Last night I stepped into my office, debating on what to review for today. I had been drawing a blank all day and wasn’t sure what route to take. I thought the best thing to do was to open up my humidor and see if anything called out to me. This was not the case and I wound up getting frustrated. It seemed like anything that I smoked over the past few weeks had already been covered.

Not sure what else to do, I grabbed a CAO LX2 and sat down in front of the camera. I began having second thoughts and ran through my available options. I could possibly do some sort of Questions and Answers video, but I had nothing prepared and it was getting late. I could scrap the review and instead do a Week in Smoke, but I hadn’t been keeping track of my cigars. With my frustration growing, I got up and headed to one of my coolers.

While digging around, I finally saw something that called me to it, the La Aurora 100 Anos Toro. Having smoked one of these in the past and having great results with the robusto, I decided to go with it over the CAO LX2. As I mentioned in the past, Jose Blanco was kind enough to send me a handful of La Aurora 100 Anos in varying sizes and ages. My intention was to smoke all of what he sent me and see how age and size affected the reviews. It has been a little while since I’ve worked on that series of reviews, but this will be the toro phase.

After pulling the La Aurora 100 Anos from its loose fitting cellophane, I began looking it over. One of the most appealing things about the 100 Anos line is the band. I find it to be classy and very well done. It is something that makes me stop and gaze for a moment. Really, I like it so much that I wouldn’t mind having it as a framed print to hang on the wall. I just don’t get tired of looking at it.

Prying myself away from the band, I began inspecting the wrapper. I found it to be consistent in color with small veins. The seam, which spirals down the cigar, was cleanly cut and almost disappeared. The cap was neatly applied and extended down past the shoulder, assuring me that it wouldn’t unexpectedly stick to my lip and pull free during smoking. I did not detect any aroma on the wrapper but the foot reminded me very much of loose leaf tea.

After clipping with my Palio cutter, I found the draw to be free with little resistance. The aroma of tea, which I found on the foot, came through on the cold draw and made for a mild and pleasant taste. After a little toasting and lighting, my cigar was evenly burning and providing a satisfactory amount of smoke. The first dozen, or so, puffs were dense then quickly dropped off. It wasn’t long before I discovered the cause of the decreased smoke volume and density, in the way of a hole in the filler. It took a considerable amount of time to burn past this flaw but once past, the cigar smoked very well.

The flavor of the first puff was rather off-putting. I found it overly dry and harsh. With each puff the taste got better but quickly plateaued, which is when the hole in the filler was discovered. When I got to the point where I was beyond this hole, the harshness lifted and the flavor quality and intensity increased. Even at the peak of its flavor, I found it a bit dry for my liking. The most notable flavors were tea, wood, and a smokey flavor which brought forth memories of a campfire.

The body started off in the medium range and remained there, with little variation, throughout the remainder of the smoke. The finish was dry but easy on the palate and through the sinus. I noticed virtually no aftertaste and my palate was left clean after each puff.

I’m unsure of why the La Aurora 100 Anos Toro was so different from the way that I remember the La Aurora 100 Anos Robusto, but I would imagine it has something to do with the age of the cigar. When these sticks were sent to me, Jose explained that each cigar had a different level of age which would change the way I perceived the cigar. If I had to guess (I can’t seem to find that original email), I would assume that the toro was a bit older and the flavor profile tapered off a bit. I remember the robusto as being richer and more appealing to my personal taste. If given the opportunity to smoke either one again, I would reach for the robusto with a smile on my face, each and every time.