Sosa Auric Perfectum wavell (5x50)

Here is the press release on the Auric Perfectum :
November 5, 2012 (Miami, FL) — Antillian Cigar Corporation, owner of popular cigar brands such as Sosa, 60 by Sosa and Underground, will be releasing a new Connecticut cigar on November 19, 2012. Known as the Auric Perfectum, this cigar will only be made available to fifty brick and mortar establishments across the United States. The cigar will come from the Tabacos M.P.S.A. factory in Jalapa, Nicaragua and will be available in the three sizes of Wavell, Governor and Piramides #2. Auric Perfectum will be made with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. The strength of this cigar is a flavorful mild to medium. Most interesting is that the cigars will be packaged in smaller boxes of 12 and will retail from $5.75 to $8.00 per cigar.
Arby Sosa, creative director and sales manager for Antillian Cigar Corporation and son of Juan B. Sosa, stated, “I am really looking forward to the development of the Auric Perfectum because it is going to be a dynamic project. We are going to start with 50 accounts and then will only add 25 more accounts in 2014 when we add a new size to the line. Promotion of the cigar will also include two advertisements in Cigar Snob Magazine starting in 2013 and will list every retailer carrying it. The reason why we are being so limited with the product and promoting the individual establishments is because we understand that B&M stores are important to this industry and we want to help where we can. I hope that the Auric Perfectum compliments our established lines and fills a gap being that we are using a wrapper and country of origin that is not currently found in the Sosa line.”

Arby and Celina gifted be some of their new line, the Auric Perfectum. They said in the press release above that they hoped it would fill a gap in their line since it's country of origin and wrapper are new to the Sosa line. I was very eager to get into these and see if it does just that. I have smoked pretty much every other offering from Sosa Cigars and several of their offerings are I my favorite 10 smokes list. I tried to find the meaning of the name and all I could come up with is that it is Latin and Auric refers to an ion of gold. The Perfectum I would assume is Latin for perfect or perfection. If that be the case then this is golden perfection. I know, get to the review already right? So here we go.

The wrapper is an Ecuadorean Connecticut with only very small veins and a golden caramel color. The binder is Nicaraguan and the filler is a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos. It is firm with only a little give and no soft spots or imperfections that I can find. The body offers notes of hay and the foot offers notes of molasses and sweet field grass. I used my Xikar Xi2 to clip the cap and found a perfect cold draw with notes of sweet grass. I used a Xikar executive 2 to toast the foot and get things started with no problems.

The initial third opened up with an explosion of flavors and a bit more spice than I had anticipated. The spice soon calms and the flavors start to align shortly after the light. There are coffee and roast nut flavors that jump out front. About 3/4 of an inch into the burn the coffee has become more rich and so has the texture of the smoke. I would say a medium finish with a caramel-like flavor. The coffee and roast nut are really working well together.

As I go into the second third there are some woodsy notes starting to emerge. The coffee and roast nut are still in full swing as the smoke becomes more creamy. There are a few light notes of cinnamon that pop in and out, they are subtle but noticeable. The finish has become longer and more toasty than the first third. The construction so far has been outstanding with no burn corrections and ash holding on to over an inch at a time. I have not had to correct burn on any of these I have smoked so far.

I the final third the woody notes take on more of an aged cedar flavor. The coffee notes started to fade a bit and n flavor dominates the others. Each puff seems to bring a different flavor to the foreground as if you are tasting the grand finale at a fireworks show. The cinnamon notes did develop a bit more in the final third but still hung out in the background for the most part.

This was indeed a perfect addition to the already stellar lineup for Sosa Cigars. The Auric Perfectum is full of flavor and maintained a body on the medium side of mild-medium throughout the burn. If your local h&k doesn't carry Sosa I would say bug the crap out of them and get them on board before all the slots for distribution of these are filled. This is an instant hit in my book and is one of my top 3 Connecticut wrapped sticks. Thank you to Celina and Arby Sosa for sending me the Auric Perfectum, this is an excellent cigar!
You can find more information on Sosa Cigars and the Antillian Cigar Corp at www.antilliancigars.com
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