufacturer, producing an impressive 500 million cigars each year. To put this figure into perspective, the company averages approximately 1.37 million cigars daily, a volume that surpasses that of many boutique hand-made cigar factories. In addition to its large-scale production, Arnold André also maintains a significant hand-made operation, currently generating 2.5 million cigars annually, with plans to increase production to 3 million in the near future.
One thing that impressed me was the cleanliness of this factory. You can see it wasn’t cleaned up for the Procigar guests.
Machine-Made Cigar Operations
There are 124 machines producing cigars. It was fascinating seeing these machines. I’ve seen J.C. Newman El Reloj’s operation and always enjoyed it. The Newman machines are antiques, so they have a certain charm. On the other hand, the Arnold André machines are more modern. Different machines do different things. Plus, Arnold Andre’s operation is on a much larger scale.
Homogenized tobacco is used in machine-made cigars. It is seen on the wrapper and binder. It’s made from finely chopped tobacco scraps but is not 100 percent natural tobacco. It is produced in a paper-like sheet, and these are rolled in bobbins (reminiscent of giant sewing bobbins). It was quite interesting seeing these bobbins at the factory.
The Handmade Cigar Operation
As the photos show, there is a sizable handmade operation.
One activity we did on the factory’s handmade side was to try placing a wrapper on a cigar. This is the part of a factory tour I usually try to avoid by hiding or keeping busy with my media duties. I have done this several times, and not only is it difficult, but it’s a humbling experience. This time, there was no escape from participating. While I don’t want to say I did a good job (because I didn’t), people did tell me I didn’t do bad. You can be the judge in the photo below.
Lunch and More
Lunch was in a reception area just above the hand-rolled area. We were treated to more Dominican music and dancing.
There was also an interactive Photo Booth where you could dress up in Dominican party flair and get your photo taken.
Lunch provided a lot of small plate dishes. The tacos and the shrimp were definite highlights.
The Carlos Andre
The reception area also served as a relaxing smoking lounge. We smoked cigars and enjoyed cocktails and beverages there. I was often asked, “What is the best cigar you smoked this past week?” The answer came in this area, where I smoked the Carlos André Airborne. It’s easy to identify by its distinctive red band.
Carlos André is a brand of cigars produced by Arnold André. The brand is named for the youngest son of company owner Axel-Georg André. The Airborne was quite a unique cigar, highlighted by an H 2000 wrapper grown in Mexico. While some Arnold André brands are distributed in the United States, like Montosa and Buena Vista (actually distributed in the U.S. as Terra Nova), the bad news is that the Carlos André line is not. However, some Carlos André branded cigars (but not the Airborne), did show up in some of the Procigar samplers we received through the week.
Additionally, we enjoyed a brand of Dominican Rum called Carlos André. Ironically, the Carlos André Airborne cigar was recommended as the perfect pairing with the Carlos André Family Reserve rum.
Wrap Up
As with almost every Procigar tour, the day concluded with receiving gifts from our hosts. The gifts here were several cigars produced by the factory. We also received a set of branded accessories that included a lighter, a cutter, and a storage box. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take any photos of them, as I ended up enjoying the cigars before I could capture the items.
This was quite a tour and a great way to wrap up the factory visits at Procigar 2025.
Photo/Video Credits: Cigar Coop
