Vitola: Toro- 5.5” x 54 ring gauge
- Price: believed to be about $12
- Gifted by a friend
Background
La Aurora’s Preferidos line goes way back. I remember seeing the colored tubes selling for $17 or $18 in one of the first cigar stores I frequented back in the early part of this century…and basically just passing them by because I couldn’t imagine spending the money on them. I first got the chance to smoke them when I took a La Aurora-sponsored trip to the Dominican Republic and they brought along piles of Preferidos for our trip to the beach. That’s when I became a believer in the blends. Important to note that it’s not just one cigar, but a range of about 6. I’m given to believe they all consist of identical (or nearly identical) filler and binder, with only the wrapper type changed. You can get them in Ecuadorian Connecticut, Dominican Corojo, Ecuadorian Sungrown Habano, Brazilian Maduro, Cameroon, or Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers.
In the years since I first saw the cigars, the very expensive tubes have been joined by Robusto and Corona Especiales sizes, plus perfectos not sold in tubes. For 2016, La Aurora decided to release a shorter Corona and Toro vitolas in the line. The Miami Cigar and Company website lists the fillers used for the Preferidos line as Dominican, Brazilian and Cameroon, and the binder as Dominican. A friend gifted me an Ecuadorian Sungrown wrapped Toro and asked me to review it…so here we go…and, “Thank you!”
Prelight
I applaud the cost-saving measures made by La Aurora to expand the reach of the Preferidos line…the boxes are fairly simple and straightforward the bands are the same as what was used on the other vitolas previously. I’m a little confused by the footbands, though. They are just a simple color that matches the trim color of the main band, along with a silver strip that looks like the shape of camera film around it. I’m confused because it doesn’t really add anything to the presentation…no type that declares “Preferidos!”…no lion design. I kind of feel like a simple green ribbon would have looked better and, therefore, done the job better.
The wrapper color was a toasted caramel brown with a bit of an oily feel under my fingers. It had a definite earthiness to it, along with a touch of sweet hay. The foot of the stick had more earthy aroma and some cedar. The prelight draw was excellent and featured flavors of natural tobacco, graham, earth and wood.
Flavor
The Preferidos Ecuador Toro started off with a pronounced cedar flavor up front, with lesser flavors of hay and graham coming in next. The finish was earthy, while I got some pepper burn and roasted nuts on the retrohale. Basically it did what the Preferidos blend has done all along…smoke smooth, with plenty of complexity and refinement. As I worked my way through the first third, the nuttiness moved into the palate flavor at about the same level as the cedar. The hay, graham and pepper notes receded.
As the second third burned along, I got mostly earthy and woody notes, with roasted nuts close behind. There was a lingering peppery burn and just touches of hay.
In the last third the pepper came back in a fairly big way, probably a combination of the Ecuadorian wrapper and Cameroon filler. There was still earth and a decent amount of cedar in the mix, but really nothing of the Dominican graham and hay that I had gotten earlier.
Construction
The burn line was very even, with just a couple touch-ups needed. The draw was very good and the ash was solid for the most part.
Value
It’s great to get a high-quality Dominican smoke for about $12. Definitely great value when compared to the perfecto tubo price of about $20.
Conclusions
The Preferido Ecuador Toro was a very good cigar with a good amount of complexity and a medium body until the end when it started to get into the medium-to-full range. This wrapper is not my favorite in the series, but I did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who likes the earthy and cedary notes that come from the Ecuadorian leaf.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
To be frank I’m pretty sure I have never smoked any of the preferidos line. I have always passed them by in the shop due to the price tag. Although I have always heard great remarks about the stick. This looks like it will be a winner for me. Great review, sorry I haven’t been around much as of late. This whole Real world, work bull shit has got to stop!
Sounds pretty good. I have had some of the other La Aurora lineup and enjoyed them. Ill keep an eye out for these.