Cigar Review: La Aurora 107 Maduro Bow Tie

Vitola: Bow Tie (Lancero)
Size: 7” x 40 ring gauge
MSRP $7.40
Samples provided by Miami Cigar & Company

Background

Four years after the 107th anniversary of La Aurora Cigars, the celebration continues. At 107 years, the original 107 cigar came out. About the time it was time to celebrate 108 years, the Lancero version showed up. During the 110th year of business, the 107 Maduro made its official debut (a couple of aborted blends attempts showed up earlier, but not for long), and now, in time for the year 111 (that’s eleventy-one in hobbit-speak), the Lancero version of the Maudro blend has arrived…though limited to the South East region.

Miami Cigar & Company, the U.S. distributor for La Aurora, has decided to produce limited edition cigars that will belong exclusively to the regions of their sales reps. Tennessee’s own Austin Baker is the rep for most of the shops where SEC school students would be shopping, and he happens to almost always wear a bow tie, so he elected to have his exclusive referred to as the “Bow Tie” and he decided he wanted the 107 Maduro in a Lancero format (there was a rumor that the cigar was going to be named after Nancy Pelosi and be referred to as the “Botox” but that thankfully proved untrue).

This stick features Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, a Dominican Corojo binder, and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper leaf. Many thanks to Austin Baker (we call him “Powers”…because we can) for coordinating me getting some of these for review, and to Barry for taking my phone call. I was going to try to get these early enough that this could be the very first review on Leaf Enthusiast, but it just didn’t work out. I received 3 sticks, I smoked one before this review sample.

image courtesy Miami Cigar & Company107

Prelight

There’s nothing to be said about the general appearance that hasn’t been said before…the banding is a modern update on the classic La Aurora look with their signature lion art. The wrapper of the cigar was a dark chocolate brown color with a rich, oily feel and an aroma that was almost purely chocolate. I realize that some people say, “it can’t really smell like chocolate,” but this really did. Rich, semi-sweet chocolate. The foot gave off more chocolate, along with a bit of earth and coffee.

The box the samples showed up in looked like the postal service had used it as a hacky sack. One side was completely caved in and the end was partially open. There was no guarantee that the cigars would be in there at all, much less in smokeable shape. I carefully opened the box and found the zipper bag with the cigars was against the side that didn’t get crushed; I extracted the cigars and it appeared they were no worse for wear. There’s no proof like trying to smoke one, though; the first had a slightly tighter than normal draw, but not too bad…could have been the transit, could have been construction. After cutting the head, this second one had a cold draw that seemed absolutely perfect. It tasted of chocolate, earth and hay.

Flavor

Initial draws on the 107 Maduro Bow Tie had rich, thick earthy flavors with subtler notes of cocoa powder and dark roast coffee. I picked up some red pepper on the finish and more pepper on the retrohale. It was only 5 puffs in, but so far it was exactly what I would hope from a blend that scored a perfect 10 last year and was a contender for my Cigar of the Year pick: full-bodied, spicy, earthy and slightly sweet. I made a mental note to buy a box of these when I get a chance….wait, did I just say I was ready to buy a box after just a few puffs? Yes…I guess I did.

As the first third, continued I got more earth and stronger coffee notes, while the pepper diminished a bit. Some anise and cedar notes crept into the profile, too. In the second third, I noticed the anise fall away while earth, coffee and dark, dark chocolate flavors rose again. The pepper spice was pretty much gone by the end of the third.

In the final third, I got lots of earth as well as coffee and cedar notes. The sweet influence of the Broadleaf wrapper waned a bit, but never went away.

Construction

Halfway through the first third, the cigar started canoeing, which is never a good sign. The first sample I had didn’t have this issue, but it did have a slightly tight draw. Taken together, it’s two sticks in a row with slight construction issues…nothing major, but annoying nonetheless. I blame this on Austin; since it’s “his” cigar I expect that he should be overseeing production and performing quality checks on every batch rolled. (Just checking to make sure you’re reading this, Mr. Powers!)

Value

Seven-and-a-half bucks is truly a bargain for a cigar of this caliber. Throw in the fact that it’s a lancero and that makes it even more of a deal. Of course that has to be backed out slightly by the fact that the build quality doesn’t seem to be consistent…and you still have a good deal.

The man, the myth…the man behind the Bow Tie!

Conclusions

Overall, this was an excellent cigar flavor-wise, just lacking a bit in the consistency of construction. That’s not entirely surprising as lanceros have a reputation as being challenging to roll and when their asking price is taken into consideration, it’s unlikely they are using their “top level” rollers to make these. Despite that, it’s a fine smoke that I will enjoy as long as they last. I’ll be picking up at least one box along the way.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10

And don’t forget…you can win a 5-pack of the Bow Tie for yourself (or yourself and 4 of your best friends, if you’re feeling generous). Miami Cigar & Company is sponsoring this month’s Leaf Enthusiast Cigar Giveaway. You can see all the details HERE.