Let's talk about these slender 5.5" perfectos from La Aurora's historic Dominican factory. At $8.55 per stick, these Connecticut-wrapped cigars combine Ecuadorian shade-grown wrapper with aged Dominican/Nicaraguan fillers. The 47-ring gauge figurado shape burns like a skinny campfire log, perfect for 45-minute smoking sessions. Newbies dig its approachable mildness, while veterans appreciate that vintage Leon Jimenes craftsmanship shining through the delicate smoke.
The cold draw tastes like licking a pencil - in a good way. Initial puffs deliver cream soda fizz on the tongue with papery dryness. Watch that tapered foot - needs precise toasting to prevent canoeing. By inch one, settles into cashew butter territory with faint cinnamon dust.
At the bulge point, the smoke thickens like whipping egg whites. Hay bales and raw almonds dominate, backed by that Connecticut signature white pepper tingle. Ash holds firm in 1" chunks. Perfect pairing with iced oolong tea - cuts through the accumulating sweetness.
Around the 4" mark, the nicotine starts whispering warnings. Last flavors? Imagine oat biscuits dunked in weak espresso. The tapered cap makes nubbing tricky - better to quit while ahead before tar builds up. Lingering aftertaste? Like sniffing a fresh-opened raisin box.
Rolled in Santiago's La Aurora complex where they've been pumping out smokes since Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. That 120-year-old blending knowledge shows in how they balance Nicaraguan zing with Dominican earth tones. The Leon Jimenes line specifically honors factory founder Eduardo's brother Herminio, who kept the lights on during the 1940s tobacco crunch. Today, fourth-gen blenders still use his original desk for quality checks.
