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A Tour of Fuente
Recently, we were given the opportunity to spend time with the Fuente Family in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Six of us packed our bags, grabbed our passports & headed out to join other cigar aficionados for a few days of cigar education, appreciation and a little relaxation.
Our journey began with a tour of Chateau de la Fuente in the beautiful valley region where the tobaccos for the Fuente Fuente Opus X are grown. Guided by Carlito Fuente and Eric Newman, we also saw the Cigar Family Community School and enjoyed a performance by the Cigar Family students. The 23-acre complex has a community center including a Health Center for use by approximately 100,000 people from the surrounding area and houses an educational institute for 450 children. Here we saw true compassion through opportunity. Children who otherwise might live a life of poverty are given the chance to reach their potential through an education that prepares them for further schooling or a profession. It was amazing to see firsthand how generous work of the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation have made this possible.
Our next day included a full behind-the-scenes tour of Tabacalera A. Fuente. We were privileged to watch the skilled cigar rollers carefully hand-roll some of the world’s most coveted cigars. The extreme care and attention to detail the Fuente workers take with each cigar was obvious as we watched this production. We toured the Tobacco Warehouses and nearby Filler Farms in the Villa Gonzalez area and learned in-depth details of the tobacco growing process.
We wrapped up our trip with a day in Puerto Plata discussing blending techniques, tasting rare cigars, and enjoying pairings with Brugal Rums. The hospitality shown to us by the Fuente Family added to our experience of smoking some of the finest cigars in the world.
Amidst our tour, the meeting of new friends, and burning several sticks per day, it was plain to see that the Fuente focus is still on quality as it has been for over 100 years…quality tobacco, quality craftsmanship, and taking the time necessary to make a remarkable cigar. Carlos Fuente, Sr. has been quoted to say, “We don’t hurry things; we just do things the way they are supposed to be done.” Thank you to the Fuente family for making this tremendous experience possible!
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