Today, we take a look at the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Dragon. This was part of a 12-cigar ultra-premium collection called the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào. This would be E.P. Carrillo’s foray into two different spaces. First, it would be E.P. Carrillo’s entry into Chinese Zodiac-themed cigars. Second, it would be the most expensive E.P. Carrillo offering to date. The 12-cigar collection of the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào has an MSRP of $1,000.00. This comes out to $83.33 per cigar, but most retailers opted to sell the collection (which came in a custom humidor) as a whole. Singapore-based Cigar Specialist International would handle distribution for this project. As a result, most of the distribution was targeted at the Asian market. A total of 2,500 humidor units were produced, and while the majority went to the Asian market, some were allocated to the U.S. market.

The name Sh?ngxiào stands for Chinese Zodiac. This release is unique because while most companies have opted to do an annual release around a specific Chinese Zodiac year (i.e., Year of the Dragon), the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào contains 12 cigars. Each of the 12 cigar blends of the Aura E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào represents one of the animals on the Chinese Zodiac. For this assessment, we are focused on the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Dragon – which represents the year of the Dragon. Below are the twelve animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac. We list these from the upcoming Chinese New Year – Year of the Dragon.

Dragon
Snake
Horse
Goat (Sheep)
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig
Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit

Each of the twelve cigars is laid out in a mahogany humidor. We will talk about the humidor in the BANDING AND PACKAGING section.

The name Aura is tied to energy, which is tied to the Chinese Zodiac. According to E.P. Carrillo, the first energy one experiences is at birth, and this initial energy is represented by the Chinese Zodiac.

For now, we will turn our attention to the Sh?ngxiào Dragon blend and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Dragon Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Aura By E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào humidor comes with a blend book that describes the Dragon blend as follows:

Although dark and imposing, the Aura Dragon blend is not as aggressive as one might think. While certainly full of assertive character, it is nuanced as well This effect is produced by the Ernesto’s creative blending of Mexican wrapper. Ecuadoran binder and Nicaraguan filler This cigar is not only full of dried-fruit notes and chocolate-covered raisin sweetness, but is an exercise in restraint and balance.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza

Vitolas Offered

All 12 of the blends of the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào come in a 6 1/8 x 52 Torpedo vitola. The Torpedo is not a vitola often associated with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, but he occasionally makes some. As mentioned, the Dragon is one of twelve blends included in boxes. Since there were 2,500 Aura boxes produced, 2,500 of the Dragon cigars have been produced.

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon had a milk chocolate color to it. There was some oil on the surface and a slight amount of mottling. The surface of the wrapper was slightly bumpy and had a slight amount of toothiness to it. There were only a couple of veins I could detect on the surface. As for wrapper seams, some were prominently visible. The torpedo tip had a moderate taper where it converged to a tip.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the torpedo tip of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon. A little more than half of the tip was removed so the tapering effect could still be a part of the smoking experience. From that point, it was on to the pre-light experience. The cold draw delivered a mix of mocha and hay. The mocha note was a classic fusion of coffee and chocolate, with the coffee component having a slight edge. This was a simple but satisfactory pre-light draw experience. From this point, it was time to remove the ribbon of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Dragon opened up with notes of coffee, earth, wood, hay, and mixed pepper. Early on, the coffee notes moved into the forefront, with the earth, wood, hay, and pepper notes settling in the background. About halfway through the first third, some dark chocolate entered the equation. This dark chocolate started in the background but went to the forefront a few times. The dark chocolate imparted some sweetness into the equation. Meanwhile, there was an additional layer of mixed pepper on the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon, there was an increase in the pepper and wood notes. As the pepper notes increased, the dark chocolate notes decreased. The increase in the pepper had some pungent qualities to it. Meanwhile, the coffee notes remained at the forefront. There were still notes of earth and hay present as well.

The final third saw the coffee notes remain grounded in the forefront. The pepper notes were the most dominant secondary note and remained pungent. Meanwhile, notes of wood, earth, hay, and dark chocolate were still present. This is the way the Sh?ngxiào Dragon came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Overall, the burn of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon performs as I would expect from an ultra-premium cigar. This cigar maintained a straight burn path and straight burn line – requiring minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was a silver-gray color. This was an ash that was on the firm side. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

Like the burn, the draw of the Sh?ngxiào Dragon also performed as I would expect from an ultra-premium cigar. This draw had a touch of resistance to it, which I like. At the same time, this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The Sh?ngxiào Dragon started out with medium strength and medium-bodied flavors. For the most part, there wasn’t much of an increase in strength. The body increases in intensity, and by the second third, it moves into medium to full territory. The body continued to increase and, toward the last third, came close to the full-bodied area of the spectrum but didn’t quite cross the threshold.

In terms of strength versus body, the body maintains an edge for most of the smoking experience. The edge grows as the body increases in intensity.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

There are two bands on each Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào cigar. Each cigar shared the same primary band: a gold, brown, and bronze Aura by E.P. Carrillo logo. Each cigar has a unique red and gold secondary band. On each band is a rendering of the Chinese Zodiac animal for that cigar with the text “SH?NGXÌAO” under it. The lower part of each band has the name of the blend.

The humidor in which the 12 blends are housed is quite impressive. We will start with the outer box.

Inside the outer box, the humidor is in a red velvet sleeve where it is housed.

Removing the velvet sleeve reveals the humidor with a brass Aura by E.P. Carrillo logo on the cover. The outer brass ring on the cover has the animals of the Sh?ngxiào.

Opening the box reveals the 12 cigars. There is a humidification unit at the top, and the bottom houses the blend book.

The blend book not only contains the wrapper, binder, and filler info but also some context about the blend itself.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

If you want a classic San Andres Maduro experience, the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Dragon will deliver it. This will include notes of coffee, earth, dark chocolate, and pepper spice in the pungent size. This isn’t necessarily my personal flavor profile, but I’ve seen many seek out this profile. Thus far, I haven’t seen any retailers pull apart the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào collection, so it’s not something I can recommend as a single. While I certainly wouldn’t spend $1,000.00 for a box for this blend, what I will say is check out our reviews from The Smoking Syndicate Roundtable. There are plenty of other blends, and the collection as a whole is something you might want to consider.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Wood, Hay Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st third), Medium to Full (Remainder0
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Try a Sample
Score: 89

The Smoking Syndicate Roundtable

The Smoking Syndicate Roundtable has assessed 9 of the 12 cigars in the Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào. This was done in two roundtable installments. Part 1 saw the Sh?ngxiào Goat (Sheep), Sh?ngxiào Rabbit, Sh?ngxiào Pig, and Sh?ngxiào Ox.

Part 2 saw the Sh?ngxiào Snake, Sh?ngxiào Rat, Sh?ngxiào Monkey, and Sh?ngxiào Dog.

 

REFERENCES

News: E.P. Carrillo and Cigar Specialist International Team Up to Release Super Premium Aura E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào
Price: $83.33 (Cigar)/ $1,000.00 for Aura by E.P. Carrillo Sh?ngxiào Unit
Source: E.P. Carrillo
Brand Reference: Aura E.P. Carrillo

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop

Video Credit: Cigar Coop/The Smoking Syndicate

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