By ESENDOM
September 2, 2025
Read in Spanish: Freylin Pérez Díaz gana el CSWC en Santo Domingo: un triunfo que celebra el alma del cigarro dominicano
Key Points:
Dominican competitor Freylin Pérez Díaz was crowned champion of the 2025 Cigar Smoking World Championship (CSWC) in Santo Domingo.
The title confirms local dominance in this discipline: for four years, the trophy has only gone to Pérez Díaz or her husband, Rafael Solano Portoreal.
The contest took place at a moment when tobacco and cigars were declared National Cultural Heritage.
The Dominican tobacco industry contributes more than US$1.3 billion annually in exports and employs over 120,000 people.
The Triumph of a Champion
On an afternoon where time seemed to stand still, Santo Domingo became the stage for a unique competition: the local edition of the Cigar Smoking World Championship. With only two days’ notice—a detail that added drama to the event—the Dominican capital gathered the best in the country of an art that blends technique, patience, and tradition.
Freylin Pérez Díaz rose as the day’s undeniable champion, keeping her cigar lit for 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 6 seconds, a display of mastery that left behind experienced competitors such as Magda Alicia (1:14:34) and César Saúl Bencosme (1:08:37). Every minute of her performance was a lesson in control and concentration, where personal technique fused with deep knowledge of the product.
The detail that elevates this victory beyond a simple sporting triumph is the family dynamic: the trophy has never left the same household. Rafael Solano Portoreal, Pérez Díaz’s husband, was crowned champion in 2022 and 2024, while she herself had already won the title in 2023.
The Cigar as a National Symbol
Pérez Díaz’s victory takes on its true dimension when viewed through the lens of Dominican cultural identity, where cigars transcend their role as luxury products to become emblems of national pride. The story begins in the fertile lands of the Cibao Valley, where generations of families have perfected the secrets of cultivation, curing, and transforming tobacco leaves into something approaching perfection.
From these plantations to the sophisticated factories of Santiago—cathedrals of an ancestral craft—a chain of knowledge has positioned the Dominican Republic as the undisputed powerhouse of the global premium cigar market. The numbers confirm this supremacy: 182 million units exported annually, carrying the Dominican seal of quality to the most demanding markets worldwide.
This primacy did not go unnoticed by national institutions. In 2022, the Dominican government made a symbolic decision: to declare tobacco and cigars National Cultural Heritage, granting them the same status as merengue. This recognition was more than an administrative formality—it was an acknowledgment of a tradition that has shaped communities, regional economies, and the country’s international image.
The Philosophy of Suspended Time
The slow smoking competition—where victory belongs to the one who keeps the cigar burning the longest without interruption—works as a perfect metaphor for the philosophy surrounding Dominican cigars. Patience as a virtue, endurance as technique, and ritual as a way of life converge in this discipline.
Master cigar makers often say: “An exceptional cigar is a miracle that unfolds in slow motion.” This isn’t mere poetry; it reflects a productive reality where more than 300 hands take part in crafting each piece, from the first seed selection to the final details of packaging.
Every leaf is chosen with the meticulousness of a sommelier evaluating a fine vintage; every layer is built like a musician composing a symphony of flavors; every box is presented like a book that preserves a unique story. In a world dominated by immediacy and instant gratification, the Dominican cigar offers a reflective pause, a moment of contemplation rooted in ancient traditions and the pleasure of something authentically well-made.
A Victory That Transcends Possibilities
Pérez Díaz’s triumph at the Cigar Smoking World Championship extends far beyond individual sporting recognition. Her victory is a contemporary reaffirmation of Dominican excellence in a discipline that demands both technical skill and philosophical understanding of the product being celebrated.
Each time an executive in a Hong Kong lounge, a collector in Paris, or an aficionado in Manhattan lights a cigar made in Santiago, an invisible chain of cultural connections comes alive. Behind every plume of smoke lies more than cured tobacco: it carries the unhurried rhythm of Caribbean life, the collective memory of families who have dedicated generations to perfecting this craft, and now, the name of a champion who continues writing this story with technical precision and genuine national pride.
In an era where the ephemeral dominates cultural conversations and speed has become the prevailing value, the Dominican cigar—and figures like Freylin Pérez Díaz who celebrate it—propose an alternative philosophy: that life’s finest pleasures deserve to be savored slowly, with the awareness that behind every exceptional experience lies a tradition cultivated with care, respect, and time.