Now today we have a new blend from La Aurora called the Fernando Leon Family Reserva. Fernando León Asensio was the “Father” of La Aurora and passed away in 2009. This particular blend was actually made for personal consumption and reserved for friends and family only. To commemorate his father, Guillermo Leon decided to push out this special blend for the masses to enjoy.

The cigar comes wrapped in a very similar band to what the Guillermo Leon Signature had, only with a different color scheme. The lion logo still adorns the top middle of the band and instead of Guillermo’s signature, we have Fernando’s signature in gold print across the middle of the band.

The Fernando Leon Family Reserve comes in the same classic sizes as the Guillermo Leon. A Corona, Corona Gorda, Robusto, Belicoso and Gran Toro. For today’s review I’m picking up the Corona Gorda vitola, which is also becoming one of my favorites of all the vitolas lately. It turned out to be a warm(warm to me at least, it’s still only like 35F) afternoon with only a little bit of wind. So let’s get to it and see how this new cigar stands up!

Cigar: Fernando Leon Family Reserve
Drink: Wellington Breweries Imperial Russian Stout
Vitola: Corona Gorda (6 x 47)
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Peruvian, Brazilian, Dominican
Price: About $8
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Fernando Leon Family Reserve has a rough, but soft, wrapper with a touch of toothiness to it
• There is a definite softness when squeezed from head to foot, pretty consistent the whole way through
• Looks to be a triple cap that is finished extremely smooth and well, blends right into the wrapper
• The foot has some small gaps, so it’s not too tightly packed
• Golden brown is the color of the wrapper, with some shiny hints of oil
• The cut was very easy and smooth leaving me with a perfectly sliced cap
• Draw was just perfect with enough resistance but not with too much

Yes, that is a big pile of snow! lol

Burn:
• Toasting was nice, even and slow with only the foot catching and leaving me with a nice amber to start off with
• No burn issues through the first third, razor sharp and thin burnline, just the way I like it!
• It’s also burning at a nice slow pace, allowing me to enjoy it slowly without burning out
• At about the half-way mark I hit a tunnel that ended up requiring a touch-up, now we’re off to the races again
• After that touch-up, we had smooth sailing right to the end, a very well constructed cigar!

Smoke & Ash:
• Right from the start I’m getting a nice mouthful of billowy smoke with very little effort
• The ash is nothing spectacular here, it’s a light grey and dark grey mix, it is nice and clean and string though
• The first ash made it to about an inch before I tapped it off
• The next couple of ashes both fell off at about a half-inch even though there were looking strong
• Smoke continues to be very full with very little effort on the draw
• The ashes continued looking strong but always seemed to fall unexpectedly or really shatter in the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper is giving off a sweet woodsy sort of aroma
• A little more boldness on the foot where the aroma is adding a bunch of spices like nutmeg
• Pre-light draw was a big kick of cedar with some touches of spice
• First few draws started with a small spice kick but that quickly disappeared
• I’m now left with a smooth and creamy cedar flavor backed by some light coffee notes
• Through the first third, the body seems to be in the medium range and I’m also getting some accents of nutty notes
• The retro-hale is giving me a nice little bite with a smooth creamy finish, nice touch
• Through the first half, the cedar and coffee notes are prime with a smooth creaminess to round it all out
• As I get into the last third, the coffee is ramping up a bit but sadly the nice creaminess has toned down a notch
• I’m also getting a little more of the early spices as we sneak into the last bit here
• The last inch or so turned into a bit of charred wood type of flavors, not off putting, but not as exciting as it was before
• The Fernando Leon finished with lots of wood and spice flavors and I was able to nub it happily

Final Thoughts:
I was a huge fan of the Guillermo Leon Signature so I was pretty excited when there was another cigar added to Guillermo’s lines. Now I can’t help but compare the Fernando Leon Family Reserve to the Signature and I feel it fell a little short. That’s not to say this was a bad cigar, it was actually quite tasty(minus the last part which got boring). I just felt that the Signature brought all the flavors together a little better and made it enjoyable from start to finish. I would probably pick up more of these up again in the future but if the Fernando Leon Family Reserve was right beside the Guillermo Leon Signature, I’d go with the signature every time. Maybe I’ll pick out some different vitolas as well to see if that changes the profile much. Either way I’m happy to see more additions the La Aurora line-up and I hope to see more coming up as well

Pairings:
Today’s beer is actually a pretty rare find for me up here. Most of the local breweries tend to stick to typical stouts and dark ales and rarely venture outside of that territory. Welling Breweries took a step outside the comfort zone and came out with an Imperial Russian Stout. This brew clocks in at 8% alc./vol. and has a dark and thick consistency with a very thick head as well. The flavors bring lots of coffee and cocoa notes, but one interesting thing was that I was actually picking up some citrus notes. That made for a very interesting brew and paired quite well with the spice that the Fernando Leon had to offer. I’d like to try this cigar with a nice strong coffee as well, maybe with a little cinnamon sprinkled in there!

The post Fernando Leon Family Reserve appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today we also have a special appearance from a great BOTL known as JerseyJay (Jay L.). Jay has recently launched a very unique and interesting cigar blog centering on Cigar Photography. Please check it out over at CigarPhoto.net. He takes some amazing and unique shots of cigars like none other on the web! We also have two photo’s from him included in today’s review. Everyone make sure to check out Jay’s blog and leave him a comment about how great his photos are!

