1901 Papuro... Tobacco, from the root

As part of a family dedicated to agricultural production in Villa Tapia, province of Hermanas Mirabal, formerly Salcedo, Marcos Pérez grew up in the Dominican Republic following in the footsteps of his grandfather Arturo, a country man who was always seen smoking a cigar and drinking coffee.

In the 1980s, a young Marcos moved with his family to the United States, where he found better living conditions, but always retained the nostalgia for that land where he had left behind the aromas and flavors of childhood, tied to memories of his grandfather, whom the grandchildren called Papuro in the natural difficulty of a child learning to speak.

Established in New Jersey, Marcos Pérez advanced patiently until years later he could have his own cigar brand, made in the Dominican Republic but with an eye on the US market. A tribute to his roots that is now present in different tobacconists and Cigar Lounges in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Atlanta, North Carolina, and Texas.

MEMORIES

In Villa Tapia, Marcos Pérez lived a happy childhood. He was the third of eight siblings who grew up among the farms, watching his grandfather Papuro harvest tobacco leaves, which he would then dry and place in sacks that the animals transported for sale to the tobacco factories of that time.

He remembers, alongside that man, traversing the 5.6 hectares where he planted various agricultural products, reserving the cooler areas for tobacco.

“My grandfather’s schedule was strict and almost religiously he smoked a cigar in the morning, another at noon, and one more in the evening, always accompanied by a good black coffee,” he says, and he also remembers his grandmother, who smoked Andullo wrapped in tobacco leaves.

Like many other young people, Marcos moved to study high school in Santiago de los Caballeros, the capital of the province and close to Tamboril –now recognized as the World Capital of Cigars–, where he reinforced his bond with tobacco by socializing with people who were “more advanced” or somehow related to the industry.

Settled in the city, Marcos’s first cigar wasn’t Dominican, but a Cohiba, a gift from Cuban medical students doing an internship in Santiago: “They invited me, and I gladly tried it. It was something that immediately reminded me of my grandfather, and since then, I haven’t stopped smoking.”

At the age of 16, Marcos left with his parents and siblings –four women and three men– to the United States, and the family settled in New Jersey. The young people, thanks to their nature at that age, soon overcame the cultural differences that migration presented to them.

The change was drastic –he comments–but the new conditions and opportunities facilitated the transition. However, they always preserved their traditions, and in Marcos’s case, the idea of “someday, doing something related to tobacco; producing my own brand, perhaps” began to take shape.

He never completely moved away from the Dominican Republic. He used to come and go constantly, so much so that he married a woman who was his neighbor as a child, and from that marriage came three children –two girls and a boy– whom he has instilled with an interest in tobacco and the teachings of his grandfather, even though each has followed their own path.

HOMAGE BRAND

In 1986, grandfather Arturo passed away, and the tobacco planting on his lands in Villa Tapia gradually faded away. Although the seed of his legacy had taken root thousands of kilometers away and decades apart, in New Jersey, where Marcos, engaged in inspecting lottery machines for the state government, began to experiment within the Tobacco World.

During 2018, he met the owners of Tabacalera Juan de León, Cubans settled in the United States but with a factory in the Dominican Republic, who offered to produce his cigar, but also suggested him to get to know the US market first.

“That was a pilot test,” Marcos continues. “They had about a thousand boxes of their La Familia Cubana brand, and they gave them to me to place them. I came up with a sales plan, and in eight months, there were none left.”

That first foray into stores, placing the product, reinforced his purposes, and although the Covid-19 pandemic hindered the development of the project, it did not stop it.

The brand was configured as a tribute to his grandfather and his nostalgia for the past, so 1901 recalls the year of Don Arturo Pérez’s birth, and the setting is a country house taken from a very old photograph found where Marcos lived his early years. By the end of 2022, he resumed his research into market preferences, the design of the label and boxes was decided, and most importantly: the blend.

He sought a medium strength blend, where the flavors stood out and could please the majority of aficionados. The mission was entrusted to Juan de León, Master Blender of the factory located in Tamboril, who achieved a blend composed of six different tobaccos from Villa González and La Canela, to obtain a Dominican cigar with a Habano wrapper presented in the Torpedo, Toro and Robusto vitolas; the most popular sizes in the United States.

To date, 18 thousand cigars have been produced, in two batches. With the presence obtained as a seller in different tobacconists and lounges in the New Jersey area, at the end of 2023, Marcos organized a launch event, followed by a promotion strategy that currently has 1901 Papuro in more than 40 stores, in addition to direct sales to the public through its website papurocigars.com, with prices ranging from 11 to 18 dollars each.

THE FUTURE

Patience is crucial in this industry, and Marcos Pérez is clear that to grow a brand, you must walk calmly, disciplined, and dedicated, to avoid the dream ending as something fleeting.

“The future of 1901 Papuro,” he asserts, “is projected clear and prosperous, accompanied by the support of family and friends,” who have formed a large group of aficionados of the brand.

Marcos finds in this group the foundations for a future in which he hopes to establish a main headquarters for the company –probably within his own Cigar Lounge–, as well as continue promoting the brand through product branding such as domino tables and dominoes, caps, ashtrays, cutters, and other accessories.

Regarding markets, 1901 Papuro will expand its presence in the United States and in the Dominican Republic, through its participation in events such as the International Luxury Cigar Gala, recently held in Santo Domingo, seeking the possibility of entering –in a better way–an important market that is part of his nostalgia for the land where he was born.

Marcos is not unaware of the challenges posed by this industry, “but when you have a passion, an idea that is prioritized and budgeted for, the process becomes simpler. It’s challenging, but not difficult, especially when it’s something you like or are passionate about, and therefore also makes you happy”.