Rizona Baru

Rizona is a factory in Temanggung, in the mountains of central Java, that has made cigars since 1910 — one of the oldest in Indonesia still in operation. Its founder, Hoo Tjong An, had learned the trade from a Filipino cigar maker, and this atlas notes the detail because it links two of its countries: Manila then rolled for all of Asia, and that is where the manner came to Java from. He set up a small factory and hired the neighbourhood.

His son, Sunardi Hartono, took over — in 1934 according to one source, 1940 according to another; the entry writes both —, gave the factory the name Rizona and raised quality by bringing wrappers from Havana and Brazil. Fifty years later his own son, Mulyadi Hartono, took the reins, and it is he who runs the house in the third generation. Thirty-eight people work there, mostly women, from cleaning the leaves to boxing, with no modern tools; the tobacco comes from Jember, at the other end of the island. Three brands: Kenner Ballero, Kenner King, Extra Fine.

The Indonesian press visits it as a monument — a century and more, say the headlines.

Range Depth

• Kenner King

  Wrapper Java · Strength Medium

  One of the factory's three brands, on Jember tobacco.

• Kenner Ballero

  Wrapper Java · Strength Mild-Medium

  The house's slim size.