La Aurora Barrel Aged

[bluue13]

I picked up a 5er of these about half a year ago. I know that there are mixed feelings on these guys and I have to say that when I first got them I tried one and it was actually quite pleasant. It was sweet and flavorful and had a nice oaky/woody finsh that I imagine comes from the aging in barrels.

Fast forward to 6 mos. later. Its been nice out and I've been doing some outside work so I figured Id torch one of them and see if it had gotten any better with time.

This is where the problems started.

The first one I grabbed was well constructed from what I could see, although the foot was a little tight. It had a decent feel and there werent any hard spots. The wrapper was uniform and had a slight oily sheen to it.

It lit well but about 1/3rd in I started getting some tunneling. I tried to correct it but it just wasnt working out and the stick ended up going bitter on me. My humi is kept at 65% so I figured it couldnt be from uneven humidification. I let it go out and then I pulled it apart to inspect. Well much to my dissapointment there were tons of stems and it just seemed like poor bunching. Could this be attributing to the uneven burn?

I grabbed another one and lo and behold I had the same issue!

I gave up and grabbed a padilla series '68 and had a much more pleasant experience.

So I guess my review is: giving up on the La Aurora BA and sticking with better quality!

Anyone else have the same issues?

edited to delete a random sentance that I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say!

 

[beyond the band]

I had one given to me a while back. It tunneled bad after the first third. Flavor was not bad up to that point. I spent a lot of time trying to correct it but to no avail.

 

[Gavin]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've got a robusto I'd been saving, but it sounds like I shouldn't get my hopes up too high with those construction issues.

 

[Jsanzone23]

Im guessing these things were not as wildly popular as the hype made them to be. Hence the drastic discount on boxes now. That said I have enjoyed the few I have had but they were when they first came out. Age might have done these bad boys in...

 

[TE72]

I've got a few of these that have been sitting for about three years now, and I have not had any real major problems with them. For the most part they seem to smoke pretty evenly with no real tunneling issues. This is a cigar that needs to be smoked a tad slower than most, which could explain the uneven burn when smoked too fast.

 

[Pugman1943]

Yeah, if you smoke them slower you give the plant root more time to ignite? Remember, as long as we smoke them, they will make them.

 

[srnadel]

I had a few and the burn was never a problem. I think it was just a "hype" cigar that was destined to disappear.

 

[thechenman]

My wife got me some of these as a gift a year ago. A 5-pk if I recall correctly. Didn't care for the cigar. Flavor was bitter, burn was off. I was just not impressed in the least. Think I smoke 3 and gave 2 away.