Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican
Size: Rothschild 4.5″ x 50 ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com
The Nestor Miranda Special Selection changed quite a bit from its original incarnation when Nestor Miranda of Miami Cigar & Co. asked Don Pepin Garcia to re-blend and make this cigar for him. I don’t know much about this cigar before Pepin got his hands on it. The coffee break is supposed to be a smaller more convenient format for the highly touted, and very large Danno which is Nestor’s 20th Anniversary cigar also blended and made by Pepin. Surprisingly, there is absolutely no mention what so ever of the Special Selection cigars on the Miami Cigar & Co. website. Why do so many cigar companies fail at the simple task of keeping their websites up to date? It seems to be an annoying fact of life for cigar lovers who crave information. Cigar companies seem loathe to part with it.
Dressed in a dark brown leather jacket of a wrapper leaf it looks grainy and has small veins spider-ing across its surface. The band is simple and elegant, and after clipping the excellently applied cap a quick test of the draw reveals perfection and a rich preview of whats to come. Although there is none of the infamous “Pepin Black Pepper”, the cigar is very Pepin-esque and leaves no doubt as to who blended this smoke. The Nicaraguan tobacco seems to dominate at the start with lots of rich earth notes complimented by leather and coffee. Once you get about half way in it starts to develop some Honduran spice and some nutty undertones of raw almond or maybe walnuts. The last third is spicy and earthy with a slightly sweet finish. I found this cigar to have an almost Tatuaje like nature to it which of course only makes me like it even more. It is an excellent smoke and I enjoyed the size. It is a convenient afternoon smoke and I plan to keep a handful of these in stock at all times. I can see me reaching for one of these whenever I can’t make up my mind on what I want to smoke. It will compete heavily with the Oliva V Belicoso in that role for me.
