Falto El Procer Historias

Lots of chocolate and barnyard aroma off the foot pre-light. Once lit the chocolate drops off and the barnyard turns into a more mulch, damper earth. A few puffs in there is black pepper building at the back of my throat, and a hefty star anise flavor matches the earth. Distinctively La Aurora, the finish is a mix of concentrated prune juice sans sweetness and black pepper. The retro kind of dries out the earth and there’s a little cardboard in there. It’s not terribly strong, about a six at halfway and holding steady. In the final third the black licorice quality just explodes across my palate, leaving a little bit of a mediciny finish. I’ve been searching for the sweet and spicy mix I usually get from Cameroon and find it only here in the very dregs of the cigar. Even so, trying to distinguish it from the string earthy flavors and thick pepper is hard to do, had I not known it was there I doubt I ever would have guessed at its presence.

The construction was troublesome. The draw was a bit hard but serviceable, the pack is on the spongy side, and the burn needed four touch ups before I put it down with an inch and a half left. There’s a pretty thick carbon line on this too, and I suspect it should have seen at least a few more months in the aging room.

It was an interesting sounding blend from a maker I am not familiar with, so it was worth a shot. In the past few years the stuff coming out of La Aurora has Ben hit or miss for me, and unfortunately it’s been more miss than anything. I bought 8 or 10 different Faltos to try, and I’m hoping this is the worst of the bunch. Not the worst thing I’ve ever smoked by any means, but there is a long list of cigars at this price point that I’d be happy to smoke over this.

Also, a 6×48 is a Toro, maybe a Corona Gorda. Get out of here with this Cuban Churchill bologna. From here on out I’m taking a point off for naming vitolas something dumb.