Don Lucas

Don Lucas is a factory of the tourist coast, and the entry begins by saying so, because that is what sets it apart from the Santiago houses: it sits in the Mundo Auténtico complex in Punta Cana, between the coffee, the chocolate and the rum, and the hotel buses drop their visitors there. A Belgian, Philippe Gillet, founded it — in 1992, the house says, with two rollers and a hundred and fifty cigars a day; more than forty-five employees today. A "20th Anniversary" series in the catalogue around 2017 suggests another starting date; this atlas writes both rather than choosing.

It is not a stage set for all that. The tobacco comes from the farms around Santiago, at the other end of the island, and from elsewhere; the press that visited describes bales, a sorting room, a rolling floor and cedar boxes made on site, with no production quota — the factory rolls what the ready leaf allows. About sixty per cent of the cigars sell at the complex's shop; the rest goes to some twenty American shops and a few in Colombia.

The catalogue reads by wrappers: Classic in Ecuadorian Connecticut, HS in Sumatra, AL in American broadleaf, a Dominican puro for the anniversary, and a Family Reserve. This atlas keeps the house for what it is — a named, visitable factory that rolls by hand — and says where it is.

Range Depth

• Classic

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut · Strength Mild-Medium

  Dominican binder and filler; the mild line.

• AL Series

  Wrapper American broadleaf · Strength Full

  The house's full-bodied line.

• 20th Anniversary

  Wrapper Dominican puro · Strength Medium-Full

  A Dominican puro for the anniversary — whose date does not match the house's 1992; the entry says so.