October 2023 will mark La Aurora cigar company’s 120th year of making premium cigars, making them the oldest cigar company in the Dominican Republic. The company has released a commemorative cigar, 120 Anniversary, to celebrate the milestone.
“We are so proud to celebrate 120 years. So many things have happened over time to celebrate today. Guillermo León asked me to make something special for the 120 years,” said Manuel Inoa, master blender for La Aurora.
León, Inoa and their team began thinking about celebrating the 120th anniversary six years ago when they began growing tobacco on their new farm in Jaqua, which is located in the Cibao Valley region.
“It is a very large farm and perfectly located to grow great black tobacco,” said Inoa. “We planted Piloto Cubano, Corojo, San Vincente, Carbonell and more.”
“We tasted different primings from each of the tobaccos that we were growing. Then two years ago, we started blending for the anniversary cigar. We made about 62 different blends, all of them unique,” explained Inoa.
Those 62 blends were narrowed down to three before Guillermo León ultimately decided on the one that would represent his family’s legacy.
The 120 Anniversary cigar is a Dominican puro, using only Dominican tobaccos harvested from La Aurora’s newest farm in the Cibao Valley. The wrapper is a Dominican Habano ’92 that cloaks an Olor binder and long filler blend of Piloto Cubano, Olor, and Corojo.
The core line is available in four sizes: robusto, Churchill, toro and gran toro. There are also two limited edition vitolas to be released in Europe and America, a lancero for Europe and a Preferido Numero Uno for America.
The La Aurora family grew and sold tobacco before 1903, but it was Eduardo León Jimenes, then 18 years old, who decided to start producing cigars in 1903.
So, what makes La Aurora great? Inoa believes it is La Aurora’s relentless focus on quality.
“The family believes that if you give nice things to the people, they appreciate it even more. We work for the people to give them the quality that they can appreciate,” Inoa proudly stated.
