Untamed by La Aurora – Robusto

The Untamed by La Aurora is the latest line scheduled to be released by La Aurora Cigars.  The cigar made its official debut at the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas.  This was a significant release by La Aurora for a couple of reasons: First the company is positioning this cigar as its strongest release to date; Secondly, for this release the company has opted to do some different packaging.  La Aurora who is known for their very traditional packaging and banding has opted for a more contemporary style – including a more aggressive looking lion (a lion has been a staple of much of its branding).  I have recently had an opportunity to smoke the pre-release Untamed.  Overall I did find this to be an excellent release to the La Aurora portfolio and one that should appeal to those who prefer a fuller cigar.

Back on June 26th, Miami Cigar and Company President Nestor Miranda was a guest on Stogie Geeks.  It is Miami Cigar who is the U.S. Distributor for La Aurora Cigars and has a very strong partnership with the Dominican-based cigar manufacturer. Miami Cigar played a role in the development of the new packaging and logo. On the show, Miranda gave a little more context about the Untamed by La Aurora:

“We designed a new box for La Aurora. It’s gonna have a bigger, more aggressive lion… When I saw the box in Miami, it impressed me. I said ,let’s show this to (La Aurora President) Guillermo (Leon), said Miranda who added,”They showed it to Guillermo, Jason Wood went to the Dominican Republic and Guillermo loved it…it’s the new lion in La Aurora.”

Packaging for Untamed by La Aurora

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Untamed by La Aurora.  Since we smoked pre-release samples, we will default to our pre-review format.  This will allow us to share our thoughts and perspectives.  Once the Untamed makes it to retailers, we will revisit this and provide an assessment rating and numerical score.

Blend Profile

The Untamed by La Aurora uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  This marks the fourth major release by the company in the past two years to use this wrapper. In 2012, the company launched the Preferidos 1903 Edition Diamond and the La Aurora Cien Anos Edicion Especial (our 2013 Cigar of the Year). Last year the company launch what was the long awaited La Aurora 107 Maduro.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican (3 different), Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The La Aurora Untamed is being launched in five sizes.

Corona Gorda: 6 x 47
Robusto: 5 x 50
Belicoso: 6 1/2 x 52
Toro: 5 1/2 x 52
Gran: 7 x 60

Appearance

For this cigar experience, I smoked the Robusto vitola.  The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of the Untamed has a dark mocha colored wrapper.  Upon closer examination, some darker marbling could also be seen on the dark surface.  The complexion of the wrapper is on the oily side.  There are some visible veins, but the dark color of the wrapper did a good job at hiding the wrapper seams.

The band to the Untamed has a black, red, and gold color scheme.  The background of the wrapper is black.  On the center of the band is a lion with the bolder,more ferocious look we mentioned above.  To the right of the lion are four red claw marks with some gold trim.  On the far right side is the text “UNTAMED” in landscape mode using gold font.  On the left side is a gold stripe with a “ripped” like effect. On that stripe is the text “BY LA AURORA” in landscape mode with black font and thin red trim (the text “BY” is much smaller).  The edge of the band also has a “rip” like effect with red and gold trim.

There is also a footer band with the same black, red, and gold color scheme.  The band has a black background with four red claw marks with gold trim.  Across the claw marks is the text “UNTAMED” in landscape mode in gold font.  This band also has red and gold trim.  The “U” in “UNTAMED” protrudes across the top of the band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to kick off the cigar experience.  Once the cap of the Untamed was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw.  The dry draw provided a nice mix of coffee, tingly spice, some citrus, and some classic maduro sweetness.   Overall, I was quite pleased with the pre-light draw of the Untamed.  At this point, I removed the footer band to the Untamed, lit up the cigar, and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Untamed by La Aurora started with notes of mocha, white and black pepper, and a subtle citrus component.  The pepper soon receded within the first five percent of the smoking experience, but it remained prominent – and quite strong on the retro-hale.

By the five percent point, some earth notes joined the mocha in the forefront.  The pepper notes were secondary, but still prominent on the retro-hale.  The citrus was a more distant citrus note that seemed to just linger throughout the smoking experience.  These were the main flavors as the Untamed moved into the heart of the smoking experience.

I found the mocha notes to vary quite a bit.  At times the mocha notes had some sweet chocolate qualities.  At other times, I found the flavor to be more of an unsweetened coffee.  As the smoking experience of the Untamed progressed into the second third, the mocha / sweet chocolate / coffee notes continued to vary in intensity.  Around this time some earth notes surfaced.  These got more prominent as the Untamed moved through the later stages of the second third.  The pepper remained a close secondary note, but still more prominent on the retro-hale.

The last third saw the earth notes more prominent and the pepper notes moved into the forefront. The mocha / coffee / chocolate qualities were still present on some of the draws, but not as much a factor. The citrus also still lingered in the distant background. This is the way the flavor profile remained until the end. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The burn line to the Untamed did have some jaggedness to it.  While the overall burn of the cigar stayed relatively straight, there were some touch-ups that were required to keep the jaggedness from being too much.  The resulting ash was on the firm side with a bright white color.  The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Untamed by La Aurora

The draw was outstanding.  It had a touch of resistance which is something I like on a draw.  There was a nice amount of smoke production, yet there was no looseness on the draw.  I found this an enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

When I first lit up the Untamed, this was the area I was most interested in – namely this was positioned to be the strongest cigar out of La Auroa.  As I started puffing on this cigar, there was no doubt, this cigar had some power and bold flavor.  I assessed this as being a full strength, full-bodied cigar from start to finish.  As for being the strongest in terms of strength and body, the Untamed is definitely up there.  However, I still think the limited edition of the La Aurora Preferidos Diamond Chicho’s Choice still ranks as the strongest cigar I have had out of La Aurora.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to Connecticut Broadleaf, there are factories known for doing some amazing things with this wrapper.  However, the blends coming out of the La Aurora factory with this wrapper put that factory right at the top of the list with Connecticut Broadleaf.  This is a cigar that produced some great flavors.

The slight jaggedness of the burn was the only issue, but I find Connecticut Broadleaf to be very humidity sensitive – and while these sat in humidor for some time, these still were IPCPR Trade Show samples and they did go from dry humidity to higher humidity, so perhaps some more stabilization would have fixed this.  Regardless, this is an excellent cigar, and it has the potential to get even better.  This could be a line of cigars we are talking about for a while.  Since this is a stronger cigar, I’d recommend it for a more seasoned cigar enthusiast who enjoys a fuller cigar.  As for myself, this will be a cigar I will be seeking out when it hits the stores.

Summary

Burn Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish: Good

References

News: La Aurora Untamed
Price: n/a
Source: Samples provided by Manufacturer (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a

* The cigars for this assessment were provided to Cigar Coop by Miami Cigar and Company. Cigar Coop is appreciative for the sample, but this does not influence this review