Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge / MSRP $6.80
Not so long ago, in a country not all that far away, a room was filled with shouts of "Cameroon" when asked what wrapper was on a blind tasting cigar. This, of course, happened because they were given three cigars in a row where the wrapper was revealed to be Cameroon, and by the fourth one, they were not easily fooled. When I received this "new blend" La Aurora Cameroon, I naturally wondered if perhaps I had smoked this one already as part of a test group. Hmm.... This cigar is being presented as a tweaking and updating of La Aurora's original blend, adding a little "kick" to it while also updating the packaging...a look that is shared with the Corojo now. The original La Aurora used Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, a Dominican binder and the Cameroon wrapper; the only change to the named specs is a Nicaraguan binder used for this updated model. That would qualify as a "tweak" but it is possible specific varietals or percentages could have been played with as well.
Because of the dramatic band change, I would not have picked this out as a new version of the old blend without being told. I have to be honest in saying that I simply did not smoke that many of the original La Aurora, though, so I cannot claim to be very familiar with their look and taste. The wrapper here is a medium-dark brown with some darker mottling; it has a good amount of toothiness to it and feels oily under the fingertips. There were a couple spots that seemed a little soft, but overall the cigar appeared well-made. I got an aroma of leather and hay on the wrapper leaf and a more barnyardy scent from the foot. The prelight draw was fairly effortless; it had a sweetness that was slightly syrupy, along with some earthiness.
After lighting up, I got a strongly earthy flavor on the palate, along with a touch of sweetness. The retrohale was the typical Cameroon wasabi spice punch to the nose...shocking and even a little painful. As the first third burned, I got flavors of earth early on, then later a more vegetal note, along with that distinctive sweetness of Cameroon leaf and a bit of a minerally twang as well.
The second third continued in much the same way, a mixture of earthy and vegetal flavors, although more molasses sweetness started becoming evident as it went on. The construction was excellent, with a very straight burn line that needed no touching up, a perfect draw, and ash that held on to be tapped off in clean chunks.
At the end, the La Aurora Cameroon ended up getting more earthy again, losing the vegetal notes but not the sweetness that had developed in the second third. Overall, this is definitely an improvement on the original La Aurora, but I still not one that hits my palate just right so I don't see myself buying a whole lot more of these. Try it yourself, though, as your mileage my vary. I found it to be medium to full in body with a slightly stronger nicotine hit than I was expecting, so it probably would not be a good stick for newbies in the cigar hobby, but it might be a good choice for long-time smokers if the flavor profile is in your wheelhouse.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
Not so long ago, in a country not all that far away, a room was filled with shouts of "Cameroon" when asked what wrapper was on a blind tasting cigar. This, of course, happened because they were given three cigars in a row where the wrapper was revealed to be Cameroon, and by the fourth one, they were not easily fooled. When I received this "new blend" La Aurora Cameroon, I naturally wondered if perhaps I had smoked this one already as part of a test group. Hmm.... This cigar is being presented as a tweaking and updating of La Aurora's original blend, adding a little "kick" to it while also updating the packaging...a look that is shared with the Corojo now. The original La Aurora used Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, a Dominican binder and the Cameroon wrapper; the only change to the named specs is a Nicaraguan binder used for this updated model. That would qualify as a "tweak" but it is possible specific varietals or percentages could have been played with as well.
Because of the dramatic band change, I would not have picked this out as a new version of the old blend without being told. I have to be honest in saying that I simply did not smoke that many of the original La Aurora, though, so I cannot claim to be very familiar with their look and taste. The wrapper here is a medium-dark brown with some darker mottling; it has a good amount of toothiness to it and feels oily under the fingertips. There were a couple spots that seemed a little soft, but overall the cigar appeared well-made. I got an aroma of leather and hay on the wrapper leaf and a more barnyardy scent from the foot. The prelight draw was fairly effortless; it had a sweetness that was slightly syrupy, along with some earthiness.
After lighting up, I got a strongly earthy flavor on the palate, along with a touch of sweetness. The retrohale was the typical Cameroon wasabi spice punch to the nose...shocking and even a little painful. As the first third burned, I got flavors of earth early on, then later a more vegetal note, along with that distinctive sweetness of Cameroon leaf and a bit of a minerally twang as well.
The second third continued in much the same way, a mixture of earthy and vegetal flavors, although more molasses sweetness started becoming evident as it went on. The construction was excellent, with a very straight burn line that needed no touching up, a perfect draw, and ash that held on to be tapped off in clean chunks.At the end, the La Aurora Cameroon ended up getting more earthy again, losing the vegetal notes but not the sweetness that had developed in the second third. Overall, this is definitely an improvement on the original La Aurora, but I still not one that hits my palate just right so I don't see myself buying a whole lot more of these. Try it yourself, though, as your mileage my vary. I found it to be medium to full in body with a slightly stronger nicotine hit than I was expecting, so it probably would not be a good stick for newbies in the cigar hobby, but it might be a good choice for long-time smokers if the flavor profile is in your wheelhouse.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
Thanks for the review. I've been using the old blend as one of my morning coffee smokes, and it sounds like the change takes it out of that range for me. I guess I'll have to stock up on the originals before they're gone.
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