La Aurora Barrel Aged Robusto

[Cigar Surgeon]

http://cigarfederati...el-aged-robusto

This La Aurora Barrel Aged Robusto has been sitting in my humidor since November of 2012. Sadly this is another stick that I failed to track the originating source of.

Nose:

The nose on this smells of rich fermented tobacco with a hint of Spanish cedar. I ended up spending several minutes taking in the aromas here before I finally toasted and lit up.

Construction:

I reviewed the La Aurora Barrel Aged in a Robusto vitola. Measuring 4.5” in length with a 50 ring gauge. The wrapper is a dark brown with light brown veins running throughout the wrapper.

This particular blend in the Dominican Republic was created by none other than Jose Blanco. The wrapper for the Barrel Aged spent 1 year in the oak rum barrels. La Aurora has previously aged tobacco in oak rum barrels for their Preferidos, Cien Años and 1495 lines.

Flavor:

First Third

Slight amount of pepper with a little pepper bite on the lips. There is leather flavors coming through post-draw. Sweet fermented tobacco which balances the leather nicely.

As the first third establishes itself the leather becomes quite faint almost not detectable. The remainder of the first third is largely sweet tobacco. Not sure if I have an overactive imagination here but I definitely get the hint of that bourbon vanilla flavor.

About 15 minutes in I’m tasting dried oak on the post-draw on the tip of my tongue.

Middle Third

Quite earthy moving into the middle third. There’s not much else of note here for flavors.

Last Third

The earth flavors fall off in intensity in the final third. There is heavy leather with the earth being a background flavor in terms of strength.

Burn/Draw:

Total smoking time was approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Value:

I found the pricing on the La Aurora Barrel Aged Robusto to vary fairly significantly. Singles range from $5.50 – $7.50. You can also pick up boxes of 25 for as low as $70 and as high as $180. At the lower end of the spectrum these recommend a fantastic affordable value.

Final Word:

The La Aurora Barrel Aged Robusto wasn’t in the wheelhouse of flavors that I enjoy. It had a really promising start, but the flavors ended up evolving significantly on the map. If you enjoy cigars that build into the leather and earth spectrum, the La Aurora Barrel Aged would be a great choice.

[paulF]

Thanks for a nice review. Love the Cigar holder

[Cigar Surgeon]

Thanks for a nice review. Love the Cigar holder

Haha, thank you sir.

[HabanoHam]

Nice Review Brother . I smoked one over the summer and picked up mild hints of bourbon/rum notes as well. I wish these were still in production just to see how strong the rum notes would be in a fresh stick.

[Cigar Surgeon]

Nice Review Brother . I smoked one over the summer and picked up mild hints of bourbon/rum notes as well. I wish these were still in production just to see how strong the rum notes would be in a fresh stick.

I'm still on the fence as to whether barrel aging tobacco actually provides meaningful body to the tobacco or whether it's a gimmick.

[alawadi9]

I concur... I love La Aurora cigars but this sadly didn't do it for me too. cigar lost its Aurora characteristics and I remember the taste was harsh and unappetizing that I didn't even continue smoking it past mid But I remember ordering a diet coke after that and lit a rocky patel vintage 1990 then everything went back to normal.

[Maplepie]

Hey John! you're cheating now! i remember you reviewing this a while back

I want new ones now!

[earthson]

I've tried these and don't like them either. Usually, I like La Aurora's medium-bodied offerings like the Corojo and Fernando/Guillermo Leon. The corojos are just danged cheap at online US auction - can't believe that marca never took off.

[kevblue18]

Sweet cigar holder. Where did you get it?

[Cigar Surgeon]

Sweet cigar holder. Where did you get it?

That's actually a pipe stand. I hunted for quite a while to find a prop I could use for photography. I was previously using a ring display hand but people kept calling it 'the creepy hand'.

[choporoz]

Thanks for the review! Back in 2011/2012, I went through a couple of boxes of the #4's. I think the smaller RG allowed the wrapper to present a better overall profile. Nothing spectacular, but at about $4 per, they were a good deal at the time, I felt.