Smoked: La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Connecticut

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Connecticut was recommended to me by a friend who is not often fond of Connecticuts. So you can take that advice two ways. He does know his cigars though, so I’m giving it a try.

The 1903 Connecticut features an intriguing array of tobacco – a mix of Dominican, Brazilian and Cameroon filler, a Dominican binder and a smooth golden tan Connecticut wrapper. The band has the brand’s traditional lion logo and a blue footer, which was not easy to remove.

Cedar, cream, mixed nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts jump out), spice (some pepper and I taste ginger), vanilla, nutmeg, and an earthy musty note. By the second third, almonds take over the mixed nuts flavor. As we got into the final third, oak emerged over the cedar as the dominant wood note. There’s not much cocoa, but there is a subtle sweetness that balances the other flavors nicely. The retrohale was earthy with some toast, leather and pepper. This is a mild-medium bodied, medium strength cigar.

Nice open draw, the smoke output decent, ash was flaky and did hold well, and there was an initial wrapper tear caused when I removed the footer. The wrapper issue resolved itself within a few minutes.

La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Connecticut is a very approachable, very enjoyable morning coffee cigar The flavors are basic Connecticut – smooth cedar, creamy with dashes of pepper spice and vanilla, Pretty much what you’d expect from a Connecticut. Although the flavor palate was minimal, those flavors worked very well together so it wasn’t a boring smoke. It was quite enjoyable paired with my morning brew..