The Ultimate Guide to La Aurora Cigars

An 18-year-old with a dream, a small team of tobacco workers, and a donkey in the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic. These were the humble beginnings of La Aurora Cigars. In 1903, Eduardo León Jimenes started a cigar business that would grow far beyond its rural roots. Coming from a family of tobacco growers, Eduardo brought knowledge of the leaf and an ambition to create cigars that could earn recognition beyond his hometown.

More than a century later, La Aurora stands as the Dominican Republic’s oldest cigar factory, carrying generations of family history, tobacco knowledge, and craftsmanship. Its portfolio reflects that journey, from the distinctive double figurado shape associated with its earliest cigars to blends featuring tobaccos from around the world. Anniversary releases celebrate the company’s milestones, while blends incorporating traditional Dominican tobacco processes keep its roots present in the cigars themselves.

In this spotlight, we’ll explore the people and milestones that shaped La Aurora before opening our current humidor to examine the cigars we carry. Then, we’ll venture beyond our selection to discover other noteworthy releases and how they fit into the brand’s wider legacy.

Coming from a family of tobacco growers, Eduardo León Jimenes wanted to take the family business beyond growing tobacco. Raised in Guazumal, he inherited some land and set out to create cigars that would gain international recognition. On October 3, 1903, at just 18 years old, he established La Aurora in nearby Don Pedro, putting that ambition into motion.

Described as disciplined and approachable, Eduardo placed particular importance on honoring payments owed to farmers. Those carefully tended relationships with tobacco growers were crucial to the business, keeping him closely connected to the cultivation, manufacturing, and sale of tobacco as La Aurora grew.

When Eduardo passed away in 1937, his brother Herminio took over, helping prepare Eduardo’s sons to continue the business their father had started. 

Following Herminio’s death in 1951, Eduardo’s sons carried the family business forward. Eduardo León Asensio helped guide its business development, while Fernando León Asensio concentrated on tobacco cultivation, harvesting, and production. Their younger brothers, Guillermo and José, also took on responsibilities as the company expanded. Together, they carried the business through the difficult conditions imposed by the Trujillo dictatorship.

In 1957, the León brothers took an important step for their workforce, helping establish a workers’ union and signing its first collective agreement that November. As new machinery entered the business, they wanted to ensure that technological progress would benefit employees rather than cost them their jobs. The people behind the tobacco remained an important part of the company’s future.

Fernando became a particularly important figure in La Aurora’s history. With a deep understanding of tobacco, he earned the respect of growers throughout the Cibao Valley. In 1961, he began a project to grow tobacco suitable for cigar wrappers in Sabana del Puerto, but harsh weather forced the effort to stop in 1963. It wasn’t a complete loss, though. His son, Guillermo León Herbert, revived the project in 1997, helping produce quality Dominican wrapper tobacco for the company’s centennial cigar. Released in 2003, La Aurora 100 Años brought that effort to life with an entirely Dominican blend.

As the son of Fernando León, Guillermo León Herbert grew up visiting tobacco fields with his father and spent summers learning the cigar-making process. His introduction to the business began long before he took on a leadership role.

In 1983, he joined the wider León Jimenes Group’s logistics department, gaining experience in how the family business operated. By 1995, he was guiding La Aurora alongside his father, combining his familiarity with tobacco with his experience within the company.

In 2007, La Aurora returned to its roots, establishing its headquarters in the Tamboril Free Zone in Guazumal, the community where Eduardo León Jimenes had founded the business more than a century earlier.

Coming full circle, La Aurora now stood as an internationally recognized cigar maker with more than a century of family history, tobacco experience, and longstanding industry relationships behind it. Eduardo’s tiny operation had evolved into a global business serving smokers around the world, with a portfolio that included León Jimenes, Preferidos, and the celebrated 100 Años. Production at the new facility began roughly a mile from the original factory on October 3, 2007, exactly 104 years after La Aurora’s founding.

In 2009, Fernando León passed away at the age of 87, leaving behind decades of work that had helped shape La Aurora and its relationships with Dominican tobacco growers. Having worked alongside his father for years, Guillermo carried that experience into the company’s next chapter.

