This past week I had the opportunity to head out to the Dominican Republic on a cigar trip and check out La Aurora Cigars and some of the cigars that fall under that name. The company's location where the heart of the work is done is in the Dominican Republic. If you've never been to the DR it is a must trip for you. Rolling greens, palm tree's, beautiful people, great food and a great culture. And 2000 feet above sea level a few minutes away from Santiago was our digs,
Camp David Ranch Hotel and Resort. I've included the link but if your not fluid in Spanish, get some help. Camp David was more spectacular in person that I thought it would be. Great accommodations, very friendly and courteous staff that catered to your every whim. This resort has 5 star written all over it. But, let's get to the real reason why I'm on this trip.
La Aurora is the oldest cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1903 by Don Eduardo León Jimenes, son of a family dedicated to the harvesting of tobacco. It all began in a modest place, on the outskirts of Santiago de los Caballeros, where Don Eduardo implemented his own technique for rolling cigars, one which has prevailed over time. Later, in 1912, at the suggestion of his brother Herminio, the factory was moved to the flourishing city of Santiago, and has continued expanding to the present day.
During our trip to the factory, we toured the floor, seeing different brands and sizes of cigars being shipped to the US and other country's. We also smoked several test blends, and even rolled our own cigars. Throughout the tour we were always made to feel welcome and everyone in the factory is very proud of the company they work for and made sure that we knew that we were smoking a great product.
The rest of the days we spent there was just a whirlwind of activity. Taking in the views and the great 5-star amenities of Camp David, going to the fields and seeing the tobacco process from the beginning, exchanging cigar stories, going into town and painting the town red at night, having cigar brunches on the beach, buying trinkets and gifts from the locals, just having an overall great time. If you ever get the opportunity to come to this factory put it on your must do list.
I wish to thank the whole entire staff at Camp David for making myself and my guys feel very welcome and the same goes to all the people we came in contact with at the factory. Especially
Guillermo Leon,
Barry Stein and
Chris Lenzo and the rest of the staff for going out the way to make sure we had the best experience ever.
Posts
