La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial (La Aurora Cien Anos Maduro)
The La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial is a maduro version of La Aurora’s famed Cien Anos blend. Prior to the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show, La Aurora cigars announced a return of the original Cien Anos blend to the marketplace. As a part of this launch, there was also a plan to launch a maduro version of the Cien Anos. The Cien Anos was re-launched in three sizes and limited to 20,000 cigars per size. The maduro version was even more limited as it was only made in one size and limited to 7,000 cigars. This maduro version, the La Aurora Cien Anos has started to make its way to select La Aurora retailers. I’ve recently had an opportunity to smoke the La Aurora Edicion Especial. This truly is the cream of the crop in terms of work La Aurora has done. It ranks as one of the best Dominican-based maduros I’ve had and has all of the qualities of a legendary cigar.
The original Cien Anos was launched in 2003. That cigar was launched to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the La Aurora cigar factory in the Dominican Republic. The Cien Anos was a Dominican puro featuring a Dominican Corojo wrapper. Due to popular demand, La Aurora made a decision to re-launch the cigar in 2012.
The maduro option on the Cien Anos Edicion Especial creates an entirely different smoking experience. Let’s break down the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The maduro wrapper for the Cien Anos Edicion Especial is a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Vitolas Available
The La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial was released in one size – a 5 x 50 Robusto. There are 25 cigars per box for a total of 280 boxes.
 |
| La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial – Cigar Coop IPCPR 2012 Picture |
Appearance
The La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial’s Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is almost oscuro-like as it has a dark roasted coffee bean color to it. The wrapper has a rugged look with a somewhat oily complexion. There are some visible veins and there is no doubt the Cien Anos Edicion Especial has a toothy wrapper to it. The wrapper seams are well-hidden and really only visible upon close examination.
The band features a combination of orange, gold, red, and pale yellow in the color scheme. In the center of the band is the La Aurora lion. Above the lion in thin gold font it says “AURORA”. Below the lion in thin gold font it says “100 ANOS”. The remainder of the band is adorned with pale yellow, gold, and red. On the back is a red oval. There are three lines of text in white font containing one word/number per line. The text is “AURORA”, “100”, “ANOS”. There is a small crown above the text. Going sideways on each side of the oval it says “HECHO A MANO” in small white font.
There is a secondary band sitting below the primary band. This secondary band is red, gold, and black. The text “EDICIÓN ESPECIAL” is in gold font on a red background that covers most of the band. There are gold and black around the edges of the band.Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my smoke of the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. After the cap was clipped, it was on to begin the pre-light draw. The cold draw provided notes of coffee, dark chocolate, nut, and pepper. Overall, this was a simply outstanding pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light the foot of my cigar and begin the smoking experience.
Flavor Profile
The start to the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial yielded notes of mocha, leather, and cedar spice. The cedar spice quickly transitioned to more of a classic pepper spice and moved into the background. The mocha notes moved into the forefront while the leather joined the pepper in the background.
Later in the first third, the mocha became more of a rich dark chocolate flavor. I also detected some citrus notes in the background with the leather and spice.
The second third saw the pepper notes increase and join the chocolate in the forefront. At the same time I also detected some nut flavors that joined the citrus in the background. By the midway point, the citrus notes joined the chocolate notes in the forefront – creating a very nice fusion.
Toward the later part of the second third, the chocolate notes diminished into the background while the nut flavors entered the forefront. By the time the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial reached the last third, the citrus, nut, and pepper notes were in control. The background notes remained as chocolate and leather. This was the way the flavor profile held until the end.
The way this cigar experience ended was outstanding. It was flavorful with no harshness. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature – as good a nub as you can get.
Burn and Draw
The La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial is a well constructed cigar – and this is reflected in both the burn and draw. Both the burn and draw get some very high marks. The burn line remained sharp from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was salt and pepper color that tended to be more on the white-colored side. The ash flaked a couple of times along the way, but nothing major. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
As for the draw, I found the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial to be low maintenance – making for an outstanding smoking experience.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial starts out medium to full. As the cigar experience moved through the second third, the strength did increase to full strength. I found this to be a cigar where the strength does sneak up on you a little bit, yet at the same time this isn’t a nicotine bomb.
As for the depth of the flavors, this cigar fits the definition of a flavor bomb. This cigar is loaded with deep, rich flavors. It easily qualifies as a full-bodied smoke in my book. The strength and body counter each other nicely, but I do give the body a slight edge over the strength here.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the best way to sum up the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial is that it provides the complete cigar experience – outstanding flavor, outstanding construction, complexity, and balance. It is everything a maduro cigar should be. The only thing that might hurt this cigar’s legacy is that it is a limited production cigar, so in the long run it will be harder to obtain. However a great smoke is a great smoke – and this cigar is a grand slam home run.
The price point is around the $15.00 range. We don’t factor price into our assessment ratings or scores, but we do mention this for informational purposes. I will say, for a $15.00 robusto, this cigar smokes like a cigar should smoke for that price point.
The La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial is probably a smoke I’d still steer toward a more experienced cigar enthusiast as it is fuller in strength and body. As for myself, this is not only something I would smoke again, but one worthy of a box purchase.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Full (Medium to Full for first third)
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 95
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Smoke Inn in West Palm Beach, Florida.
There are some roasted nut characteristic notes with that and it is also showing some oak and dark cherry qualities as well on the finish.
http://lacasadelhabano-brussels.be/en/