Courtesy of Cigarphoto.net

This cigar was created and released to mark the special 100 year anniversary of the La Aurora factory in Dominican Republic. And in proper form, La Aurora decided to make this a Dominican Puro, meaning all the tobacco contained in this cigar comes only from the Dominican Republic. The 100 year anniversary was celebrated in 2003 and that’s when this cigar was first released. The limited production ran for 3 years and ended with the production of the Lancero vitola. Other vitolas that were available included a No. 4, Robusto, Belicoso and Churchill. Although no longer produced, some resourceful searchers can still find stock of these cigars in some B&Ms and online sites.

One thing I’d like to point out is that although this was a limited release it was also widely available and large number of sticks were produced. This is a unique quality for a special edition cigar as you can see some brands producing limited cigars that are extremely hard to track down and produced in very small quantities. The wrapper was aged a minimum of 4 years, and amazingly the Piloto Cubano and Domican Corojo filler has been aged since 1996!

La Aurora has produced a lot of top quality stick in it’s long history. I’ve said this before but that track record can be both a curse or a blessing. When I pick up a La Aurora stick I’m expecting an excellent smoking experience every time because of their history and my expectations are likely even higher because of the limited and special edition tags attached to this cigar. I’ve had the chance to enjoy these cigars in the past and am choosing to sit down with the Robusto vitola tonight to give you my opinion.

Cigar: La Aurora 100 Anos
Drink: Quinta do Todo Fine Tawny Port
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 50)
Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican Corojo, Piloto Cubano
Price: About $12
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A gorgeously shiny cinnamon brown wrapper surrounds this cigar
• From head to foot, the cigar is evenly round and is fairly firm but still offers a bit of spring
• There are no pronounced veins on the wrapper, only some smaller ones
• The foot appears to be very well packed with evenly colored tobacco
• The triple cap is finished cleanly and evenly
• The band adorns itself with the signature Lion of La Aurora and also has a second band beneath it which individually numbers each cigar produced (See second image from the top)
• The cut was firm but very clean with my double-bladed guillotine
• Draw is spot-on with just enough resistance to make it interesting

Burn:
• Torching proved to be a long affair, have some patience with this cigar to get it toasted evenly
• The burn started off very wavy and one side burned incredibly fast
• The cigar seems to be burning out a bit so I’m having to give it a few extra draws now and then
• Despite a scary start the cigar actually corrected itself amazingly and I’m not needing to draw as many times to keep it lit
• A couple minor touch-ups were needed past the halfway mark but they didn’t affect the flavor as much as I would have expected

Smoke & Ash:
• A big mouthful of smoke right from the first draw
• Resting smoke is apparent but not over-powering and is giving off just a slight burning cedar aroma
• The is ash is fairly clean and compact, so far holding steady into the first inch
• The color is fairly odd with some parts being a bright white and others an almost dark black, likely due to the odd burn at the start
• First ash lasted about 1.5 inches before I tapped it off, despite looking a little weak at that point it still took some effort to tap it off so it’s a nice strong ash

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper aroma gives off an interesting tart-like spice along with a nice cedar
• The aroma on the foot brings nutmeg and cloves to the mix along with a touch of espresso and cedar
• Pre-light draw is dominated by cedar with some nice hints of clove and nutmeg spice
• Initial draws are full of cedar flavors and accented by more spices including nutmeg, cloves and a touch of pepper
• The retrohale is fairly mild so far with no bite and a creamy cedar finish
• Body has been just below medium for the first third but it has been very well balanced with a smooth and creamy finish on each draw
• Getting a touch of leather into the mix at the end of the first 3rd
• I need to stress how well everything is balancing and taking turns being the prominent flavor here
• Despite this cigar being wrapped and filled with Corojo leaves, it’s so smooth and balanced that it’s barely feeling like a medium bodied cigar
• Some earthy and coffee notes are sneaking in near the halfway mark
• As the cigar progresses the body is building a bit more and the coffee and spice notes are developing very nicely
• The spice and body of the Corojo is becoming more apparent in the last third but it’s still well balanced and super smooth
• The espresso and clove flavors developed the most near the nub of the cigar and are balancing nicely with a smooth cedar finish
• Body definitely ramped up near the end, but the smoothness and balance kept it from being overpowering.

Final Thoughts:
This is a cigar that is definitely worthy of celebrating 100 great years of making great cigars. Despite some burn issues here and there the flavors never disappointed and kept changing. From the initial draws straight to the nub the flavors kept changing and keeping each draw interesting. The key that made this cigar so enjoyable with the smooth and balanced profile it provided from start to finish. It clearly had some body but it never came through as over-powering. The price is a little high but when you factor in tobacco that has been aged since 1996 it’s easy to see that it’s more than justifiable and the flavors only proved to make the price worthwhile. I would highly recommend picking up a few of these cigars, if not a whole box to enjoy!

Here’s another great shot by Jay from CigarPhoto.net

Courtesy of Cigarphoto.net

Pairings:
Yes I know, you’ve seen this pairing quite a few times lately. I promise both bottles are now finished and you won’t see it again! lol. As I’ve mentioned in my other reviews including this Port (Monte Pascoal, Miraculous Templar or G.A.R.), it is a fairly fruity and easy drinking pairing that can be enjoyed by anyone, even those new to Port wines. I found the fruity notes to pair very well here although I think a bolder Port would have paired even nicer. I think the higher sugar content in the Port helped fend off any nicotine kick I might have gotten from this cigar. Other pairings here that would serve well include a nice Scotch, strong coffee or a dark porter/stout.

The post La Aurora 100 Anos appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.