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| La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice |
The La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice is a line extension based on the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond line. It was one of several limited edition regional releases by Miami Cigar and Company. This cigar was released to six states in the Mid Atlantic area: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The original Preferidos Diamond was released in a perfecto format in 2012 and it earned an Honorable Mention as one of the Cigar Coop Cigar of the Year list for 2013. Chicho’s Choice takes that blend and puts it into a 6 x 58 Gran Toro. Recently, I had an opportunity to smoke the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice. Overall I found this to be another outstanding edition to this line.
For each of the regional releases, Miami Cigar and Company gave the regional representative the opportunity to pick the the cigar to be released in his territory. With Chicho’s Choice, the name is derived from Christopher “Chicho” Lenzo, who is the longest tenured sales representative in the company.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The following is the blend for the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond:
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican Maduro
Filler: Dominican
Vitolas Available
Chicho’s Choice becomes a second vitola released in the line. The Chicho’s Choice release is not packaged in a plastic tube (like the original Preferidos perfecto). It is packaged in cellophane in boxes of 25. There have been a total of 150 boxes produced.
Chicho’s Choice: 6 x 58 (Limited Regional)
Perfecto: 5 x 54
Appearance
The wrapper the Chicho’s Choice is similar in color and complexion to the original perfecto. It features a dark espresso colored Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. The wrapper is somewhat oily, and there are spots that are more oily than others. The surface is bumpy. The dark color does a decent job at hiding most of the wrapper seams and veins.
The band of the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice is the same as the core perfecto Diamond. 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 “BROADLEAF” 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 around the back is the text “REPUBLICA DOMINICANA” in black font on a silver background. The remainder of the band is silver and black design.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to my cigar experience, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap of La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice. After the cap was clipped, I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The dry draw yielded a mix of cedar sweet spice and espresso. Overall I considered the pre-light draw o this cigar to be very good. At this point, I was ready to light up Chicho’s Choice and await what the smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice provided a mix of black pepper and cedar spice as well as an espresso component. The pepper established itself rather quickly on the retro-hale – and it remained prominent on the retro-hale throughout the smoking experience.
Some notes of chocolate joined the espresso notes early in the first third. This gave the Chicho’s Choice the right amount of sweetness. Throughout the first two thirds of the smoking experience the espresso/chocolate combo and the pepper/cedar combo alternated between being primary and secondary flavors.
In the last third, the pepper/cedar combination took control in the last third. The end to this cigar definitely had a spicy kick to it. There was a slight bit of harshness at the close of the cigar. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
The burn to Chicho’s Choice performed extremely well. The burn line remained relatively straight from start to finish – requiring only some occasional touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash was mostly white in color with some black speckling mixed in. The ash for the most part was firm, but not overly tight. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice |
The draw to Chicho’s Choice also performed well. The draw had a touch of resistance – which is something I like on a draw. For a draw that was on the snug side, I will still surprised how much smoke this cigar produced.
Strength and Body
The La Aurora Preferidos Diamond in the perfecto format is a cigar that I assessed as being full in strength and full in body. In the case of Chicho’s Choice, this is going to follow the same path – however this is a cigar that is really going to kick up in terms of strength in the second half. In fact, this has to rank as one of the all-time powerhouse cigars that I’ve ever smoked out of La Aurora – and definitely one of the strongest cigars I smoked in 2014. The strength and body balance each other well in the first half, but in the second half I gave an edge to the strength.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice was quite pleasing. When I reviewed the Preferidos Diamnond in the perfecto, one small gripe I had was that the cigar was too small and I wanted more smoking time. I certainly got it with the Chicho’s Choice – and it delivered a very nice smoking experience. I had always wondered what this blend would smoke like in a parejo format – and Chicho’s Choice gave me this opportunity – and I was quite pleased. This is not a cigar for the novice. There is quite a bit of strength to this cigar. In fact some experienced cigar enthusiasts can be thrown for a loop with this cigar’s strength. In fact, this is a cigar that I believe can have a place in the national market for the big ring gauge, full strength / full-bodied cigar enthusiast. As for myself, I liked this cigar – and I would look for a box split considering its limited availability.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 90
References
Price: $12.00
Source: Gifted
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
