In November 2025, Espinosa Premium Cigars announced plans to expand into the Dominican Republic with a new cigar factory during its La Zona Palooza event. This week, Erik Espinosa revealed a key detail behind the project: the factory will include Guy Fieri and Isaias Santana Diaz (of Pure Aroma Cigars, maker of D’Crossier) as partners.
Espinosa shared the news on the June 5 episode of Smoke Night LIVE, following a separate appearance on Johnny Smokes Uncut the night prior, where he also discussed the project.
According to Espinosa, the factory will be located in the Santiago Free Trade Zone, with the company taking three bays in the facility. He said the building itself is currently more of a shell, requiring the team to install electricity and complete the buildout before production can begin. Espinosa said the current goal is to have the factory open around September 1 of this year.
“I’m going to try to make the perfect factory,” Espinosa said during the episode. “I don’t know if that exists, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
While Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, will continue producing many of the company’s current brands, the Dominican project gives Espinosa a second production base. Erik said the move was partly driven by a desire to work in a different environment, while also giving the company more flexibility in the face of changing tariffs and the realities of operating in Nicaragua.
Despite the Dominican location, Espinosa said the factory will rely heavily on Nicaraguan tobacco, including a large amount of tobacco from Aganorsa Leaf and wrapper tobacco from AJ Fernández.
“I think [Aganorsa] has some of the best binders and fillers,” Espinosa said. “I’m buying a container from them. I’m buying some wrappers from AJ. I think he gets the best wrappers.”
Espinosa said the goal is to use high-quality tobacco throughout the factory’s production, adding that the cigars made there will not be positioned as inexpensive cigars. He also said he wants the cigars to use mounted heads, similar to the construction style used on Cuban cigars and D’Crossier cigars.
As for the name of the factory, Espinosa said that has not been finalized. For now, the project is being referred to as Espinosa Cigars in the Dominican Republic, though he said the partners have discussed other names.
“We were going to call it Flavortown,” Espinosa joked. “I don’t think that’s going to work.”
The new factory will initially support Espinosa’s own production needs, but Espinosa also said the goal is to make cigars for other companies as well.
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