La Aurora Preferidos Diamond (Conn. Broadleaf) No. 1 Review

Cigar: La Aurora Preferidos Diamond No. 1
Size: Perfecto 6" x 58
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican Republic Maduro
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: MSRP ~$15.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper on the Diamond No. 1 was very dark, almost black, with a nice oily sheen and no tooth to speak of. The cigar was firmly packed and well-rolled overall, with a few small and medium veins. The double perfecto vitola is my favorite shape of all, and this one just looked good.

I picked up a fairly strong barnyard aroma from the wrapper, along with cocoa, and then a much stronger, heavier chocolate flavor on the cold draw. Speaking of, I clipped about 1/4" and the draw was nearly perfect.

This cigar was a single-store exclusive release for Michael's Tobacco in Keller, TX, and you can see the secondary band in the photos. It came out last summer, and I believe I purchased this sample in July or perhaps early August. It's been sitting in my humidor at 65% ever since, and I thought it'd make a nice review for my first one in 5 or 6 months.

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1st Third
The promised chocolate came through immediately and richly, along with a lot of strong black pepper of the type I usually associate with Pepin's cigars and definitely not what I normally experience with Dominicans. That said, I liked it and the pepper went nicely with the chocolate flavor, although the retrohale just about knocked my eyeballs out. The slightly sweet profile of the first third was nice, and ended at medium body and strength.

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2nd Third
The ash finally dropped around the 2" mark, and I gave a quick purge. The profile transitioned from slightly sweet to more dry, with the chocolate becoming more of a cocoa powder while the pepper did recede as well. I dared another retro, and got a nice cedar and some sourness as well. That was citrusy, and reminded me vaguely of some Hondurans I've smoked. The predominant flavor though was a smoky, tangy meatiness - a fair change from the first part of the cigar. I also noted that the smoke output was very high, as good as most DE cigars, and continued to pour off both head and foot at rest.

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Final Third
The final section gave back some of the chocolate flavor, and dryness turned back to a more creamy profile. The ash continued to hang on for another 2", and the burn remained dead-on. I also picked up more baking spices like nutmeg, along with a little bit of generic woodiness around the edges. The smoke got even richer and chewier, and the strength definitely edged up closer to full, but the flavors stayed more medium or med+.

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Overall Impression
I enjoyed the chocolate/cocoa flavors throughout, and the big pepper at the start was surprising but enjoyable.
o This was, as I mentioned earlier, a single store release, and I believe I remember reading on halfwheel at the time that only about 100 or so boxes were produced.
o I've been wanting to try this last wrapper leaf of the Preferidos line for a while, but the No. 2 has eluded me and this was a nice substitute.
o As I've said a hundred times, this vitola is my favorite, and once again La Aurora didn't fail on construction, as this burned perfectly from start to finish and I never even needed a retouch.
o Great smoke output too - I measure by Drew Estates, and this cigar seemed to keep up with the Liga Privadas to me on that front.
o The strength really came on at the end, bigtime. My head was swimming by the time I finished, and this cigar took me about 2 hours and 20 minutes to smoke. Even so, I was never bored by it as the flavors transitioned well.
o I didn't get any long ash pics, but I only ashed twice during the course of smoking a 6" cigar. It was put together well.
o The final inch or two finally made me believe I was smoking a Preferidos, as the warm spiciness really took off. This was certainly my favorite part of the experience, and you can see that I nubbed it even after spending a couple hours smoking.


My only disappointment was the middle section. I prefer creamy, and the No. 1 was a little dry in the middle parts. If the whole cigar smoked like the final third, it'd be a favorite for me, but for the price it needs to be great all the way through for a really high rating in my book. Even so, overall I enjoyed it and hope to smoke a few more. I feel like some aging wouldn't hurt this cigar, and I'd like to salt away a few for a year or two or three and then see how it smokes again.

At this price, I'd recommend a single or possibly a 5-er.

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