這是2017年1月的一篇舊聞。

多米尼加之花雪茄公司是 Cigar Aficionado雜志社2016年度最佳雪茄安達盧西亞公牛雪茄的制造商，在經(jīng)過一年創(chuàng)紀錄的雪茄銷售高峰后，該公司計劃在多米尼加的坦博里爾擴建雪茄廠。

力圖·戈麥斯（Litto Gomez）和妻子伊內(nèi)斯·洛倫佐·戈麥斯（Ines Lorenzo-Gomez）共同經(jīng)營多米尼加之花雪茄，他說：我們度過了有史以來最好的一年，我們連續(xù)加班了三個半月。

戈麥斯新招募了24名卷茄師，總數(shù)達到了90名。2016年，他們工廠卷制了370萬支雪茄，預(yù)計擴張后的產(chǎn)能可以達到每年450萬支。

在電話采訪里，他說：我們要擴充產(chǎn)能了，不能老是加班。

他在安達盧西亞公牛雪茄被評為年度最佳雪茄之前，已經(jīng)有了擴充產(chǎn)能的計劃。這款雪茄在雜志社的盲評里得分96分，在美國的零售價是每支15美元，供不應(yīng)求。

戈麥斯計劃在2月24日ProCigar雪茄節(jié)結(jié)束之后開始擴建工廠，預(yù)計一個月的時間。

1994年以來，戈麥斯一直在多米尼加共和國生產(chǎn)雪茄，他從沒有想過自己的業(yè)務(wù)會發(fā)展的那么好。

他說：目前業(yè)務(wù)的繁忙比我想象的要多。在美國雪茄熱的時代，我們也只有14名卷茄師。我們沒有足夠的發(fā)酵煙葉可以用。

上世紀90年代中期，他每年生產(chǎn)的雪茄還不到100萬支。戈麥斯也在多米尼加共和國的拉卡內(nèi)卡的一個農(nóng)場種植自己的煙葉，他暫時沒有擴大種植面積的考慮。

La Flor Dominicana, makers of the Andalusian Bull, Cigar Aficionado's 2016 Cigar of the Year, is expanding its factory in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, after a year of record cigar sales.

"We had the best year ever," said Litto Gomez, who owns La Flor Dominicana with his wife, Ines Lorenzo-Gomez. "We worked [the equivalent] of three-and-a-half months of overtime. I'm remodeling."

Gomez is adding 24 cigarmakers, which would put his factory at 90 rollers. He made around 3.7 million cigars in 2016 and expects the expansion to increase his factory's annual production to more than 4.5 million cigars.

"I had to do it," he told Cigar Aficionado during a phone interview. "I cannot be working that much overtime."

The expansion was planned even before his La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull was named Cigar of the Year. That smoke, which rated 96 points and retails for $15 before taxes, is on back order.

Gomez intends to begin the expansion after the ProCigar Festival, which concludes on February 24. He said the work should take about one month.

Gomez has been making cigars in the Dominican Republic since 1994, but never dreamed his business would become so large.

"That's way more than I ever planned. More than I ever dreamed of," he said. "You have to remember—during the cigar boom we had 14 rollers here." In the mid-1990s, he was making fewer than 1 million cigars a year. "There was no tobacco here, there was no tobacco available."

Gomez, who also grows his own tobacco on a farm in La Canela, Dominican Republic, says he will not expand operations any further. "That's it," he said. "No more."