In 2011, as the wider León Jimenes Group shifted its focus toward beverages, Guillermo acquired La Aurora, bringing the cigar business under his ownership. The purchase gave him greater freedom to make decisions while continuing the company’s established approach to cigar making. La Aurora remained in family hands, with the founder’s grandson guiding its future.

Throughout these changes, Manuel Inoa was working alongside the León family, having joined La Aurora in 1996 after roughly a decade at General Cigar. Trained in industrial engineering, he first entered the tobacco industry through machinery and production work before developing his knowledge of tobacco and blending under Benji Menéndez and Ángel Daniel Núñez. At La Aurora, Fernando León became another important mentor, adding the family’s experience to the foundation Inoa had already built.

Debuting in April of 2017, the 1903 Cameroon cigar is presented as the third installment to their Time Capsule series. Now presented as the "Original Blends" collection, the cigar is named after the first year La Aurora utilized the wrapper. Despite the name, La Aurora uses Cameroon-seed tobacco grown in Ecuador, preserving the connection to the African-grown wrapper. Sitting underneath the Cameroon-seed wrapper is an Ecuadorian Sumatran binder with filler hailing from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Delivering a medium-bodied smoke with notes of sweet spice, cocoa,, cinnamon, wood, and fruit/citrus accents, this blend's churchill vitola received recognition from Cigar Aficionado with a 91 point rating in 2021, and a recent 93-point rating in 2024.

In addition, the 1903 Cameroon also won Best Value for the Dominican Republic at Cigar Journal's 2020 Cigar Trophy Awards.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 54
Gran Toro - 6 x 58
Churchill - 7 x 47

Launching in April of 2019, the 1985 Maduro is one of the recent additions to the Original Blends series. Following in the commercial success of the Original Blend series, La AuroraCovered in a deeply mature Brazilian Maduro wrapper, the 1985 Maduro features a Nicaraguan binder and filler, offering a medium to full-bodied expression of flavor. Made in the Dominican, this cigar produces exceptional notes of mineral earth, gentle pepper, almond, and dried-fruit sweetness.

The Churchill vitola specifically received recognition for being a good buy after receiving 90 points, appearing on Cigar Aficionado's "Best Buys of 2021" list.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 54
Gran Toro - 6 x 58
Churchill - 7 x 47

Introduced in 2016, alongside the 1962 Corojo cigar, the 1987 Connecticut was one of the first two releases in the Time Capsule series. Its name commemorates the year La Aurora first worked with a Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco.

Made in the Dominican Republic, it features an Ecuador-grown Connecticut Shade wrapper over a Cameroon binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Peru. The blend offers a mild to medium-bodied smoke with notes of wood, cocoa, nuts, and light citrus, supported by a creamy mouthfeel. Its mellow profile gives newer smokers a starting point while offering established Connecticut fans plenty of flavor to explore.

The Robusto received 88 points from Cigar Aficionado in April 2023 and earned a place on the publication’s Best Buys of 2023 list. The Churchill also received recognition, scoring 90 points in August 2026.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 54
Gran Toro - 6 x 58
Churchill - 7 x 47

Originally introduced in 2010 to celebrate La Aurora’s 107th anniversary, the 107 line later expanded into the Tobaccos of the World collection, exploring different tobacco origins through its blends. Released in 2020, the 107 Nicaragua brought an entirely Nicaraguan tobacco blend to that collection, made with La Aurora’s Dominican craftsmanship. It reached European and Dominican markets before its U.S. rollout, which was scheduled for the week of October 7. The date was a deliberate nod to the cigar’s name, matching 107 with “10/7.”

Blended by Manuel Inoa, this Nicaraguan puro is made in the Dominican Republic, featuring a sun-grown Habano wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Esteli and Condega. Producing medium to full-bodied flavor, the 107 Nicaragua opens with spice and leather before developing notes of earth, wood, and florals, with hints of walnut and licorice toward the finish.

