Metro Cigar News Spring 1999

Great Cigars, A Family Tradition

By Bob Nesoff

Family traditions today have come to mean perhaps a passing to a second generation of a business or skill. Most people are awe-struck when a son decides to take over for his father and continue the family business.

But what of a family tradition that began in 1903 and continues today, passed from grandfather to father to grandson? Few families and fewer businesses can boast such an unbroken chain.

The business...cigars... The company...L'Aurora... The family...Leon
Perhaps in no other business is the steady hand of long time tradition as important as it is in the production of fine cigars. The technique of planting, choosing the right soil, developing leaves, and blending them all together to produce the quality smoke desired by those who are selective about the cigars they purchase.

L'Aurora is headed today by Guillermo Leon, the scion of the cigar-making dynasty that began in 1903 in the little town of Santiago in the Dominican Republic.

Guillermo has been involved in cigars at some level since he was a very young boy, but only took control of the company in 1994. "I am very happy to maintain and continue such a tradition and family involvement," Guillermo said. "We believe it is important that all these years of experience are continued."

Master roller Manuel Jaquez had been working at the factory since 1947. He still rolls daily.

L'Aurora today is still a family affair with Guillermo's brothers and cousins involved and an uncle who heads the holding company. While he runs the tobacco end of the business, the holding company has evolved into a major conglomerate that produces food products and distributes Heineken beer.

The tobacco end of the company also has the distributorship for Marlboro cigarettes in the Dominican Republic. "But no matter whatever else we may expand into," Guillermo said, "the cigar is still the heart of our company. I still rely heavily on the advice and suggestions of my father, Fernando, for many of the decisions we make here every day.

"The popularity of the cigar will be around for a long time because it has become a major status symbol," he continued. "It's popularity has been tied in to social standing and the bonding of individuals who will smoke together.

"The industry has a great future," he said. "I believe the trend and tradition for the better cigars, the premium cigars, will continue. We are developing a new generation of cigar smokers who are learning to seek quality in their smokes."

"The popularity of the cigar will be around for a long time because it has become a major status symbol," he continued.

With the possibility that Cuba will reopen to the rest of the world soon, Guillermo Leon was asked what impact he thought that would have on the cigar industry.

"I don't think that Cuba will have a major impact" he said. "The Cuban cigars today have different characteristics. The quality of the true Cohiba is just not what is used to be."

His opinion is echoed by many in the business who feel that after years of a trade embargo and lack of attention to the fields and crop, the Cuban tradition will take years to rebuild in an open market.

L'Aurora's new cigar, the Preferido, has been developed to honor the great traditions of cigar making that began nearly 100 years ago by the Leon family. There will be three sizes, 4x50, 5x54 and 6x58, each one supervised by a different family member.

"The response has been tremendous," Guillermo commented. "There is much interest in the unique shape and the history of the cigar.

"We are always working to develop new products for our loyal customers," he said. "A continuing and stable demand for our products allows us to focus on quality and not quantity. And for that, I thank all of our customers."