This week I wasn’t in the mood to review something new. I decide to try to revisit a cigar that we’ve reviewed on here before and give my own impression of it as the “new guy”. After looking through my cigar humidor, I came across and old friend: La Aurora Cien Anos. The Cien Anos is probably my favorite La Aurora cigar and I haven’t really smoked one in several months. The corona is my favorite of the line, but the belicoso is a close second. In the belicoso, the flavors are very well balanced and pronounced as well as been a very smooth smoke. I didn’t want to get into the full details of the cigar since we’ve done a review of this cigar several times so I just wanted to give my impression of the cigar. The cigar starts out with a nice woody core with leather, white pepper and sweet tea. Large plumes of smoke come from the cigar as I smoke it which I personally enjoy. As the cigar progresses, the sweet tea note turns more into a black tea note and the sweetness turns in a honey note. The leather and wood remain the back bone of the cigar and a nice bitterness enters into the cigar about the midway point. Near the end, the sweetness is complete gone and you are left with wood, leather, white pepper and black tea with a hint of bitterness. The cigar is well balanced with quite a long finish where the pepper lingers on the back of the palette. With a medium to medium plus strength, this cigar is approachable by just about ever smoker and is suitable during any time of the day. I have paired this cigar with everything from sweet tea, wine, bourbon, beer, water and coffee and it really goes well with all, especially wine. All in all, a really good cigar. Sometimes it is good to revisit an old friend.
Throwback Review: La Aurora Cien Anos Belicoso
Nice review, Ben. You hit the nail on the head with “tea” on these. I find these to be very Cuban-like, and the prominent tea notes are probably the reason for that. Great morning cigar.
I find the Belicoso to differ from the rest of the original release line-up. The Corona was much spicier, the others were pretty similar to each other, but the Belicoso was the milder, smoother of the line. I never did get to try the subsequent Preferido, Lancero, or WCD versions.
Nice review Ben, although I couldn’t hear your voice on the last third of the video. I’ve never had a great experience with these cigars which is disappointing given how highly they’re regarded. Guess I’ll have to try the Belicoso.
I’ve smoked about 50 of these (varying vitolas) and I still absolutely love them. It’s getting harder to find the OR unfortunately. I’ve had the re-release blend and while it’s similar, I definitely don’t enjoy them as much as the OR. I feel it’s a toss up between the church and beli for my fav size in the family. Glad to see that these are still getting the love they deserve.
Dave, that sucks that it doesn’t do it for ya! You’ve had the originals and not the re-release correct?
Hey! Love the blog! I know that you mostly do cigar reviews and that you mostly write articles intended for serious cigar connoisseurs, but I was wondering if you’d be publishing a guest post that helps beginner cigar enthusiasts figure out where to start. If you’re interested, shoot me an e-mail and I will send you the article as an attachment. Hope to hear from you soon!
-Luzzie
We just did a blind cigar review of this on Blind Man’s Puff. It scored a 91, great smoke!