La Aurora 107

Two years ago, La Aurora unveiled the La Aurora 107 cigar.  This cigar was released to celebrate La Aurora’s 107th anniversary, thus the cigar was appropriately named.  This cigar received a high amount of fanfare from cigar enthusiasts nationwide and many had it as one of their top cigars for 2010.   I recently have had a chance to revisit this blend again.  Overall, I was much more pleased with the La Aurora 107 than I was a couple of years ago.

The La Aurora 107 blend was worked on by both Guillermo Leon and Jose Blanco (while he still was with La Aurora).  The cigar (as all La Aurora cigars) is exclusively distributed in the United States by Miami Cigar and Company.

Let’s begin the assessment of the La Aurora 107 cigar:

Blend Profile

The blend of the La Aurora 107 features tobaccos from three countries:

Wrapper: Sun-grown Ecuadorian
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaragua

Vitolas Available

There are six core vitolas available in the 107 blend:

Belicoso: 6.25 x 52
Toro: 5.5 x 54
Robusto: 4.5 x 50
Lancero: 6 7/8 x 40
Gran 107: 7 x 58
Corona: 5 1/2 x 43

Appearance

For this cigar assessment, I sampled the La Aurora 107 Robusto.  The wrapper of this cigar had a dark natural look to it.  The wrapper has an oily complexion to it.  The 107 is also a bit toothy and it definitely has visible veins.  On the foot, the cigar has a feint farm-like aroma to it.

The band is red, orange, gold, and white.  A lion is center stage on the middle of the band.  In red font, “La Aurora” and “107” is positioned above and below the lion respectively.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For my La Aurora 107 Robusto, I placed a straight cut into the cap and commenced with the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes provided a very interesting mix of orange citrus, butter, and a little pepper.  The pre-light draw was definitely more memorable than from I remembered from a couple of years ago.  At this point, it was time to fire up my La Aurora 107 and see what would come to the table.

Flavor Profile

The initial draws of the La Aurora 107 continued the orange citrus notes I had picked up on the pre-light draw.  The start to this cigar definitely yielded some sweet notes on the tongue.  Around ten percent into the cigar experience, some notes of leather entered the equation.  The leather melded nicely with the orange citrus and helped balance the sweetness nicely.  I also picked up some notes of black pepper on the after draw.

By the mid-point of the cigar experience, some classic wood notes entered the equation.  The sweetness diminished again.  The leather and wood notes would take center stage as far as the flavor went while the citrus notes joined the pepper notes on the after draw.

In the last 25 percent, I detected some butter notes as secondary notes.  It provided a nice smoothness to the finish of this cigar.  The resulting nub was cool and firm – the way a cigar should finish.

Burn and Draw

As far as the burn goes, the La Aurora 107 scored some high grades here.   For the most part, the burn stayed straight and did not involve a lot of touch-ups.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.   The draw to this cigar could have been better.   In each of the three samples I had, the draw was extremely tight in the early stages, and I had to work this cigar harder than I would have liked.  In the end, I don’t think it impacted the burn or flavor profile, but it still was an inconvenience.  I’m more inclined to chalk this up to the batch where these samples came from as a couple of years ago, I did not have an issue with the draw.

Strength and Body

The La Aurora 107 does a very good job at providing a balance between strength and body.   From a strength perspective, the La Aurora 107 did not overpower me with nicotine.  I assessed this cigar as a classic medium-strength cigar.  As for the body, the flavors of the La Aurora 107 were bolder than I remembered.  In the end, I assessed the La Aurora 107 as a medium to full-bodied smoke.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought there was more in the way of complexity and bolder flavors than when I first sampled the La Aurora 107 two years ago.  This is the perfect cigar for a novice enthusiast looking to graduate to a medium strength cigar that has bolder flavors.  Experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate the complexity and boldness of the flavors.   This is the kind of cigar that can satisfy me any time of the day – and one that I would definitely smoke again.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Fair
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 88

Source: The cigar(s) for this assessment were provided by an authorized representative of Miami Cigars.