La Aurora - Barrel Aged
Rob1110
Posts: 1,577 ✭✭✭
I picked up two of these about a month ago, planning on having one soon and letting the other age for a while. I've been a fan of La Aurora since I first tried their Emerald Tubo Preferido on the recommendation of a local shop. I'm new to the whole review process, so I'll do my best.
Here's the Ad for this stick: The Aurora Barrel Aged cigar is a creamy, full-bodied smoke with hints of caramel. Aurora takes Corojo wrapper leaf and ages it in old rum barrels. This process darkens the wrapper to an Oscuro and adds a ton of flavor.
Pre-light: Nice clean, fresh tobacco smell with subtle sweet undertones. Very nice smelling cigar with a pleasant pre-light draw.
Construction: I'd have to go with the word "perfect" to best describe the construction here. Minimal veins, no soft spots, wrapper and cap in beautiful condition - flawless seams. Even throughout the smoking experience, there were absolutely no wrapper problems, the burn was even all the way down and the cap never even showed any signs of beginning to unravel (I used a punch, so the wrapper was mostly intact, not cut). The draw was never too loose, never too tight and always produced LOTS of smoke. Ash held tight and even throughout.
Flavor: I'd put this one up there in the full flavored department. However, not too spicy (which seems to be the overall end result of most full flavored/bodied cigars these days). Starts off VERY woody, (distinctly oak) and reminiscent of a good aged scotch. This woody/earthy tone begins to fade, but remains beneath the surface throughout the rest of the cigar. After an inch or so, a slightly sweet and slightly spicy aroma is introduced (not too sweet or spicy - but undertones of fruit and spice found in a good aged rum). This lasted about two inches before a very strong and distinct leather note dominated the pallet, with the return of that oak found in the first inch. By the end (last quarter) of the cigar, I found a very strong, bittersweet cocoa note became pronounced with smokey undertones to it. It was around this point that I began to really feel this cigar in my belly.
Overall: This cigar was absolutely beautifully presented, a pleasure and privilege to smoke and well worth every penny spent on it (reasonably priced at just over $8 for a churchill). If this review intrigued you at all, I'd encourage you to get out there and try one of these cigars. Now if I can just keep my paws off the other one in my humi, we'll see what some age can do to blend and mellow this beauty.
Here's the Ad for this stick: The Aurora Barrel Aged cigar is a creamy, full-bodied smoke with hints of caramel. Aurora takes Corojo wrapper leaf and ages it in old rum barrels. This process darkens the wrapper to an Oscuro and adds a ton of flavor.
Pre-light: Nice clean, fresh tobacco smell with subtle sweet undertones. Very nice smelling cigar with a pleasant pre-light draw.
Construction: I'd have to go with the word "perfect" to best describe the construction here. Minimal veins, no soft spots, wrapper and cap in beautiful condition - flawless seams. Even throughout the smoking experience, there were absolutely no wrapper problems, the burn was even all the way down and the cap never even showed any signs of beginning to unravel (I used a punch, so the wrapper was mostly intact, not cut). The draw was never too loose, never too tight and always produced LOTS of smoke. Ash held tight and even throughout.
Flavor: I'd put this one up there in the full flavored department. However, not too spicy (which seems to be the overall end result of most full flavored/bodied cigars these days). Starts off VERY woody, (distinctly oak) and reminiscent of a good aged scotch. This woody/earthy tone begins to fade, but remains beneath the surface throughout the rest of the cigar. After an inch or so, a slightly sweet and slightly spicy aroma is introduced (not too sweet or spicy - but undertones of fruit and spice found in a good aged rum). This lasted about two inches before a very strong and distinct leather note dominated the pallet, with the return of that oak found in the first inch. By the end (last quarter) of the cigar, I found a very strong, bittersweet cocoa note became pronounced with smokey undertones to it. It was around this point that I began to really feel this cigar in my belly.
Overall: This cigar was absolutely beautifully presented, a pleasure and privilege to smoke and well worth every penny spent on it (reasonably priced at just over $8 for a churchill). If this review intrigued you at all, I'd encourage you to get out there and try one of these cigars. Now if I can just keep my paws off the other one in my humi, we'll see what some age can do to blend and mellow this beauty.
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Comments
here is my train of thought. this cigar is aged in an old rum barrel. this will, in theory, give it a unique flavor. rum is a sugar based white spirit and has very neutral flavor. Should it be treated like an infused cigar or not? if i get one can i put this cigar in the Humi with all the others and not have it change anything?