The Robusto received 90 points from Cigar Aficionado in February 2021. Across its earthy, floral, and nutty profile, the 107 Nicaragua showcases more than the peppery flavors often associated with Nicaraguan cigars.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5.75 x 54
Toro - 6 x 50
Gran Toro - 6 x 58

Part of the small-batch Preferidos collection, these cigars are hand-crafted by expert torcedores using barrel-aged binder and filler tobaccos. The parejo counterpart to La Aurora’s Black Diamond, the Preferidos Broadleaf features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It delivers a medium to full-bodied smoke with notes of coffee, cocoa, oak, and cedar, accompanied by almond, citrus, and a creamy sweetness.

The Robusto received 93 points from Cigar & Spirits, as reported by La Aurora in April 2020. Its wood, cocoa, and coffee notes make it an appealing option for those who enjoy a flavorful smoke or an after-dinner cigar.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 54

Unveiled in September 2018 to commemorate La Aurora’s 115th anniversary, the range includes the regular-edition Toro we carry. Made in the Dominican Republic, it features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, a Brazilian binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The blend delivers a medium to full-bodied smoke, opening with black pepper before developing a creamy wood character with notes of cinnamon, nuts, and citrus.

The Toro received 89 points from Cigar Aficionado in June 2020, adding recognition to a blend created to celebrate more than a century of La Aurora’s cigar-making history.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 54
Gran Toro - 6 x 58

Celebrating 120 years since Eduardo León Jimenes founded the company, this Dominican puro was first presented at ProCigar 2023. Its introduction accompanied renewed factory facilities, greater use of La Aurora’s own tobacco, and an emphasis on education within the team.

The blend features a Dominican Habano ’92 wrapper over a Dominican Olor binder, with fillers consisting of Dominican Piloto Cubano, Olor, and Corojo. It delivers a medium to full-bodied smoke with notes of cedar, cinnamon, anise, cocoa, coffee, and vanilla, alongside hints of fruit, honey, and earth.

The Robusto received 87 points from Cigar Insider and earned 92 points and fourth place among Dominican cigars in CigarsLover Magazine’s 2023 awards. With an entirely Dominican blend, the 120th Anniversary celebrates the tobacco heritage that helped build La Aurora.

Available Vitolas:

Robusto - 5 x 50
Toro - 5.75 x 50
Gran Toro - 6 x 58
Churchill - 7 x 47
Lancero - 6.87 x 40

Presented at IPCPR in 2018, Barrel Aged by Karl Malone grew out of a two-year collaboration between the NBA legend and La Aurora’s master blender, Manuel Inoa. Malone met the La Aurora family through a mutual friend, forming a relationship that eventually led to a cigar developed around his tastes and preferences.

Made in the Dominican Republic, the blend features an Ecuadorian wrapper and binder with fillers from Peru, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The tobaccos undergo six years of bulk aging before the binder and filler spend an additional six months in used rum barrels. After rolling, the cigars rest for another three months. This process contributes toasted-wood character to a medium to full-bodied smoke, opening with black pepper before developing notes of cinnamon, wood, and dried fruit, with a creamy finish.

Receiving ratings ranging from 89 to 94 points across multiple reviewers and publications, the line has earned recognition from several corners of the cigar world. It also became part of a memorable sports celebration when LSU players smoked the cigars after their January 2020 national championship victory.

Available Vitolas:
Robusto - 5 x 50
Churchill - 7 x 47
Belicoso - 6.25 x 52
Sumo Toro - 5.75 x 54

From Eduardo León Jimenes’ small operation in Guazumal to the cigars in our current humidor, La Aurora’s story spans generations of tobacco knowledge, family leadership, and a willingness to try something new. Its portfolio gives that history plenty of expression, from the wrapper milestones behind Original Blends to Dominican anniversary puros and the rum-barrel aging used in its Karl Malone collaboration.

Whether you enjoy a creamy Connecticut, the sweetness and spice of Cameroon, or the richer character of Broadleaf, La Aurora offers several directions to explore. Understanding the people, tobaccos, and ideas behind those blends gives each cigar a little more context. More than a century after its founding, the ambition that started La Aurora continues to take shape in the cigars it makes today.