avantgrade purchased this cigar on 2010-01-01.
It has a little under 2 months of additional aging.
The cigar lit up with only one match, and since I tend to use matches over lighters, this is pretty good, as some sticks can take 2 or 3. Upon lighting, the aroma is fairly light and toasty, with hints of oak. Upon taking a few puffs, there are a few blips of white pepper that pop up, but not with every puff. I can really sense the oak coming through, which must be due to the barrel aging process that Aurora performs with these cigars. Apparently they age the all of the component leaves inside old Dominican rum barrels for at least 4 years. As far as the taste of the cigar goes (at least so far), there is a definite presence of oak, most likely imparted by the barrels. The draw is fairly firm at the moment, just a little too labored for my taste.
As I head into the first 1/3 of the cigar, I still get playful nuances of oak. They seem to pick up and drop off in waves, and bits of pepper spark up in between. So far, the body of the cigar is on the mild to mild-medium side. I start to sense some creaminess coming through - appropriate due to the fermentation process. Also, the draw began to ease up, and now the smoke moves with medium effort. Very enjoyable.
The spiciness is still coming in waves, maybe once between 2 or 3 puffs. However, the wonderful maduro-style creaminess abounds. To me, the creaminess creates a perfect background for black pepper spice, and also the oak flavors from the barrels. There is an inherent sweetness to the mixture, almost like molasses. That could be to the remnants of rum found in the barrels used in aging. The body has also picked up, and is hovering right around medium. The draw is also on the medium side, but every deliberate puff is rewarded.
As I head into the final 1/3 of the cigar, I am looking to finish the stick in exactly 1 hour. Throughout the smoke, I never had to relight or touch up the burn line. The cigar burned slightly unevenly, but always self-corrected. I think it is important to note that it was very densely packed with tobacco. That sort of generosity is always appreciated in my book.
The body stays about the same as it did in the middle of the cigar. Still nice and oaky, with more play of pepper than before, and the traditional Corojo stoutness shows up, mostly replacing the sweetness of molasses and oak. The creaminess is pushed far into the background, and pepper leads into the finish. I eased off the puffs a little bit towards the nub (about 1.5 inches of the cigar left before I let it die out). This mellowed out the taste of the cigar, and creaminess made a short return. As I put the cigar down, the combination of sweet oak and molasses followed me for a few hours. This was quite a nice cigar, and well worth the full price if I did not get it on a great deal from Famous.