General-ly Speaking...

You simply can't imagine how much tobacco is in this building.

As I sip a cup of Dominican coffee, I am hard-pressed to admit that anyone out of Columbia is nearly as flavorful as this rich, strong brew...at least not anything you can buy in a grocery store. In country, the natives tend to brew it as thick as syrup and dilute it about halfway with milk. Since I drink my coffee black, this makes for a morning drink that can make a spoon stand on end; back home I don't make it quite as strong, but it retains that same rich, earthy flavor I experienced on the island. It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting on my porch in east Tennessee, drinking said coffee, puffing on a La Gloria Cubana Artisanos Retro Especial, and thinking about the last seven days. Today and next Monday I will try to relate to you some of the experiences and lessons learned during my recent trip to the Dominican Republic; I won't be trying to give you a play by play of the trip or impart all my knowledge to you...just too much was said and done for it all to see print here. Some will be published by others who went; I encourage you to check out those articles, too...and I'll try to publish links to all of them at some point this week.

Master Blender, Benji Menendez explains what makes a great banana.

On the trip from the airport, La Gloria's Michael Gianinni said, "In the DR, you need three people: a general, a doctor, and a priest." He added, "None of us are allowed to drive when we come here." Two minutes later we found out why as literally 5 feet from the left side of our bus, a speeding motorist ran into--and over--a guy riding an underpowered motorcycle with no taillights. The front tire of what I believe was a Honda CRV went over the head of the cyclist and the motorist sped off as quickly as he could. The van following us said the cyclist got up and walked (limped?) away. A general would have been useful in sorting out the legalities, a doctor was definitely needed, and a priest would have been nice to have on hand if the guy had not walked away. I never have any desire to drive in that or any other Central American country (I've heard Nicaragua and Honduras are far worse).

Team StogieFresh discusses their blending methodology

I have been guilty of thinking of General Cigar as a faceless, passionless conglomerate, seeking only to expand continuously and rake in ever-increasing sums of money. I was wrong. Yes, the companies is made up of dozens of brands and sub-brands, but the people who make the cigars have a passion for the leaf that can be favorably compared with any of the boutique companies. I would say the biggest difference is that of palates. The folks that run La Gloria, Macanudo, Cohiba, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, and the rest just don't enjoy some of the stronger, more full-bodied smokes that a lot of today's enthusiasts are turning to. It may be hard to understand how they can be passionate about something as mild as a Macanudo, but I assure you they are very proud of the product they produce and take an extraordinary amount of care in every step of the process of bringing them to market. I smoked a regular line Macanudo for the first time in a very long time during this trip and found that while it's still not something I will be buying much, it was very well made and had a nice, accessible flavor. If you don't like them, that's fine, but it would be good to remember that they are the best selling cigar in America...you are just not the market they are selling to.

Almost ready...

General Cigar treats their employees like humans...with respect and dignity. They pay a good enough wage and provide career path opportunities such that many of their employees have been with the company for 10, 20...even 30 years. The roller I worked with had been on the job for 14 years. The company provides literacy programs, sports tournaments (yes, dominoes is considered a sport in the Caribbean) and even opportunities to learn English...which can come in handy when a group of overweight gringos with SLRs invades the factory.

I was impressed by the vertical integration of the company. They own farms where seeds are planted and transplanted and grown to full size, they own the facilities where the leaves are cured, fermented and aged, they own the production facility, they own the factory that makes the boxes. Their box factory even makes boxes for other companies, including one individual formerly closely tied to the company. The only major component of the process they don't own is the making of the bands...and Cigar Rings is literally across the street from the main office.

The whole country felt about as steamy as this room most of the time.

I'll end today's collection of thoughts with this: General is trying hard to stay relevant in the rapidly changing world of cigars. While they have retained brands that have not changed in decades, like Macanudo or Cohiba, they are trying to allow some brands to innovate and pursue the newer breed of cigar smokers that just aren't interested in these legacy brands. La Gloria Cubana and CAO brand managers have practically been given free rein to do what they want. After talking to Michael Gianinni and Ricky Rodriguez, I am very intrigued to see what will issue forth from those brands in coming years. Having inherited those brands from Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and Tim Ozgener and Co., they definitely have some big shoes to fill. The more I talked with these gentlement, though, the less I worry about the future of those brands as both have an intensity and passion that should carry them to future success...all while those formerly associated with those brands are pursuing success in their own way.

I'll have some more thoughts on the trip next Monday along with some photos to show you in between now and then.