At ProCigar 2018, La Aurora Cigars introduced a new limited edition ultra-premium cigar known at La Aurora Hors D’Age. The name Hors D’Age is French for “beyond time”. This is a cigar that La Aurora says goes through a 12-year cycle from the time the tobacco seeds are sowed to the time it reaches consumers. As a part of that process, the cigar itself spends two years in the aging room. A few months later, the La Aurora Hors D’Age was also showcased to retailers at the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show. The La Aurora Hors D’Age was offered to retailers in a 6 x 54 format. At the same time, La Aurora would also release five additional sizes of the blend that would be only available in a special 146 count humidor. Today we have an opportunity to look at one of those special sizes, the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon.

The Hors D’Age Humidor additional sizes includes the Salomon, two additional Toro formats, a Belicoso, and a 20 x 80 size known as the Stravaganza. These sizes were not available for sale outside the humidor (although we procured some samples the Salomon for the review). The humidor has a lid made of Spanish olive root and the trays are constructed from white cedar. The humidor itself sells for $5,000.00. It was also made available at the ProCigar 2019 charity auction where it sold for $10,000.00.

Without further ado, let’s break down the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The blend to the La Aurora Hors D’Age is a multinational blend highlighted by Ecuadorian tobaccos for the wrapper and binder and a filler consisting of Colombia, Dominican, and Nicaragua. As with all La Aurora Cigars, production comes from the La Aurora S.A.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Colombian, Dominican (Cibao Valley), and Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: La Aurora S.A.

Vitolas Offered

As mentioned the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon is a part of the Hors D’Age humidor. Each humidor consists of 34 cigars).

Toro: 6 x 54 (Retail)
Toro 1: 5 3/4 x 54 (Available only in Humidor – 38 per humidor)
Toro 2: 5 1/4 x 54 (Available only in Humidor – 38 per humidor)
Salomon: 6 1/2 x 50/60 (Available only in Humidor – 34 per humidor)
Belicoso: 6 1/4 x 52 (Available only in Humidor – 34 per humidor)
Stravaganza: 20 x 80 (Available only in Humidor – 2 per humidor)

As for the La Aurora Hors D’Age Toro made available to retail, it was packaged in 15-count boxes.

Appearance

The Ecuadorian wrapper of the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon had a medium to dark brown color with a slight Colorado tint. There wasn’t much in the way of oil on the surface. This wrapper had a bumpy surface. There were some visible wrapper seams. In addition, there were some prominent visible veins giving the cigar some toothy spots on the surface. The Salomon had a pointed cap with a sharp taper. The footer had a classic salomon with a short nozzle and open footer. There was a gentle taper from the base of the cigar to the nozzle.

The band features a lion at the center of the band on a background consisting of gold and black color scheme. Above the lion is the text “LA AURORA” in black font. Below the lion is the text “PREFERIDOS” on a gold ribbon-design in black font.  Toward the right of the band, it says “REPUBLICA DOMINICANA” in white font on a black background. The lower part of the band is a pseudo secondary band that mostly has a gold background. On the background is the text “HORS D’AGE 2017” in black font. The 2017 is interesting because the cigar itself didn’t have a formal unveiling until 2018.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to start the cigar experience of the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon. While I normally use a Credo Special-T cutter with a 36 ring gauge on a Salomon, I opted to use a normal straight cut ring size. This was because after smoking the first sample where I felt I need a little more area to draw from. Once the pre-light  draw commenced, there were notes of chocolate, cedar, earth, and pepper present. I judged this to be a more than satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon and await what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon kicked off with a mix of chocolate, earth, red pepper, and classic wood notes. As the cigar moved through the first third, the chocolate notes became primary. The earth, red pepper, and wood notes settled into the background. There was also an additional layer of red pepper on the retro-hale.

The wood and earth notes slowly increased and by the second third, these notes displaced the chocolate as the primary note. For the most part, the chocolate settled into the background, joining the red pepper notes and a newly emerged natural tobacco note. Occasionally the chocolate notes popped into the forefront, but past the midway point, these notes diminished in intensity.

Just past the midway point, the wood and earth notes remained primary. There was an increase in the pepper notes as well as a slight increase in the natural tobacco. There were also baker’s spice notes also mixed into the background. By the end of the second third, the chocolate notes dissipated.

The final third of the Hors D’Age Salomon saw the earth and wood remain primary. The pepper and baker’s spice were close secondary notes with the natural tobacco a little more distant. This is the way the La Aurora Hors D’Age came to a close. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn

In terms of the burn of the Hors D’age Salomon, there was an occasional bit of meandering on the burn path. While applying some touch-ups did the trick, the still were more touch-ups than I prefer. The resulting ash was slightly loose. This was an ash that was mostly silver with some darker spots mixed in. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

Draw

The draw to the La Aurora Hors D’Age Salomon performed quite well – especially cutting a slightly wider area than I normally do on a Salomon. This was a cigar that struck a nice balance of openness and resistance.

Strength and Body

For most of the cigar experience, the La Aurora Hors D’Age maintained medium strength and medium body. Toward the latter part of the second third, there was a slight increase in the intensity of both attributes. By the last third, both the strength and body quietly crept into medium to full territory. During the smoking experience, both the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT