La Aurora Preferidos were first released in 1998 as a tribute to the first cigars produced by Eduardo Leon Jimenes at the beginning of the twentieth century. They were perfectos called “preferidos,” and indeed almost all of the cigars in the current Preferidos line are perfectos as well. This Cameroon robusto is the one exception. In late 2005 La Aurora saw that there might be a call for a parejo size using the preferidos blend, so they released this robusto in a limited edition of 1200 boxes for the holiday season.

Many of these cigars come in perfecto-shaped aluminum tubes to highlight the premium quality of the Preferidos line. The Cameroon line is the platinum colored one, though they are available nude as well. (I suppose the tube is nice for traveling or if you’re giving the cigar as a gift. Otherwise, it’s an expense I can live without.) There are four other versions available: the Corojo (gold) ; Connecticut Shade (sapphire) ; Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro (ruby) ; and Ecuadorian Sumatra (green.)

The wrapper here is Cameroon, of course; the filler and binder are Dominican, with the binder being piloto cubano. The tobacco for Preferidos is properly aged for two to three years, then aged for several months more in rum barrels. Each cigar is then rolled by a single roller and the finished cigars rest for six months in aging rooms. Finally, the cigars are ready for market.

This is a well rolled cigar with a slightly oily wrapper. The prelight scent is cedar all the way. After clipping the cap I found the draw to be very loose, but after smoking for a few minutes I learned that this did not affect the burn, which was slow and cool. Cameroon is a delicate wrapper and in my climate here in the desert Southwest I find that it almost always cracks as soon as I light up the cigar. This was the case here as well, but it didn’t really affect the performance of the cigar. There was no unraveling, just some unsightly wrapper peels that I was able to ignore by turning the cigar around.

It starts up with the sweet and spicy aroma typical of authentic African Cameroon. Getting a good whiff of this stuff is a sinus surprise, and it kept my nose tingling from start to finish. A very nice Cameroon that is a bit sharper than most, with a little pepper mixed in with the expected baking spices. The initial flavor is woody, somewhat dry, and the smoke texture is creamy smooth.

After an inch or two the sharpness of the Cameroon is blended in with the rest of the cigar and the result is a pleasantly complex smoke. By the mid-point it becomes a little salty and there’s a tartness that vies with the Cameroon sweetness, creating an interesting balance. It reminds me of a really good glass of India Pale Ale — the hoppiness is aromatic, like the wrapper here, while the body of the beer is lip-smackingly astringent. If the proper balance can be achieved, as it is here, this is a killer combination.

The down side to this cigar is the price: about ten bucks a stick or $175 by the box. This is a nice cigar, but my trusty Torano 1916 is comparable in terms of flavor and balance and costs about a hundred bucks less. If a C note is no big deal for you, go for it. The Preferidos robusto is a great cigar, but not for those on a budget.

I thought this would be a fitting choice to end this series of reviews because Leon Jimenes, along with the La Aurora flagship brand, make up the bulk of cigar production in the La Aurora factory. Leon Jimenes has a solid reputation as a smooth mild cigar. I used to smoke this cigar frequently when I was younger and hadn’t yet developed a taste for stronger cigars.

This very short rothschilds cigar is even shorter than the standard roth at only four inches long. It looks a little funny, but it’s still a handsome short cigar.

The golden brown Connecticut shade wrapper is the highlight here, both in terms of appearance and flavor, which is quintessentially Dominican. Of course there are some quite powerful Dominican cigars, but if I had to generalize, I would hold up the Leon Jimenes line as a paragon of the Dominican taste: mild, somewhat nutty, and very aromatic.

This little roth burns quickly and runs fairly hot. This stick doesn’t feel mushy at all to the touch, but the draw is very easy, and a loose fill may contribute to the hot burn. The burn is quite even, nevertheless, and leaves a uniformly light gray ash.

It’s been a while since I smoked something this light, but even so I was surprised to taste almost no flavor here — this cigar is extremely mild, with the only flavor being a slightly nutty touch until the last third when it picks up a little straighforward tobacco flavor and a short earthy finish. The aroma is the focus here — classic Connecticut shade, floral with some citrus notes. Often fans of heavy cigars miss out on the fine nuances of Connecticut shade — and as someone who generally smokes heavier cigars, I highly recommend slowing down once in a while and taking the time to smell the floral and lightly spicy notes of this great wrapper leaf.

These little rothschilds last only twenty to twenty-five minutes, but aside from the hot burn it’s a good twenty minutes. Next time I will definitely opt for a larger size. It requires no drink, but could easily go with tea.

Overall the Leon Jimenes is a very easy smoke and could serve well as a short breakfast cigar. Keep a few of these around to hand out to new smokers who are genuinely curious about cigars. It’s a gentle way to push a newbie over the cliff. Give em a few years and they’ll be repaying you with double ligeros.

To celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of La Aurora, Jose Blanco and company created the Cien Años (One Hundred Years) limited edition cigar. First released in 2004, Cien Años is a Dominican puro with a corojo wrapper that has been aged for four years. The binder and filler have been quietly aging since 1996.

La Aurora was founded in 1903, so why was this celebratory line not released until 2004, a year past the anniversary? Well, it’s that pesky Dominican wrapper leaf. For whatever reason, growing wrapper in the DR is and always has been a real challenge. The corojo wrapper used on this line has lived up to its finicky reputation with a low yield: only a third of the harvest is usable for wrapper. So the anniversary release was consequently delayed.

On the bright side, this has resulted in slower distribution as well, making the Cien Años available over a longer period of time. Obviously this is still a very limited edition, with some sources reporting a total of 300,000 and others 400,000 sticks produced. It is still available at this time, though not widely, at a “super-premium” price.

This corona measures 5 3/4 inches by43, but if you prefer a larger cigar there are three other sizes available: churchill, belicoso, and robusto. The wrapper is smooth with very little grain, apart from a couple of knotty veins. The head is finished with a triple cap. The wrapper smells rich and slightly spicy — no barnyard scents here. The draw is firm and the prelight flavor is grassy with a touch of pepper.

I had a little trouble with the light on this one, and more burn issues were to follow. This corojo wrapper has an exquisite aroma of leather and spice — it’s actually quite similar to the aroma of many Cuban cigars. But this aroma apparently comes with a price, and that is constant attention to the burn. I had to retouch this little cigar several times to get it to burn straight.

It starts out smooth and mellow with a fairly mild body. After an inch or two it picks up strength and a leathery flavor. The finish grows from negligible at the beginning to quite lengthy as the stick burns, leaving a solid white ash behind. By the midpoint the flavor is somewhat similar to the 1495, but a little more sophisticated and not as aggressive. By the time the ash hits the band there’s a little more pepper, but the smoke is still smooth as glass. All the while I’m really diggin’ the aroma, a nice leathery smell with hints of caramel and cinnamon.

The 100 Años corona is a tasty medium to full bodied cigar with a lot of complexity and a top notch aroma. I’ve only tried one of these, and at 10 to 15 dollars a pop I won’t be sampling many more, but if you’ve got the budget you should stock up now. Construction issues aside, this is a really nice cigar.

It’s Election Day in the U.S., which gives us the opportunity to celebrate two great things: democracy, and an end to the most obnoxious campaign commercials I think we’ve ever seen. Baritone voiceovers saying stuff like “Senator X eats small children for breakfast…” (Cue grainy black and white picture of Senator X at a lunch counter.) “And Senator X is hungry…” But despite the political division that exists in this country, there is something we can all agree on: we’re glad the electioneering is OVER!

Surviving the midterm elections calls for a honkin’ big stogie, so I hauled out a Pueblo Dominicano. Like the last four or five cigars reviewed here, this also is a La Aurora production. Available in two sizes: a large torpedo, and a giant double corona. I happen to have both on hand, although the torpedoes have several more months humidor time and I think are a little bit better. Whether it’s the size or the aging that gives them the edge, I’m not sure.

A new series of Pueblo Dominicano has just been introduced with an entirely new blend, so it’s important to note that these are from the first series. There isn’t too much information available about these. They are distributed by Cigars International, and perhaps a few other outlets. They don’t appear to be exclusive to CI, as is the 5 Vegas Limitada, but they do have this in common with the Limitada: a very nice but somewhat rough Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper. Aside from this, the only information forthcoming from CI is that it employs a “six country blend.” Which countries? Ireland maybe? New Guinea? Luxembourg? Take your pick, because no one’s telling.

The PD Series I is a pretty mild but flavorful smoke. The wrapper is very similar to the 5 Vegas Limitada, which isn’t too surprising since it’s the same type of leaf. (It actually wouldn’t surprise me if this were the same blend as the 2005 Limitada as well. There are more than a few similarities.) It’s not a tremendously attractive wrapper, but the tale is in the tasting, and it tastes pretty good. There’s some sweetness here with just a touch of spice. The draw is good, and the burn is not perfect, but acceptable.

The base flavor is leathery, and there are some overtones of cedar. As time goes by this stick picks up a little more strength, but it’s basically mild and perhaps at its peak a medium in body. The smoke texture is smooth, approaching creamy. Overall this is a very relaxing and easygoing cigar.

The band on the Pueblo Dominicano has a faux watermark pattern reminiscent of the secondary authenticity band on the Padron Anniversary line, complete with a “serial number,” here called a batch number. It’s a funny thing though that the batch number on the torpedoes I bought last April is the same as the same batch number on the double coronas I bought in October. That’s either a very large batch, or it’s a mystery worth pondering before the fire with a glass of cognac and the latest issue of Advertising Age.

With 95% of precincts reporting, we are prepared to announce Pueblo Dominicano a winner in today’s race. But don’t pay the $8.00 retail price for this guy. These can be found for half this or less on Cigarbid. Good luck bidding and God Bless America!

La Aurora’s 1495 line was created to celebrate the founding of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, and it is the first cigar from La Aurora that has been an instant hit.

Sales Director and master blender Jose Blanco brought together five types of leaf from four different countries to create a complex cigar. “I’m a great believer in blending,” Blanco said in an interview with Cigar Aficionado, “I don’t care how good a cigar is, if it’s good and it’s one-dimensional, it’s just a good boring smoke. I like cigars that are complex and that change a lot.”

Starting with the skin and moving to the core, we have an Ecuadorian Sumatra sun-grown wrapper, underneath which is a Dominican corojo binder. The filler is a blend of Dominican piloto cubano and Nicaraguan and Peruvian ligero leaves. These are all powerful choices, but Blanco believes that the elements that stand out are the wrapper and the Peruvian filler leaf.

The Corona measures 5 1/4 inches with a 43 ring gauge. It seems a little small for a corona, but on the other hand it’s a tad too large to be called a petite corona. The scent of the silky smooth wrapper is earthy with plenty of barnyard. The cap clips easily and the prelight draw is good. It lights up and starts an even and carefree burn. The ash is a dirty gray.

Sun grown Ecuadorian leaf has a leathery, somewhat spicy aroma, and this cigar has it in spades. This little stick introduces itself with lots of black pepper and a lengthy finish. At first I am not terribly impressed with the flavor — it’s not harsh, but with so much pepper it comes off as very sharp. After a few more draws the aroma of the wrapper adds a complementary note that evens things out and calms down the spice.

By the middle of the cigar the complexity becomes more evident. There is a definite transition from the peppery introduction to a more balanced flavor at this point. This balance does not, however, lessen the strength of the smoke pouring from this little feller. The ligero and the piloto cubano keep the flavor strong and the finish long.

With about two inches left I’m quite satisfied with this corona and ready to call it a day. A strong drink is a welcome companion to the Aurora 1495 — an Imperial stout went well for me, though scotch or bourbon would do the trick just as well. While not overpowering, this is definitely an after dinner cigar due to its aggressive flavor and finish. The way the ESG wrapper blends in with the richness of the other tobaccos is really worth the five or six clams you’ll have to shell out for this cigar. It’s a little too heavy on the pepper for my taste, but if you enjoy the Joya de Nicaragua Antano or the Partagas Serie D, you should definitely check this one out.