Tabacalera Palma’s emergence predates to the mid-19th century, when a Spaniard named José Manuel Blanco Lozada moves to the Dominican Republic and pursues the trade of tropical fruits and tobacco. His son José Arnaldo Blanco I, took the initiative to grow tobacco.
Our Story
It´s all about
the experience
The Blanco family, tobacco workers for generations, have created a tobacco empire in an industry where legacy and experience are the fundamental parts for growth.
Jose Arnaldo I went on to have a son baptized as José Arnaldo II, who married Irene Dominguez, a hardworking woman that became active with him in the business. They both devoted all their efforts to the trade of cocoa beans, fruits, meats, and of course, tobacco. José Arnaldo Blanco II established Tabacalera Palma in 1925 and filed for industrial registration in 1936, becoming one of the first cigar manufacturers in the Dominican Republic. By 1960, ‘La Palma’ had grown to have around 200 full time rollers creating cigars for the local market.
Jochy has endured hard work to grow the family tobacco business since the early 1980’s. developing Tabacalera Palma to produce cigars for the North American market, and exporting Dominican grown tobacco worldwide.
Mr. Blanco II and Irene’s eighth child, José Arnaldo III, a member of the 3rd generation to bare that name, became part of the 4th generation in the family business. José Arnaldo Blanco III, affectionately known to all as “Jochy”, is the current owner
In the midst of 1995, Jochy transferred the original Palma factory to a free trade zone he founded by the name of ‘La Palma’. Such facilities reside in the northern part of the country: Tamboril, located in the outskirts of Santiago, the second highest populated city of the Dominican Republic.
Nowadays Tabacalera Palma is a vibrant enterprise with a positive impact to the community. Not only does the company contribute with the direct employment of many citizens but also supporting charities like the Firemen Patronage, the Orphanage of Tamboril, several sports organizations, amongst others. The company employs more than 350 citizens on site, more than 70% of them being women, indirectly employing more than 1,500 with all of the operations.
Ever since Mr. Blanco assumed the role of CEO in Tabacalera Palma, the company has developed numerous private labels for some of the leading cigar companies in the world. Additionally, T.P. has developed and improved tobacco growing, harvesting, curing and processing techniques, ideal factors that increase quality.
OUR BRANDS
“Our family has worked with passion since 1936 to bring the best cigars and tobaccos to the most important points in the world.”
–Jose Manuel Blanco, 5th Generation Tobacco Grower, 3rd Generation Cigar Maker.
Tobaccos worked with passion to achieve perfection
For nearly thirty years La Palma free trade zone has been the home for Tabacalera Palma, one of the oldest tobacco companies in the Dominican Republic.
Established as the core of all of our operations, Tabacalera Palma’s factory is the home of a growing family that grows stronger every day and progresses through hard work.
A panel comprised of personnel with years of experience is entitled to the perfection of a traditional art.
Rollers, packaging personnel, supervisors, and countless other individuals compose the team that completes the extensive puzzle of cigar making in Tabacalera Palma, and each one of these members is equally responsible for executing their task.
After hundreds of hands have endeavored in the craft, every single cigar is subjected to a very personal quality control which guarantees our main focus: consistency.
Timing is essential, and aging a cigar until it’s prime is a fundamental aspect of securing the totality of its worthiness.
400
Employees
7,000,000
Handmade Cigars
2,000,000
Machine Made Cigars
