DBL
- Founded in
- 2013 — Francisco Almonte, Tamboril
- Factories
- Usine propre — DBL Cigars, Tamboril (République dominicaine), inaugurée le 4 mars 2023
- Countries
- Rép. Dominicaine
Francisco Almonte founded DBL Cigars — Dominican Big Leaguer — in 2013. He says he grew up in tobacco: from the age of seven, he stripped the stems from tobacco leaves for his father, who had his own brand, El Rey, and by twelve he was already rolling cigars; he counts, he says, more than sixty-eight members of his family in the trade. He names as his two mentors Carlos Fuente, of Arturo Fuente, and Litto Gomez, of La Flor Dominicana, under whom he trained.
Almonte bought a plot of just over an acre in Tamboril, in the Dominican Republic, in 2018; construction began in 2020, and the whole complex — a cigar factory and a box factory, 32,000 square feet across two buildings — was inaugurated on 4 March 2023, for the house's tenth anniversary. The factory then employed around a hundred people; it has ageing rooms for 300,000 cigars and the capacity to ferment more than 200,000 pounds of tobacco. The box factory, set up with Kedwin Estrella and Miguel A. Martinez, of Artesania Estrella, is announced to produce more than 200,000 boxes a year.
In June 2023, DBL presented the La Tabla line at the PCA trade show, under an Arapiraca wrapper the house calls Mexican. In September 2026, the Spanish website Pasión Puro described a catalogue of seven lines: Amarillo, Maduro, Mafu, Formula, Extra Viejo, 2a Generación and El Final.
Range Depth
Amarillo
Connecticut wrapper aged in rum barrels, with Dominican filler from Almonte's farm in Santiago, according to retailer El Cigar Shop.
Maduro
Vitolas named after baseball players' nicknames, says the house: Little Bull, La Maquina, La Flecha, Big Papi, El Grande.
Mafu
Offered with a Cameroon or San Andrés wrapper, in Toro and Grande formats.
Extra Viejo
Arapiraca wrapper the house calls Mexican, over Brazilian and Dominican filler.
La Tabla
Ecuadorian Cameroon binder, with Dominican Corojo 99 and Pennsylvania broadleaf filler; presented at the PCA trade show in 2023.
2a Generación Reserva Exclusiva
Limited to 500 boxes, says the house, made with tobacco from Almonte's own crop.
Source : cigar-coop.com « Cigar News: DBL Cigars Opens New Cigar Factory and New Box Factory » (2023-04 : terrain acheté en 2018, construction dès 2020, fabrique et cartonnerie inaugurées le 4 mars 2023 à Tamboril, effectifs et capacités) ; stogiepress.com « Cigar Lifestyle: Dominican Big Leaguer (DBL) Cigars 10th Anniversary and Tour No. 7 Recap » (2023-03-11 : compte rendu de l'inauguration et du dixième anniversaire, partenaires de la cartonnerie) ; tobaccobusiness.com « Better and Best: DBL Cigars » (consulté 2026-09-24 : biographie de Francisco Almonte, formation auprès de Carlos Fuente et Litto Gomez, marque paternelle El Rey, fondation de DBL en 2013) ; pasionpuro.com « DBL Dominican Big Leaguer » (consulté 2026-09-24 : catalogue des lignes Amarillo, Maduro, Mafu, Formula, Extra Viejo, 2a Generación, El Final) ; elcigarshop.com « Dominican Big Leaguer: Passion, Love and Experience » (consulté 2026-09-24 : capes et forces d'Amarillo et Extra Viejo, effectifs de la fabrique) ; cigarjournal.com « DBL Cigars Releases La Tabla » (2023-06-26 : lancement de la ligne La Tabla, cape Arapiraca maduro cultivée au Mexique, présentation au salon PCA 2023) ; halfwheel.com « PCA 2023: DBL Cigars » (2023 : La Tabla, cape Mexican Arapiraca, sous-cape Cameroun d'Équateur, tripe Corojo 99 dominicain et broadleaf de Pennsylvanie) ; dblcigars.com « Extra Viejo » (consulté le 24 septembre 2026 : cape Mexican Arapiraca, tripe dominicaine et brésilienne)