La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Diamond

The La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond was a cigar launched by La Aurora at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show in Orlando, Florida.  This cigar added a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapped option to La Aurora’s famed Preferidos line.  At the time of this article, this is one of three Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper cigars that have been released by Guillermo Leon’s company joining the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial and the recently released La Aurora 107 Maduro. La Aurora has been doing some outstanding work with the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond is no exception.  This cigar is one outstanding smoking experience.

The Preferidos series consists of double figuardo vitolas packaged in a double figuardo-shaped tube.  According to the Miami Cigar and Company web-site: “these cigars are produced only by expert torcedors with more than 15 years of experience. Each of them produces at most 125 cigars per day.”  The Diamond becomes the sixth blend in La Aurora’s Preferidos line.  Each blend is denoted by an associated tube color and a different wrapper.  The following are the list of the tube color and wrapper of the six blends in the series.  The Preferidos Diamond is in a black tube.

Gold: Corojo
Platinum: Cameroon
Red: Maduro
Sapphire: Connecticut
Emerald: Ecuadorian
Black (Diamond): Connecticut Broadleaf

Without further ado, let’s break down the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

In addition to using a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper, there is also a maduro binder on this cigar.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder:  Dominican Maduro
Filler: Dominican

Vitolas Available

The La Aurora Preferidos Diamond is available in one size – a 5 x 54 double figuardo/perfecto. As mentioned the cigar is packaged in a tube.  Three are 8 tubes per box.

Packaging of the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond – Cigar Coop Photo from 2012 IPCPR Trade Shoe

Appearance

As mentioned, the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond comes in a glossy black tube in a perfecto shape.  There is a simulated band on the tube.  It features a lion at the center of the band on a background consisting of yellow, brown, green, and gold coloring.  Above the lion is the text “LA AURORA” on a faded silver background.  Below the lion is the text “DIAMOND” on a silver ribbon in black font.  Below that ribbon is the text “HECHO A MANO – CASA FONDADA 1903” in small black font.  Toward the right of the simulated band, it says “REPUBLICA DOMINICANA” in black font on a silver background. The remainder of the simulated band is silver and black design.    Finally on the tube itstelf is the text “LA AURORA 1903 EDITION” in silver font arranged in landscape mode.

The cigar itself is a dark espresso colored wrapper.  The wrapper is a classic rugged style Connecticut Broadleaf.  The wrapper is somewhat oily, and there are spots that are more oily than others.  There are some veins and some wrapper seams.  While the cigar is a double figuardo/perfecto, the tip is cut on the footer, so it makes it easy for cutting.

La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond

The band to the cigar itself is similar to the simulated band on the tube.  The difference is the silver ribbon with the text “DIAMOND” is replaced by a gold ribbon with the text “BROADLEAF”.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For my smoking experience of the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond, I went with a straight cut into the tip of the torpedo.  Once the tip of the torpedo was clipped, I proceeded with the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes provided me a combination of wood, espresso, and some pepper spice.  Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw.  At this point, I was ready to light up the Preferidos Diamond.  It definitely was easier having the footer cut as I did not have to wrestle with that decision myself.  Once the cigar was lit, I was ready to see what the smoking experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The start to the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond provided a mix of coffee, white pepper, and sweet maduro notes.  The best way to describe these sweet maduro notes was that it was a cross between citrus and sugar cane with a tobacco flavor mixed in.  The retro-hale took shape early providing a mix of cedar and pepper notes.

By about the five percent mark, the pepper notes had a slight edge over the other flavors in the forefront.  The coffee notes took on rich espresso syrup quality.   As the Preferidos Diamond moved through the first half, the pepper, coffee, and natural maduro sweetness along moved in and out as primary and secondary flavors.  The interesting factor was how the natural maduro notes at times had more of a citrus spin and at other times more of a sugar cane spin.

In the second half, the pepper had more bite on the retro-hale, but it still maintained its cedar qualities.  It was also in the second half where the natural maduro sweetness became more of a classic citrus sweetness (shedding the sugar cane aspects).  The citrus joined the coffee notes as primary flavors.  The pepper spice was still very much present, but I detected it more on the after-draw.  The end of the cigar was flavorful.  The resulting nub was cool in temperature and soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

While I’ve been critical of the way perfectos burn and draw, I anticipated this would not be a problem with the Preferidos Diamond – namely because La Aurora has done such a solid job with the construction of the other blends in the series.  This is exactly what I got.  I got a very straight burn that required minimal touch-ups.  The resulting ash was white in color and remained firm. The ash itself was not prone to any major flaking or flowering.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.  In the end I think the cut tip of the footer results in a lot good things for the burn.

Burn of the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond

The draw was outstanding to this cigar.  The tip did not get overly soft while drawing making for a solid smoking experience.   In general, the Preferidos Diamond was a low maintenance cigar to smoke.

Strength and Body

This is a small cigar that packs a nice punch.  This is definitely one of the fuller offerings when it comes to attributes of strength and body.  The Preferidos Diamond will deliver enough pop to qualify it as a full strength smoke.  As for the body, the flavors are rich, robust, and deep.  I also assessed the Preferidos Diamond as being a full-bodied smoke.  Both the strength and body balance each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Possibly the only negative I can say about this cigar is the size.  It was a 5″ perfecto, but with the tapered ends, you lose some smoking time.  This is the kind of cigar that wants you having more. As I said at the beginning, there is no question La Aurora is doing some great stuff with Connecticut Broadleaf – and this is another fine example.   The price point to the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond is in the $19 to $20 range.  This is mentioned for informational purposes as price is not factored into our final review or score.   Given this is a full strength, full-bodied cigar, I probably would still steer this more toward the experienced cigar enthusiast.  As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again – and certainly consider a box purchase of.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 93

Source: Two cigars for this assessment were purchased from Smoke Inn Cigars in West Palm Beach, Florida.  One cigar for this assessment was gifted by a friend.