Review of La Aurora Untamed Cigar

La Aurora Untamed cigars made their debut at the 2014 IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas, and more recently received the honor of being named the Best 2014 Dominican Cigar of the Year by The Dominican Cigar Review. Untamed is made with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Dominican binder, and a blend of three different Dominican ligero tobacco leaves and a Nicaraguan viso leaf. Note that there are no seco leaves in this blend. These cigars are available in five sizes, including a Robusto (5 x 50), which is the subject of this review. Untamed cigars are priced between $7 and $11, and are available to purchase online. Expect to pay about $35 for 5-pack of Robustos. For more info, visit Facebook.com/SmokeYourAshOff.

Although pre-light aroma is not a factor in my ratings, the La Aurora Untamed has a more inviting smell of rich tobacco and chocolate than any other cigar I have experienced. Of course, if you want to know how a cigar actually tastes, you have to light it up and smoke it. Pre-light aromas can be deceiving, and are not always a precursor of what's to come. However, in this case, cocoa happens to be a predominate flavor in the Untamed cigar, but not right from the start. The cigar had a predominately peppery taste during the first five minutes or so, with hints of cocoa in the background. After that point, the cocoa started to become more predominant, along with a deep rich tobacco flavor. During the next 15 to 20 minutes, the pepper slowly continued to fade into the background as the cocoa flavor took over. But during the next 10 minutes, the cocoa started to fade and a leathery taste began to emerge, which lasted for the remaining 25-minute duration of the smoke. Total smoke time was one full hour down to two inches remaining, which is very impressive for a Robusto size cigar.

I found the La Aurora Untamed to be a full flavor cigar for the first 35 minutes or so, then the flavor became medium-to-full during the remainder. Both the body and strength were initially in the medium-to-full range, but the strength moved up to full during the last 25 minutes.

This cigar is made for connoisseurs, and as such, is not recommended for beginners. However, in the relatively small Robusto size, the cigar never became overpowering, although its strength did pick up a bit during the second half. For the most part, the La Aurora Untamed is well balanced and well made, has a very good draw, even burn, and holds a long firm ash. No touch-up lights were needed to keep the burn even, but a relight was necessary just past the half-way point.

I enjoyed the La Aurora Untamed enough to give it a superior rating of 4.5 points on a 5-point scale. Although made with different tobaccos and not constructed in the same manner, I found the taste to be somewhat similar to the Entubar V32 Killa Korona, which not only has a significantly higher price tag, but is no longer being produced. I also consider the Untamed to be one of the top five new cigars that I have smoked during the last 12 months. Although I cannot speak for Cigar Aficionado, I would not be surprised if the La Aurora Untamed makes their list of the Top 25 Cigars of 2015.

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by Miami Cigar Company.