When it comes to a consumable item, most people tend to forget where they come from. From personal experience, I can tell you the Nabisco factory is a disappointment. However, with cigars, visiting a factory is the ultimate vacation. To see the process that goes into each and ever cigar, how the tobacco is cured and aged, its every cigar nerds dream. While I have visited several factories, each impressive in their own way, these are the 10 that really stand out. These are the St. Paul's Cathedral or Sistine Chapel of the cigar world and have each earned their place on this list.
Chateau A. Fuente (Santiago, Dominican Republic)- Not only is the Fuente factory one of the most famous cigar production facilities, it is also one of the most beautiful. A beautiful floral bed with the Opus X logo adorn the main building. This factory produces over 30 million cigars a year including The Hemingway series, The Don Carlos, and of course the famed Opus X
La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate (Esteli, Nicaragua)- Taking a tour of the Drew Estate factory is a truly surreal experience. It's a huge facility, over 96,000 square feet all adorned with fantastic pieces of urban artwork. While the rollers craft around 90,000 cigars a day, you can hear sweet rock & roll music being played over the loud speaker. This awesome facility produces such brands as Herrera Esteli, Acid and of course Liga Privada.
Tabacalera Perdomo (Esteli, Nicaragua)- The 88,000 square foot factory owned by Nick Perdomo serves as the cutting edge of cigar production. It has 15 layers of quality control to ensure his cigars are simply the best. Nearly everything is produced in house, from the cigar boxes to the individual cellophane wrappers. An amazing state of the art facility that produces the Perdomo Champagne, Perdomo Habano, and many others.
Tabacalera Cubana S.A. My Father (Esteli, Nicaragua)- Don Pepin's factory is impressive, not just for the number of cigars it produces, but also the number of different brands. The 8 million cigars produced every year don't just fall under the My Father line, but also for Tatuaje, San Cristobal, La Aroma de Cuba, and some blends for the Crowned Heads.
Tabacalera y Garcia Altadis (La Romana, Dominican Republic)- This factory is said to be the largest hand rolled cigar factory in the world. Owned by Altadis USA, this facility rolls out huge amounts of such famous brands as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and H. Upmann.
General Cigar Dominicana S.A.S (Santiago, Dominican Republic)- The General Cigar factory is one of the largest cigar production facilities world wide. Its over 70,000 square feet and employs over 4,000 people. This factory produces such brands as Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, and Macanudo.
Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua (Esteli, Nicaragua)- With a rich history in tobacco, A.J. Fernandez has brought his families knowledge to this massive, state of the art facility in the heart of EstelÃ, Nicaragua. With 9 million cigars a year, A.J. creates some fantastic cigars such as the San Lotano, The New World, and a slew of products for Altadis USA.
Padron (EstelÃ, Nicaragua) The actual production section of the Padron factory is small in comparison to many other factories, coming in at about 12,000 square feet. However, what really makes this a spectacular facility is its 70,000 square feet of storage space. Padron prides itself on its select aged tobaccos, and invest a lot of his capital into proper aging techniques. If production stopped tomorrow, Padron has 25 million aged cigars stored up, equivalent to about 6 years of production.
Davidoff (Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic)- The Davidoff facility appears to be more of a beautiful corporate headquarters than a factory. It is actually three different factories in one facility; Cigars Davidoff which makes up all the regularly produced Davidoffs, OK cigars which makes Avo, Zino, and all non Davidoff products, and Occidental which creates the Hammer and Sickle.
Nica Sueno (Esteli, Nicaragua)- While it might be the smallest factory on this list, Nica Sueno has grown to be one of the most beloved cigar facilities in the world. With Skip Martin and master blender Esteban Disla at the helm, this factory produces pure magic. While their operation has grown over the past few years, they refuse to just pump out cigars for the sake of money. They take their time and produce only the finest products they can. Some of their most famous brands include RoMa Craft and Powstanie.