Thanks for all the comments everyone. And Kuz, upon smelling this cigar, there is no strong "infused" or "flavored" scent to it. I stored mine in the celo just to protect them from getting bumped around, but I wouldn't worry at all about storing them without it on.
I'm not too surprised that you haven't heard much about this one. It's a fairly new line and though Aurora seemed to want to push this cigar due to the novelty, I really haven't seen them around too much, including online. I caught one or two ads in magazines and online. I'm actually surprised we're not seeing a lot more of them around, considering the potential market.
It's worth a try and I really hope everyone enjoys it at least as much as I did. I wouldn't want to disappoint.
Roll Out the Barrel: Cask Aged Aurora Cigars
Posted: Friday, July 27, 2007
By David Savona
Few cigars are made from tobacco aged in barrels, so the cigar men at Aurora S.A. think they have something special with their Aurora Corojo Oscuro Barrel Aged Cigar.
All of the tobacco used to make the cigar spends time in old oak barrels that once held Dominican rum. The idea is not to impart flavor to the cigar, but to keep the tobacco in a nearly sealed environment, concentrating the heat and the aging process.
"Last year we said, Let's put the wrapper in barrels for one year," says Jose Blanco, director of sales for the Santiago, Dominican Republic, company.
When they were opened, it smelled like heaven, said Blanco, and the tobacco "got real dark." Aurora already barrel-ages the tobacco used inside its Preferidos, 1495 and 100 Años cigars, but aging the wrapper as well is new for the company.
The Corojo Oscuro Barrel Aged Cigar will come in four sizes, retail for $6 to $9 and debut at the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America trade show in two weeks.
From the July 17 issue of Cigar Insider.
Thanks. When I picked up the two singles, it was tough to find them anywhere. I just did another search yesterday and found them all over the place. Try a google search, you should get plenty of matches and most sites are pretty comparable on prices
Something like that in my opinion is a great place to start...
When it all comes down to it, it's experience, and everything is based on your personal taste. Also, I think most of the guys on here will agree that your taste will change over time. So, my personal suggestion is to buy 1 or 2 of those barrel aged and throw them in your humi until you feel you're ready for them and your pallet is developed. At the same time, pick up some smokes that people recommend, or read some reviews and find something that might suit your taste. Again, see what flavors people reported and try to find them in each cigar. Build your own reviews. Most importantly, relax and enjoy.
I am curious about the posts about smoking cigars wrong. Are they implying that former cigarette smokers tend to smoke their cigars too fast? I am not a cigarette smoker, but think that I am a fast smoker and am always telling myself to slow down and enjoy the smoke. As a newbie what are the reported methods of the 'puff puff draw' then wait etc?
Curiosity is killing me, as I never seem to have enought time to smoke so I alway feel like I am rushing a cigar in.
Try to find a good 90 minutes or more to get a cigar in. Rushing tends to make the experience less enjoyable and less relaxing. If you have less time, you can smoke a smaller cigar. I find that the ccom house blends, as mixed filler cigars, burn pretty quickly as well, and are great for a 60-minute smoke.
Thanks for the feedback.
This leads me to my next question. Is there a thread about retailers of cigars - specifically on line distributors? Or is this a faux pas because we are all using the cigar.com forum.
I actually want to **** about another distributor.
What I mean is this... A cigarette doesn't taste good... It's not something to kick back and relax with... It's not designed to give subtle changes through or various nuances in flavor, etc... It's designed almost entirely for one purpose and one purpose only... To get a healthy dose of nicotine (and all the other horrible additives) into your bloodstream as quickly as possible...
Now keep in mind I'm allowed to say all these things because I was a cigarette smoker!
In fact, I'd venture to say that most cigarette smokers were probably like myself... Puffing away generally almost as fast as you could handle... Why? Because that damn thing was burning up rather I was puffing on it or not... Look at all that lovely smoke (i.e. nicotine and other addictive additives) going to waste! Quick, puff it before any more of it get's loose!
Get the picture? With that in mind, I think it's fairly safe to assume that almost any cigarette smoker who decides to try cigar smoking but knows almost nothing about it will attempt to smoke it basically the same way they smoke a cigarette... Puffing away every few seconds...
Most cigarette smokers aren't used to the idea of smoking something to TASTE it... It was never about taste before!
However... If you want to *** about another distributor, I see no problem with that... PROVIDED the distributor goes unnamed... If anyone reads your story and is interested in who it was, you can rest assured they'll PM you and ask in a private communication...
I can say with 100% certainty that you will not get better-quality service from anyone other than cigar.com. I don't want to bad-mouth the others. There are good retailers out there, sure, with competitive prices and quality service. But you will not find better service than cigar.com.