The Dominican Republic is one of the leading manufacturers of premium cigars in the world.  They are the home base for several of the largest factories in the industry including Fuente, AUSA, and General.  That being said, Dominican wrappers are actually kind of rare.  Its environment and soil are just not as suitable for wrapper tobacco as Nicaragua or Ecuador.

However, there are still several cigars that do utilize a wrapper from the island.  I’ve decided to make this week’s top 5 a list dedicated to the finest cigars that use a Dominican wrapper.

Robert Caldwell has really come into his own as a blender and cigar celebrity.  His booth gets bigger each year and his brands continue to impress.  From his original big releases, the King is Dead was always a favorite of mine.  Oddly enough, no one seems to remember that it is one of the few Dominican puros on the market.

The King is Dead is hand-rolled at the Caldwell Cigar factory, formerly known as the William Ventura factory.  It uses a blend of aged Dominican tobaccos for the filler including Corojo leaves.  The wrapper is a stunning and dark Dominican Negrito with wonderful notes of espresso, spice, leather and nuts.

I am a total cigar nerd, so anytime there is an annual release I get all giddy.  This happens every fall when Quesada releases the new Oktoberfest cigar.  It is one of my favorites each year and also a great representation of the blending talent of the Quesada family.

The 2019 Oktoberfest is the pinnacle of the brand.  While many of the releases were made by Plasencia using Nicaraguan tobacco, this year was a Dominican puro.  Each puff delivers notes of cream, earth, citrus, and floral touches.

We were lucky enough to grab a few boxes of this year’s Small Batch release from Litto Gomez.  These limited releases have been known to be highly sought after, and after smoking a few I can see why.  The size of this year’s release was also right up my ally.

The Small batch is handcrafted in the heart of the Dominican Republic with all the tobaccos being grown at the families La Canela farms.  Dominican filler and binders are cloaked by a dark and oily Dominican Pelo de Oro wrapper, giving it a robust profile with a smooth finish.

The past few years have seen a tremendous expansion of the Davidoff lineup and a departure from their typical mellow and creamy cigars.  The Davidoff Black Label lineup has some very impressive smokes such as the Davidoff Nicaragua, Escurio and of course the Davidoff Yamasa.

Named after a growing region in the Dominican Republic, the Yamasa uses a blend of top-notch aged tobaccos.  The filler is made up of tobaccos from Nicaragua and the DR, while the wrapper is grown in the Yamasa region.  The reddish clay soil lends itself to make flavorful and robust tobacco, making this one of the most complex releases from Davidoff to date.

We couldn’t have a list of top Dominican wrapped cigars without including an Opus X.  For years, people told Carlito Fuente that you couldn’t grow wrapper tobacco in the Dominican.  He proved them all wrong by not just utilizing the first Dominican wrapper but using it to create what is widely considered as the greatest cigar ever created.

This release was created to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the original Opus X.  While it uses a similar Dominican wrapper and still has a ton of flavor, it is a much more refined cigar.  Notes of pepper mix with nuts, and the slightest touch of a creamy sweetness for a high-end, luxurious cigar experience.