La Aurora Remembers Don Fernando with Limited-Edition Lancero
Dominican cigarmaker La Aurora is honoring what would have been cigar legend Don Fernando León Asensio’s 100th birthday with a limited-edition smoke called La Aurora Family Reserve Fernando León Legacy Lancero. The slender cigar, previously only available in the Dominican Republic, will now also be available in the United States. La Aurora will be taking preorders at this year’s PCA trade show, with shipments to stores to follow soon after.
Fernando León was the third son of La Aurora’s founder, Eduardo León Jimenes, and served as master blender for his father’s company before taking the helm in the 1950s. He guided the company through dictatorships, political strife and more and was renowned in the cigar industry for his knowledge and passion for tobacco. He would have turned 100 on April 22.
The cigar is a little shorter (6 7/8 inches long) and a little fatter (40 ring gauge) than a traditional lancero, and it has the lancero’s traditional pigtail cap. Lanceros, which are part of the larger panetela category, are an elegant size, where the thinner ring gauge allows the wrapper to play a larger role in the flavor profile. While embraced by seasoned cigar smokers, their popularity has decreased in recent years due to the market’s increasing shift towards thicker ring gauges.
La Aurora Family Reserve Fernando León Legacy Lancero is made from a Dominican binder and mix of fillers from Brazil and the Dominican Republic, wrapped with a specially aged Corojo wrapper that bears some extra significance—La Aurora says it was harvested in 2008 and was the last project developed by Don Fernando before his passing in 2009. The cover leaves were grown at his experimental Sabana del Puerto farm in the Bonao region of the Dominican Republic.
The cigar will have a suggested retail price of $20 each (before taxes) and will be limited to a production of 1,000 boxes, each containing 10 cigars.
