Procigar 2024: Day 3 + Conclusion

I’m still told that the reason for Procigar’s Friday Field Day event is because the organization wanted to give attendees the opportunity to meet the members, i.e., the owners of these companies. While the reasons are a combination of things, I’ve always thought that the primary reason was that Thursday night’s White Party meant that very few people wanted to wake up early to go on a visit to a cigar factory, or worse, cigar field.

I believe this is the fourth year of the Field Day, but I remember those Friday tours before Procigar made the change. Routinely, about half the tour wouldn’t make it: mostly because of the post-White Party hangover, but others would switch tours, etc. Furthermore, the cigar companies hosting the field days were required to be prepared for it, which didn’t seem like the most fun.

The change seems to have worked. Everyone can party longer on Thursday night and Friday doesn’t start until 10:30, an hour and 45 minutes later compared to the starts on Wednesday and Thursday. And, shortly after 10:30, the buses left for the Procigar Frield Day, which is hosted in a literal tobacco field.

Once again, that field is La Aurora’s field in Jacagua, just outside the city of Santiago. It’s a pretty farm. It doesn’t have the Disneyworld-like vibe of Chateau de la Fuente and not the expanse of the Kelner farm in Yamasá, but it’s a well-manicured, scenic, normal tobacco farm.

Right in the middle of the farm, a large tent was constructed to host what has become a familiar affair: Field Day. There were bars, various food stations, two different hat stands, some activities like darts and beanbag toss, and a table for each of the 11 different Procigar members.

In theory, the principals from each factory are supposed to be there. In reality, maybe half of them showed up. If the Procigar members want to promote this as a place to meet the manufacturers, then the manufacturers need to be there. If not, just promote it as a casual day in between the White Party and the Gala. Or, as one person described it to me, “a really long lunch.”

No one seems to mind what actually happens, but some Procigar members remain frustrated by the lack of principals showing up.

As with previous years, each of us was given a small bag holding a pack of cards that we could redeem at one of four tables. Most of what happened seemed pretty familiar compared to years past, which was more or less fine with me.

One thing I don’t recall happening before. Bingo.

José Paiewonsky of Empa Packaging took over the microphone from the event’s emcee, John Paul Garrido of Arturo Fuente, and led the group through Bingo, a game that seems foreign to the Dominicans. Beyond just the normal ways to play the game, winners were also awarded for a board that looked like the Dominican Republic. Winners were given prizes that included cigars and, in one case, a $1,000 certificate for the upcoming humidor auction.

As seemingly everywhere this week, there were Carnival dancers. These came from a group that was on some form of the Got Talent television show franchise. The dancers were talented and went for an impressive 20 minutes straight, which included the dancers and live band performing in the tobacco field.

Credit where credit is due.

I had forgotten about this, but in 2020 and 2022, I wrote that Procigar should add some interactive events, specifically a cigar rolling competition. I’m not sure if this was new this year or last year, but there was such a competition. More than 30 people took advantage of various rolling stations set up at the back of room, which included workers from different factories to help them roll the cigar.

The entries were judged by Tony Gomez, Hendrik “Henke” Kelner and Nirka Reyes. Three winners got different Procigar samplers. Interestingly, the cigars rolled were not all the same. Some cigars featured pigtails, and at least one had a covered foot.

Given that 30 people rolled cigars, it seemed like it was received well enough. I know at least one person—not me—was legitimately disappointed they didn’t win.

After the winners were announced, right around 3:30 p.m., it was time to board the buses to head back to the hotels to prepare for the gala.

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Earlier this week, I was informed that President Luis Abinader would be attending Friday night’s dinner. Abinader has been outspoken in his support of the cigar industry, and Ciro A. Cascella, president of Fuente International, has been spotted before with Abinader. Cascella is now the executive vice-president of Procigar, and Arturo Fuente has gone from barely participating at the Procigar Festival due to a frosty relationship with the organization to becoming nearly as invested as most of the other companies.

There was a belief that Abinader was going to attend the White Party in 2022, but Raquel Peña de Antuña, the country’s vice-president, attended instead.

Speaking of Fuente’s change at Procigar over the years: due to travel complications, Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. attended Friday night’s gala as well, the first time he’s ever done so. Fuente Jr. seemed impressed, maybe even surprised, with the event.

Like the other dinners, I think this was the best Friday night as I’ve been to at Procigar. The auction started promptly, which meant the party aspects of the gala could start before too long.

A total of 25 lots—14 humidors, one painting and 10 bundles or boxes of cigars—generated $487,200 in sales, with all of that money going to A Home for My Family, Hospicio San Vicente de Paúl, and Voluntariado Jesús con los Niños. In addition, attendees in the room donated a combined $50,000 to A Home for My Family, with that money earmarked to pay for a new home for a worker of a Procigar member. This year’s recipient is a worker from PDR Cigars.

The top lot sold for $75,000. It was one of the OpusX Serie Heaven and Earth Big B Humidors from Prometheus, but this one was filled with 100 Fuente Fuente OpusX ForbiddenX 13 cigars.

While I’m not certain, I believe that the $75,000 number marks a record for the most expensive item ever sold at a Procigar auction. Update (March 1, 2024) — It at least ties the mark set by La Aurora’s humidor during Procigar 2023. What I do know is that the $487,200 is the most Procigar has ever raised during an auction, topping the $440,000  the organization raised last year.

I thought the night went very smoothly, and like it had been all week, the energy in the room seemed as good as it’s ever been at Procigar. People seemed happy to be here, that’s sort of all you need to know. The whole week had a vibe that was pretty positive and never got old, outside of the consistent running joke of how “I couldn’t get a selfie with Usain Bolt because he was too fast.” I still never saw Bolt in person, but those that met him said he was nice. My understanding is that Bolt is somewhat interested in cigars and was brought to the country by Grabba Leaf, a brand of tobacco blunt wraps that works with Jochy Blanco of Tabacalera Palma. Unlike Paris Hilton’s attendance at the 2015 Festival del Habano, Bolt wasn’t just at Procigar for an hour, in fact, he was at multiple dinners.

It’s been since 2020 that I’ve attended the competing festivals in Cuba and Nicaragua, but if I had to recommend one to our readers, it would be Procigar in the Dominican Republic.

While I understand there were some complications during the Casa de Campo portion, I found the rest of the week ran smoothly. If nothing else, it’s easy to reflect on the things that went fine at Procigar but would likely be real challenges in these other countries. For example, Procigar uses QR codes for tickets to all of its events. I cannot imagine this going smoothly in Cuba or Nicaragua. Some of this is the advantage of the festival taking place in the Dominican Republic, a country that is more advanced than the other two. Some of it is because the people that run Procigar care enough that they aren’t resting on their laurels. They take pride in the event, something that shows each and every year.

Next year could bring one of the largest changes to the event in quite some time. There are multiple brand-new hotels that are under construction in Santiago and it seems more than possible that one of them might end up as the host hotel of this event. If that happens, I look forward to seeing it and telling you about it.