La Aurora Fernando León Legacy Lancero

La Aurora

• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: La Aurora Cigar Factory
• Wrapper: Dominican Republic (Corojo)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Brazil & Dominican Republic
• Length: 6 7/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 40
• Vitola: Lancero
• MSRP: $20 (Box of 10, $200)
• Release Date: July 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Original Score: 91

Few companies have gone out of their way to embrace the long and slender vitola known as the lancero quite like La Aurora. This is the ninth different La Aurora lancero we’ve reviewed and it’s one of the company’s best. La Aurora likes embracing its past, particularly for the names of its releases. This cigar is made in honor of what would have been the 100th birthday of Fernando León Asensio, who took over his family’s tobacco company and led it for nearly half of a century.

The connection between León and this cigar is not simply the name. Before he passed, León oversaw the company’s efforts to grow corojo wrapper in Bonao, Dominican Republic. This cigar uses leaves from the first harvest of that Bonao farm as its wrapper, leaves that were planted before León passed away in 2009.

Flavor-wise, nuttiness is the clear star of the show, really shining in the way that it has multiple different textures. That said, this is not a Dominican cigar like the ones León would have sold during his tenure. From start to finish, spices and pepper provide a consistent contrast to the nuttiness. If you like lanceros or are hoping to get into them, few companies can rival La Aurora from the depth and breadth of offerings, and that expertise continues to pay off. — Charlie Minato.