La Aurora makes some outstanding cigars in its century-old facility in the Dominican Republic. Its Preferido will make you think of tuxedo-clad men standing on the veranda of an estate, surrounded by beautiful women and their envious escorts.
The Preferido is not one of those trendy, overnight darlings of the cigar-smoking world. Rather, it has established a solid track record over the years and offers a premium smoke when they’re available. The Preferido line uses some of the most exclusive and rare tobaccos, so production only runs about 200,000 cigars each year.
La Aurora Preferidos are available with a number of different wrappers, each of which contributes a unique taste to each particular line. The Red Maduro, Platinum Cameroon, and Gold Corojo cigars receive extra aging in oak barrels, resulting in a characteristic mellow woodiness to their flavors. Sapphires have Connecticut wrappers that have been aged for five years in rum barrels. The Red No. 2 boasts a Maduro wrapper that lends its characteristic zing to an already stellar cigar. As if the wrappers weren’t enough to make aficionados salivate, the fillers are a blend of select Dominican tobaccos similarly well-aged and masterfully blended. The one constant among all the varieties is the presence of a mellow Piloto Cubano binder that lays a gentle hand over all.
Depending on your individual taste, there is a La Aurora Preferido meant for you. Ranging all the way from mild- to full-bodied in flavor, it’s worth exploring this line before settling on just one. Even better, squirrel away a few of each of them for those times when you can’t make up your mind.
