La Aurora Preferidos Ruby Tubos (Maduro) Review

[Cardinal]

Cigar: La Aurora Preferidos Ruby Tubos
Size: Perfecto 5" x 54
Wrapper: Maduro
Binder: Corojo
Filler: Dominican Republic/Brazilian Bahia/Cameroon
Price: MSRP ~$20

Initial Impression/Prelight
This LA Preferidos Ruby is, like all the Preferidos I've smoked, finely rolled with an attractive wrapper and minimal veins. The maduro wrapper is a dark chocolate brown with a little toothiness, and has no soft spots or visible imperfections. The predraw flavor is sweet tobacco, and the draw is just swell.

My dear wife picked this up for me earlier this week when she heard I was having a tough day at work, and I go back to my cigar shop to smoke today due to foul weather here in Fort Worth. Of course, I pick up a few other goodies while I'm here, but my real excitement is for this little baby. I also enjoy smoking inside, if for no other reason than the clouds of smoke hang so nicely. Unfortunately the lighting doesn't lend itself to great (or even passable) photos.



1st Third
I love the way the perfecto shape kicks things off. After an easy, even lighting, I got an immediate hearty blast of the maduro sweet spiciness. As the gauge widens over the first inch, I pick up a deep molasses sweetness which transitions to rich chocolate. The spiciness drops off some, while the smoke is coming out thick and blue. The first third finishes medium flavor and strength.



2nd Third
I get more dark chocolate in the second third after the ash dropped. Coffee flavors begin to creep in, along with some generic woodiness to a small degree. The maduro sweet spiciness picked up as well. The burnline wavers for the first time, going off by as much as perhaps 1/4", but self-corrects like a champ and never deviates again. Body and strength pick up some to maybe medium+.



Final Third
The cigar finished strong, with dark cocoa and coffee flavors becoming richer and more pronounced. The smoke is still plentiful and smooth, and by the end I got a very pleasant lip-tingling and mouth-warming spiciness. I'm also slightly surprised by an uptick in strength, and feel a little nicotine buzziness in the last inch or two, while the flavor remains medium+ with a warm, rich, and long finish.



Overall impressions
I got excited just looking at this cigar, and I enjoyed every aspect of the experience, beginning with the aesthetics and feel of the cigar, right down to the rich, spicy nub. I treasure the perfecto vitola both for the skill it takes to roll one, and the strength and flavor transitions it naturally provides due to varying wrapper/binder ratios. I wish the molasses flavor I picked up at the beginning had stuck around a little longer or come back in later, but the chocolate, coffee, and spiciness are all quite nice. The Sapphire (Connecticut wrapper) still edges this cigar for me, but only slightly.

So far none of the Preferidos line has ever let down in terms of, well, anything: taste, smoke, construction, or appearance. What else can I say? Love it.

[Tobias Lutz]

Great review, Tim! This is my favorite of the Preferidos. I'm excited to see you were able to recover so many of your reviews, I always enjoyed them.

[Cardinal]

Great review, Tim! This is my favorite of the Preferidos. I'm excited to see you were able to recover so many of your reviews, I always enjoyed them.

Thank you! I was thinking exactly the same thing as I was reading through your Davidoff and Caldwell reviews a little bit ago. It's awesome to see the review forum just explode back like this.