La Aurora Cigars

In 1903 Eduardo León Jimenes opened a cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, making La Auroras cigars. The factory was located in Guazumal, near Tamboril, which is now famous for its cigar rollers. Some tobacco came from that area, and other fields were in Gurabo, Jacagua and El Ingenio, five or six miles away. In 1903, the Dominican Republic still had dirt roads and in order to make cigars La Aurora had to pack tobacco in wood and ship it by donkey. The first La Auroras were perfectos, pointed at each end with a bulbous middle. The cigars were called preferidos.