In 2016, Manuel Inoa and La Aurora Cigars released an extension of the popular La Aurora 107 brand known as the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2006. This was a cigar that was significant in that it incorporated tobaccos from a 2006 vintage crop into the blend. It was a cigar that garnered both critical and commercial acclaim, including capturing the #2 Cigar of the Year on the 2017 Cigar Coop Countdown and a spot on The Decade List. Given there was a finite amount of tobacco for the Cosecha 2006, the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2006 would be a one time release. Fast-forward to 2019, and La Aurora once again would do another project releasing vintage tobaccos. This one would incorporate tobaccos from a 2007 vintage crop and is called the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007. Today we take a closer look at that cigar in the Corona Gorda size.

The 107 line was originally introduced in 2010 to celebrate the 107th anniversary of the La Aurora factory. Cosecha means “harvest” – and Cosecha 2007 refers to the tobaccos harvested in 2007. La Aurora Cigars had felt the conditions led to a very good tobacco crop that year. At the time the Cosecha 2007 was released, Guillermo Leon, President of La Aurora, commented “If anything stands out about this blend, it is definitely the harvest year, 2007. This was an excellent year in terms of growing conditions. We received close to perfect amounts of rainfall and sun exposure, allowing for all the tobaccos from wrapper to filler to contain amazing flavor and aroma.”

Without further ado, let’s break down the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 is a four-country multinational blend. It features tobaccos from Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Production is handled at La Aurora’s factory in the Dominican Republic.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Brazilian
Filler: Brazilian, Dominican, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: La Aurora S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 is offered in three sizes. Each is presented in ten count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 54
Corona Gorda: 6 x 47
Churchill: 7 x 50

Appearance

The Ecuadorian wrapper of the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda had a strong cinnamon-colored tint to it. The wrapper didn’t have much oil, and almost had a velvety complexion to it. There was a slight amount of mottling on the surface of the wrapper. There were some visible veins and visible wrapper seams.

There are two bands to the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2006. The primary one has a red, gold, orange, and white color scheme. The center of the band contains a sketch of a lion. There are gold medallions surrounding it to the left and right. Above the lion, it says “LA AURORA” in red font.  Below the lion, it says “107” – in gold font on a red circle with dark trim. On the right side is the text “SERIE 107 ANIVERSARIO” in red font on a gold stripe. The band has gold trim and on the lower part of the band is the text “HECHO A MANO EN REPUBLICA DOMINICANA” – also in gold font.

There is a secondary band partially under the primary band. This secondary band is red and gold. The text “COSECHA 2007” is in small gold font on the lower part of the band. The lower part of the band has a red and gold pattern for the trim.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was clipped, it was on to the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered a mix of sweet natural tobacco and a sweet floral note. Despite the floral note (which I normally don’t like), this was still an excellent pre-light draw experience. At this point it was time to light up the Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda and see what this cigar would bring to the table.

Tasting Notes

The La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda started out with more notes of sweet natural tobacco, earth, and black pepper. Early on the sweet natural tobacco moved into the forefront. The earth and black pepper settled in the background. Some savory notes and some cedar notes emerged before the end of the first third. The retro-hale had notes of black pepper and as the savory notes emerged, they were present on the retro-hale as well.

The natural tobacco notes remained grounded in the forefront during the second third of the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda. Some cedar notes emerged in the background, joining the pepper, earth, and savory notes. By the midway point, the cedar and the pepper notes started to increase in intensity while the savory notes decreased.

By the last third of the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda, the cedar notes joined the natural tobacco notes in the forefront. There was a slight amount of bitterness to the natural tobacco, but this helped round out the flavor profile as opposed to having an adverse effect. The pepper notes were more prominent, but still were in a secondary role with the earth notes further in background. The savory notes had dissipated by this stage of the smoke. This is the way the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch, but cool in temperature.

Burn

The La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda needed some touch-ups along the way to maintain a straight burn path and have a straight burn line. The number of touch-ups wasn’t excessive and it helped to maintain the burn from going awry. The resulting ash was firm with a salt and pepper color. Both the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw to the La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda performed extremely well. This was a cigar that had a touch of resistance – which is something that I like. In the end, this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2007 Corona Gorda started out with medium strength and medium body. Along the way there was a slight increase in both attributes, pushing it close to moving into the medium to full range of the spectrum for each attribute, but didn’t quite make it there. Both the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop