Tag Archives: La Aurora

by Craig Vanderslice | July 14, 2024 · 9:21 am

La Aurora 115th and 120th Anniversary and Black Label Orthodox Cigars

Last week I mentioned stopping at New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA and picking up some cigars. I took a chance on two of the cigars, the La Aurora 115th and 120th Anniversary cigars. Naturally, I started with the La Aurora 115th Anniversary , a 6″ x 58 Gran Toro. This cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Brazilian binder and fillers from Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Brazil. This one doesn’t come in a cedar sleeve, like the 120th, but had a real woody profile to me. I was dissatisfied with the smoke output on this cigar, and what smoke I got was thin in body. So considering I didn’t care for the flavors I was able to get, and the lack of substantial smoke, this probably isn’t a cigar I’m going to re-try. I’m really hit or miss with La Aurora cigars, there’s some I really like, and I hold on to the brand for sentimental reasons, hence my opening remark about taking a chance.

Being somewhat of a cigar optimist, I lit up the La Aurora 120th Anniversary, also in the 6″ x 58 Gran Toro. This one is a Dominican Puro, with a Dominican Habano 92 wrapper, Dominican binder and filler from the Cibao Valley in the D.R.. Based on the blend, I should have liked this cigar less than the 115th, lets just say I found it different. The draw and smoke output were much better, and allow me to clarify something, the 115th had what seemed to be a fine draw, it was just stingy with the smoke. This one had much better body to the smoke, but I still got the woody flavors, which isn’t my preference. I contemplated having something that I really like after smoking this, but my palate was fatigued by the time I was done with it and I figured what’s the point? I’m not one to put a cigar down if I don’t like it when it’s the first time I’ve smoked it, like I said, cigar optimist. I’ll stick with the La Aurora Time Capsule and Preferidos blends (I may still have a Bristol Especiale from the first box of cigars I bought 28 years ago!).

After two misses, I hoped the next cigar would be a sure thing. One f my favorite activities in the summer months is sitting on the porch (enclosed), with a cigar and watching a movie. The temperature hardly matters, it was toasty yesterday, I just find it relaxing after finishing chores. There’s always the chance that a neighbor will do something silly like mow their lawn, but I rigged headphones to the TV just in case (it’s an old TV, no bluetooth). So I put a movie on and lit up the Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox. I like most of the BLTC/BWS cigars, the fact that they say this is getting back to their roots sounds good to me. I had gotten the 5¾” x 50 toro which has a bit of a pigtail cap. The cigar has a dark San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Sounds like a winner for me so far. This was offered to retailers who attended the last PCA show in March, so it’s pretty new. I loved it. It was heavy on the dark dried fruit notes, with some earth and spice. My biggest complaint was that it didn’t last through the movie, but that’s OK, I stopped the movie, took a nap, and resumed it after dinner. (side note, just saw the judge lop the end off a cigar with a miniature guillotine in Sammy Hagar’s I can’t Drive 55 video…I didn’t remember that! I have 80’s videos playing while I type). The Orthodox was rich and satisfying, it definitely made up for two days of disappointment.

Bob the Cigar Guy was kind enough to mention me in one of his recent reviews (https://youtu.be/WCZNh1A4-yE?si=c0UoH3vSo2V_u02n), and I appreciate his effusive, yet certainly unnecessary, praise. Bob’s a good dude, check out his stuff if you get a chance. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 115th, 120th, Black Label Trading Company, cigar, cigars, La Aurora, Orthodox

by Craig Vanderslice | March 10, 2024 · 10:35 am

Don Doroteo El Legado and Salt of the Earth Cigars

Don Doroteo came on the scene a few years ago, seemingly out of nowhere. I probably wouldn’t have heard of them if not for a friend (who’s presence in cigar media I miss), who went from brobering for them, to working for them, to stepping away from the cigar industry altogether. I didn’t pay much attention to them after that, until another friend, one of the best PR guys in cigars, started working with them and sent me some samples. I was surprised by the presentation of the samples. They came in a beautiful leather case with a cutter and lighter, very fancy, and, like the cigars, on the expensive side. On the other hand, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, this is par for the course with Gabriel’s clients, he seems to get them to go over and above with the media packages. Honestly, the quality of the case is amazing, I hope the cigars are as well. Don Doroteo cigars wirkes with La Aurora in the DR, so that bodes well, it’s a sentimental favorite factory (and brand) for me. I started with the El Lagado in toro.

The Don Doroteo El Legado is a beauty, with a Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and binder, and fillers from Columbia, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. If you aren’t a Sumatra fan, this might not be for you. Strike that, try it anyway. It’s different from many Sumatra wrapped cigars I like. It starts with some citrus tang, maybe some acidity, but settles down. As it progressed it got sweeter, and I like some sweetness. This was apparently rolled in 2008, which is funny to me, being cynical and all, since the company on;y started in 2021. I suppose the fact that the namesake of the company was a tobacco producer who worked with La Aurora some 85 years ago ties things together. Regardless, I found this cigar to be quite enjoyable.

The Don Doroteo Salt of the Earth series has two blends, both utilizing Dominican Andullo tobacco in the blends. This is more of a fermentation method than a variety, and it’s ancient. They tightly twist the leaves into a rope or sausage, and wrap it in palm leaves and hang it for two years to ferment. This has been used in a few cigars in the past, I can think of the La Aurora ADN, the Ventura Project 805 (also made by La Aurora), and maybe the CAO Amazon Basin. I started with the Piedra Viva. This cigar has a Ecuador Cameroon wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers from Condega, Dominican Corojo, Criollo 99 and the Andullo. The literature lists a harvest date of 2016, but it doesn’t say which tobacco. I suppose we can say that there’s 7 year old tobacco in the blend and be safe. I pretty quickly deduced that there was Criollo in the blend, not a fan. There’s a nice toastiness to the flavor and it was a little sour, but not in a bad way. Of course, the burn and draw were excellent, when was the last time you had a poorly made cigar from La Aurora?

Finally, I smoked the Piedra Angular, in the 5¾” x 54 size, the same size as the other two. I usually include the sizes for each cigar, but I figured I wouldn’t be repetitive. I like the size. This one has a Dominican Corojo wrapper, over the same blend as the Piedra Viva. This one also has some acidic bite to it, not sure if that’s the Andullo or the Criollo. I like the citrus tang, it reminds me of something I smoked 20 years ago but I can’t remember what. Again, well made, and a nice cigar. Both of the Salt of the Earth cigars did have a bit of saltiness, not sure if that’s put into my head by the name, or a real flavor component. Good stuff. All in all, these three Don Doroteo cigars were tasty. If you run across them in the wild, give them a look. I look forward to having an occasion befitting the use of that case though!

Thanks to Gabriel and Juan Lugo for the opportunity to sample these! It’s been announced, Goose’s Cigar & Sonny’s Italian Food Fest 2024 tickets are on sale HERE. May will be a busy month, so pencil this in for the first weekend! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Andullo, cigar, cigars, Don Doroteo, El Legado, La Aurora, Piedra Viva, Piedro Angular, Salt of the Earth

by Craig Vanderslice | June 13, 2021 · 10:03 am

A La Gloria Cubana Media Tiempo, a Karl Malone Cigar and a Diesel Crucible

Last Sunday we were dropping off our grandkids at their house, and stopped in to the nearby Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop for a quick little shopping trip. Up until very recently, the Wooden Indian was only doing curbside service, so it had been nearly eighteen months since I’d been in the store. Dan and Deanna were working the store, and left us to browse the large walk-in humidor. I managed to find a few cigars I hadn’t smoked yet and smoked a few of them this week. The first of which was the La Gloria Cubana Media Tiempo. I picked up the Toro, naturally, attractively priced in the neighborhood of $7.50 (in PA). This is an interesting blend in that it features the Connecticut Habano Media Tiempo, which are the leaves that sometimes sprout above the ligero, Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and fillers from Honduras Nicaragua and the DR. You’d think the Media Tiempo would be stronger than Ligero, but the cigar is actually a medium bodied cigar, they’ve managed the proportions in such a way as to balance it very nicely. I really, really enjoyed this cigar, I think it’s one of the better La Gloria Cubana Cigars to come out in recent years. I really like the LGC Esteli too, but this one is quite good, harkening back to the LGCs of old. I’ll be adding more of these to my La Gloria humidor (and yes, I have one humidor that just contains La Glorias, and old Foundry cigars).

Last year when I went to the TPE show, Karl Malone was the keynote speaker at the opening meeting, and gave quite a good presentation. He stated right up front that we wasn’t there to talk about sports or basketball, he was there to talk about cigars and the cigar business. Obviously, his booth at the show was one of the busier boothes, and I didn’t get a chance to meet him or get a sample of the Barrel Aged by Karl Malone cigar, so when I saw them at WI, I grabbed a couple. This cigar is made at La Aurora, and has Ecuador wrapper and binder, and fillers from Peru, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. I have to say, the wrapper is mottled and not pretty on this cigar. I picked up the Belicoso, which is a 6 ¼” x 52 torpedo actually. Every time I smoke a cigar from La Aurora I mention, almost apologetically, that I’m hit or miss with them. I feel an obligation to like them, but often times I’m not a fan. This was a good cigar. I rather enjoyed it, ugly wrapper notwithstanding. The wrapper being attractive might have put me off if I hadn’t known something about the cigar , honestly, so it’s not unreasonable to think that appearance is important. Put a different band on this and put it in a bundle and it wouldn’t look out of place. in the parlance of today’s youth, “just sayin’ “. As we know, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, beauty is only skin deep, and whatever other cheesy cliché you want to use, this was a tasty smoke. It has some sweetness and wood, possibly from the tobaccos’ six months aging in rum barrels, and some earthiness. It definitely had a La Aurora signature flavor that I recognized, and I enjoyed the cigar. Not being a basketball fan, and being generally cynical about “celebrity” cigars, I don’t know how this will do, but after hearing him speak, and knowing that he has a cigar shop and lounge in partnership with his daughter, I trust his commitment. At the least it’s not just some endorsed cigar, he put a lot of family thought and passion into the project.

Finally, as I was browsing around, Deanna was putting away some cigars and happend to ask if I had smoked the Diesel Crucible, which is a special edition, the third in the series which included the Hair of the Dog (which I liked), and the Delirium (which I really liked). I was happy that Deanna recommended this cigar for two reasons: first, I hadn’t smoked it and the idea of sampling it appealed to me (duh), and second, my wife had been searching the humidor for cigars with very specific criteria for her cigar band table projects, that being bands with the current year on it. The Crucible just so happens to have a foot band stating Limited Edition 2021. So this cigar ticked two boxes. This is a 6″ x 52 box pressed cigar, Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. The press info states that the cigar “takes a sophisticated approach to strength. There are so many intricacies with this blend, it’s like a new experience with every draw.” per Justin Andrews. I can’t agree, not that I have a sophisticated palate. The initial full frontal palate assault numbed my taste buds. This was extremely reminiscent of the Diesel Esteli Puro in strength. Full on Jalapeńo pepper for the first inch, then it either mellowed out of the palate just surrendered, not sure which. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the cigar, but I think it was just unnecessarily strong. I considered a second cigar as it was early yet, but then I thought “why bother”, not going to be able to taste anything, so I went and got a bowl of ice cream and called it a night. I didn’t not enjoy the cigar, once it calmed down I liked it, but I dared not pass smoked through my sinus cavity. Gotta stick with the Delirium as my favorite of the trilogy here, and probably the Sherry Cask as my favorite Diesel overall.

Everyone needs to go back to my last post and enter the contest (except those who already have). Lots of cool stuff there! That’s all for today!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Crucible, diesel, Karl Malone, La Aurora, La Gloria Cubana, Media Tiempo

by Craig Vanderslice | January 3, 2021 · 10:59 am

New Year’s Cigars, A Don Lino Africa and a La Aurora 107 Nicaragua

Happy New Year and welcome to the 12th year of CigarCraig.com. Hopefully everything keeps going on the same as it has been for the past 11! I hope everyone had safe and healthy celebrations on New Years Eve, I fell asleep on the couch after smoking a really good cigar. I dug to the bottom of one of the rarely ventured into humidors and found a Havana Romeo y Julieta Tubed Churchill that has been there for well over a decade that was simply sublime. I figured with everything happening in the world it was as good a time as any to smoke this cigar. It was floral and woody (cedar sleeve in the tube, ya know), burned perfectly and was absolutely wonderful. I find that I’m more often than not disappointed by Havanas lately, but this older cigar was exceptional. I have a few very old Havanas in the humidor yet, I hope they provide a similar experience.

For my first cigar of the new year I selected a Liga Privada Serie Unico Year of the Rat. This is a Corona Gorda, 5 1/2 x 46, with a Broadleaf wrapper, Brazilian binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. One may think that this cigar is in the same family as the Dirty Rat and Ratzilla, but those two have the Stalk Cut Habano wrapper and this has a blend closer to the No.9. It’s a really good, bold cigar, lots of dark espresso flavor and very meaty. I would love to have tried the original 2016 version that was made for the lounge at the Florida Panther’s Sunrise Center Arena, but I never made it to a game, and I don’t know if they ever managed to sell any there anyway! I’m sure they are pretty much the same as they were then. I had one of these art the TPE show and it was quite good too. A nice way to start the year. I could do without the foil wrap, only because it’s a pain to remove, but it looks spiffy.

Yesterday I stopped into Top Shelf Cigars in Skippack, PA for a visit with Jim Cronin, the owner. This shop, in a kitschy little village with crafty shops and restaurants, has been there for 18 years, and has a very nice classic selection of cigars. I say classic, in that there is not a lot of boutique selections, in a location like this, I imagine that recognizable brands sell better than more cigar geek type of stuff. I still was able to find some cigars I hadn’t smoked yet (although nothing on my top ten list), the Miami Cigar & Co. Don Lino Africa, which I smoked in the Duma Robusto size. This is a new version of this cigar, if you looked way back at one of my very early blog posts, you’d find that I bought a five pack of Africas at Holts, but those are long gone. These are now made by AJ Fernandez, with a Habana 2000 wrapper, Cameroon binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The old version was far more “Cameroony” than the new, although there is still a hint of the Cameroon sweetness from the binder. It was a good performing cigar with a nice flavor. I enjoyed the Robust and brought home a toro to try another time.

Since the topic of La Aurora’s distribution with Miami Cigar and Company (who owns the Don Lino Africa brand) came up, and whether Miami Cigar Co. was going to continue to distribute La Aurora after letting their sales staff go recently, I figured I’d smoke the new La Aurora 107 Nicaragua. I thought I’d read that La Aurora was sticking with Miami Cigar, but there seems to some confusion in the market about that. Without a sales force, does either brand really have that much of a market presence to keep up? Has 2020 given companies the notion that Zoom meetings can replace face to face interaction, both in the way of sales calls and in store events? It’ll be interesting to see, and I feel really bad for all the great sales reps who find themselves out of work. Anyway, I had picked up a couple of the La Aurora 107 Nicaraguas in the Gran Toro, 6” x 58 size. This is a Nicaraguan puro. I probably should have gotten a smaller size, because this one took half the cigar to really get going. The first half of the cigar was mild to the point of almost being without flavor. When it finally got there, it was very tasty, nice, earthy flavors, although not awfully distinctive or overly interesting. I’ll try a few more in different sizes, but this might fall into the 50% or so of La Aurora cigars that I don’t really like.

Well, that’s all for today. There is one more thing. I tried to do a Reader’s Poll, which I need to either find a better way, or abandon completely. The winner, by the way, was the Southern Draw Rose of Sharon. It was unanimous, as there was only one response. Considering it’s a delicious cigar, definitely in my top five Connecticut cigars, I’ll let it stand. With that, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 107 Nicaragua, cigar, cigars, Don Lino Africa, drew estate, La Aurora, liga privada, Miami Cigar and Co, Rome y Julieta, Serie Unico, Year of the Rat

by Craig Vanderslice | December 16, 2020 · 9:23 pm

La Aurora ADN Dominicano Churchill Cigar

We are in the midst of our first major snow event of 2020 today. All last winter when I was jobless and didn’t have anywhere to go and had all the time in the world to shovel snow, not a flake. Now I have a job, and I have to get up early and go dig the car out. Fortunately, I only have a three mile commute, and I’ll probably have the place to myself for a few hours, but that suits me fine. Oh well, it beats not having a job! When I got home tonight after a harrowing 15 minute drive, I went with a favorite cigar, a Don Juan Calavera Maduro. I was pleased to see that Mark Weissenberger, a broker in the mid-atlantic area, and formerly of Rocky Patel, has picked up the Danli Honduras Tobacco line and they are starting to appear in more local stores. If you’ve been reading for the last year and a halfish, you know I’m a huge fan of the whole line.

I have been interested in smoking the La Aurora ADN Dominicano since it came out, and I saw them in the local shop last week and picked one up. It also should be common knowledge that I have a long standing affinity for the La Aurora brand. This goes back to the first box of cigars I bought back in 1996, and I bought it largely because my daughter’s name is Aurora, and she might still have the box, and I might still have one of those Bristol Especiales in the humidor someplace. It’s pretty old. The ADN (DNA in English), uses tobacco cured with the Andullo method, which involves tying the tobacco in ropes and wrapping it in palm leaves and pressing. There’s a detailed explanation here. This is a method that’s been used in the DR for many years. The cigar I picked up was a Churchill, 7″ x 47, which is a great size. I love a traditional Churchill. As much as I have an affinity for La Aurora, I’m about 50/50 on liking the cigars, some I like, some not so much. This one I really liked. It has a nice sweet flavor, along with some earthiness. It burned really well, and was quite enjoyable! This was one of the better La Aurora cigars I can remember smoking.