Hendrik kelner biography of michael

The layers of thick gray smoke make it difficult to see the men sitting in the small room.

Longtime general manager Hendrik "Henke" Kelner, who oversaw all of Davidoff's tobacco-related aspects in the Dominican Republic, is now moving up to a more.

Each man has five or six cigars burning in ashtrays, like players with cards face up on a table in a game of five-card stud. The conversation is friendly, yet there's a competitive edge to the words being spoken. The second man takes the corona in his hands and grins as he looks at it and smells the wrapper. He bites off the end of the cigar and draws on it, unlit.

He smiles again, then kindles it with a butane lighter and takes a few puffs. You must be using binder from Ecuador, but maybe the filler is also from there? Henke pronounced Hank-key , more formally known as Hendrik Kelner, is one of the Dominican Republic's most knowledgeable tobacco men. He is a small, unimposing fellow with a soft, cozy look and a big warm smile.

They are all masters in their fields, transforming raw materials such as tobacco or food into something fabulous. Born and raised in a Dominican tobacco family, Kelner is unmatched in the country for his knowledge and understanding of tobacco and cigar making. Since , his company, Tabacos Dominicanos, S. He is the unofficial tobacco guru for almost all the cigar producers in and around the city of Santiago, constantly stopping by the other factories for coffee and a cigar to discuss the various aspects of cigar production.

Adds Avo Uvezian, the founder of the Avo brand: "He is really the master. There is no better man on this island for making cigars. No one knows more about tobacco and no one makes them any better. Kelner overhears Uvezian's praise but seems to take it all with a large grain of sea salt.