Local cigar shop hosts rolling demo

A cigar is a process.

From selecting the right one, to lighting it, to finally letting the final remnants burn out in an ashtray, steps are taken to get the maximum enjoyment out of a good cigar.

So what better a way to appreciate the subtleties of a good cigar than to appreciate its origins?

Visitors to Your Cigar Den at 127 S. Fraser St. were treated to exactly that Thursday evening as the owner of Dominican Big Leaguer Cigars and his father were invited into the store for a live demonstration of cigar rolling. Combined with the rolling was food, sample packs and a chance to win a humidor.

Shop owner Tony Ghaffari said the event was the second time a rolling demonstration has been hosted by his shop, having performed the demonstration himself in the store last year. Since the event was so well-attended then, he said, he suggested holding one again when approached by DBL.

Francisco Almonte Sr., father of DBL owner Francisco Almonte Jr., sat a table in the front of a store, expertly slicing large leafs into smaller strips with a chaveta — a curved blade used in the creation of cigars. Rolling the leaf around the already-assembled filler, he used banana glue to keep the ends stuck together.

“He loves to roll cigars, I love to roll cigars,” said Almonte Jr. “This is what I want to show the people that when we talk about (our cigars), we are talking about something we really love.”

Almonte said DBL was founded in 2013 after nearly a lifetime of working with and around cigars by some of the most recognized names in the business, including Carlos Fuente, of Arturo Fuente Cigars, and Litto Gomez, of La Flor Dominican.

“In Dominican (Republic), you have two choices,” he said, “baseball and cigars. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a good baseball player, so I had to follow my father in this beautiful business.”

Almonte began working in his father’s cigar factory at the age of 7, he said. Cigars have always been in his family, from his grandmother who would smoke up to five a day to his 68 family members who all today work in the business.

After learning how to make and blend all the premium cigars — robusto, toro, torpedo and the like — he said he began traveling the world, learning from the different cigar masters how to grow his own crops.

“I love the production of the cigar,” he said, “but growing tobacco is something you can do for you.”

For Almonte, keeping the business small and personal is everything. DBL is fully integrated, from growing the tobacco to making the cigars to selling them.

The only thing they don’t do, he said, is print the labels.

“It’s difficult for a small company to do everything,” he said. “But if you do everything you can control the quality and you do it in the best way because it’s your heart, your family, your everything.”

Almonte took the seat to show off his own wrapping skills before opening the chair to anyone in the store who was willing to give it a try.

Ben Chapman, of State College, said he was game, and was soon being instructed by Almonte in the wrapping techniques. Within a short time, Chapman had his own respectably wrapped cigar.

“It’s kind of an art form when you look at it,” said Chapman, adding while he’s toured cigar factories and watched rolling before, he’d never tried it on his own.

Chapman said he usually visits the store once a week. Many of Ghaffari’s customers are repeat visitors, as he’s worked over the year and a half that he’s owned the store to make it as accommodating as possible.

“I just kind of asked, what would I want out of a cigar shop?” Ghaffari said. “Because I don’t know retail, I just know I like cigars and people.”

Changes meant increasing from about 100 boxes of cigars to more than 400, he said, adding accessories, like cutters, lighters and humidors, and improving the shop’s HVAC and exhaust systems.

This has created a range of clientele, he said, from 18-year-olds trying their first cigar to a retired Marine Corps colonel. He also offers his own blend of cigar in the form of the Nittany White and Nittany Blue cigars.

“You’ve got to have something local,” he said, “so when the college kids come in, they remember it. Then, when they move on, they’ll order it online.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 12:17 AM with the headline "Local cigar shop hosts rolling demo."