La Aurora
The oldest cigar company in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1903 near Santiago and still run by the founder's descendants.
Eduardo Leon Jimenes was eighteen when he started rolling cigars in the Guazumal district near Santiago in 1903. The operation moved into Santiago itself as it grew and became the foundation of a family business that later extended well beyond tobacco. La Aurora is the oldest cigar manufacturer in the Dominican Republic and one of the older continuously operating cigar companies anywhere.
The catalogue is unusually varied for a Dominican house. Preferidos, in a double figurado shape traceable to the brand's early years, is its signature format; the 107 and 1495 lines reference the company's anniversaries and the year Santiago was founded; and Puro Vintage and ADN Dominicano releases foreground specific harvests and Dominican-grown wrapper. Cameroon wrapper has been a recurring La Aurora signature.
Guillermo Leon, of the third generation to lead the cigar business, took full ownership when the company was separated from the wider Leon Jimenes group. La Aurora also manufactures for other brands and operates one of the more visited factories on the Procigar tour circuit. The company has also expanded into distribution and retail in the Dominican Republic and abroad, and it produces cigars under contract for other brands.