La Aurora is expanding its value-priced cigar offerings with the introduction of the Santiago Collection, a new line scheduled to begin shipping to U.S. retailers in August. The collection is designed to complement the company’s existing Cazadores lineup while offering consumers another entry point into the Dominican manufacturer’s portfolio.
Named after Santiago de los Caballeros, the Dominican Republic city long associated with the country’s tobacco industry, the new collection draws on the region where La Aurora has produced cigars since Eduardo León Jimenes founded the company in 1903.
The Santiago Collection will debut with Santiago Maduro, available in two sizes:
- Robusto (5 x 50) — MSRP $2.50
- Toro (6 x 54) — MSRP $3.00
The blend combines Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers with an Indonesian binder and an Indonesian Maduro wrapper.
A second release, Santiago Connecticut, is expected to follow in early September. It will feature the same Dominican and Nicaraguan filler blend and Indonesian binder beneath an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper.
According to La Aurora Master Blender Manuel Inoa, developing a value-priced Maduro required balancing affordability with the construction and performance expected from the company’s cigars.
“Santiago Maduro uses both long-filler and medium-filler tobaccos instead of only long-filler you’d find in our core line, so the real challenge was construction,” Inoa said. “We went through several rounds of blending to get that right without losing the coffee and wood notes people expect from us.”
La Aurora said the Santiago Collection is intended to expand its range of premium cigars across multiple price points while maintaining the quality and consistency associated with the company’s more than 120-year history.