Welcome back for another Monday Cigar Review here at Stogie Review (and this time I do actually mean Monday, not Friday). I had originally planned smoking a bargain cigar generously sent to me by our own Havana Bill. At the last minute I decided to go another route and give myself a bit of a reward for hauling cinder blocks uphill and around to the back of my house all day.

As I sat in my chair relaxing and thinking about doing my review tonight, I decided that I would burn the La Aurora Preferidos Maduro that I had sitting in my humidor for the past several months. I received this cigar as part of a Make A Wish, Pay It Forward over at Club Stogie. This particular stick is the No. 3 and weighs in at 4 inches long with a 50 ring gauge.

During my pre light inspection I found the wrapper to have a slight oily sheen with a few random spots of crystallized oil. There were two medium sized veins that added a bit of a lumpy texture to the stick when handled. When pinched I found the cigar to be firm from head to foot and felt as if it was generously filled with tobacco. The pre light draw was good and produced a sweet, banana like flavor that was very interesting. After a quick toast and Light I had my Perfecto shaped cigar evenly lit and producing smoke.

The first third of my La Aurora produced a good volume of thick and flavorful smoke. The body starts off in the Medium range while the finish is smooth on the palate. The base flavor tastes nothing like the banana like flavor I tasted on the pre light draw. The flavor consisted of Nuts and Natural Tobacco flavors with a light Herbal aftertaste that I found very interesting. The ash was firm but a little flaky while being light grey in color.

As I smoked further into my La Aurora I reached the point where the cigar reaches maximum ring gauge. The draw continued to provide me with a good volume of smoke, although it seemed a little thin and airy, it was nice and flavorful none the less. The body did not seem to budge and remained Medium while the finish continued to be a little heavy on the palate but smooth. The room aroma was mild and enjoyable while the burn was slow and even. The base flavor continued to be Nutty with a Natural Tobacco flavor that I enjoyed. The Herbal aftertaste faded and was replaced by a sort of burn nut flavor that I did not enjoy so much. The typical Maduro flavors that you would expect in a Maduro Wrapped cigar were present, they just remained mild and did not shine through nearly as much as I expected.

Upon reaching the final third of this stick I was getting mixed feelings. The cigar was changing back and forth from harsh to fantastic. During the latter, the base flavors seemed to pick up lots of complexity and a smoothness that I really enjoyed but only lasted for about a half dozen puffs then turned harsh. After another half dozen puffs or so it went back to be being enjoyable. I didn’t find this erratic changing enjoyable at all. The base flavor remained Nutty with a Rich Tobacco flavor while picking up more of the typical Maduro flavors that were muted throughout the smoke. The finish remained heavy on the palate and smooth at times. The body remained Medium and the draw continued to be pleasant. The smoke itself was still a little thin and airy but came out of the cigar in a good volume.

Overall I am still not sure if I liked this cigar enough to seek out more or not. I was not happy with the swings I was experiencing and do not recall them in the first Preferido Maduro I smoked some time ago. It is possible that this particular stick may have a stem in the filler which is causing some harshness and another cigar down the road should clear up my confusion.