Nestor Miranda Special Selection

I first fell in love with this cigar when I received it in a lancero pass on the now defunct cigar live. A place I felt passionate about but it was sold and turned into a site that I personally do not like. Since then I have tried some other cigar boards but I have since drifted away from them which is a shame because I made some really nice friendships on them and I miss the local herfs. The knowledge I gained from those boards and how they expanded my horizons was priceless.

Cigar: Nestor Miranda Special Selection
Size: 7 x 38
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua & Costa Rica

Appearance & Construction (19/20): A rustic looking wrapper adorns this lancero and if you enjoy the rustic look this once is perfect . The stick  has a pigtail cap that is among the best I have ever seen. The cigar has an obscene amount of veins but most of them are thin and do not stand out above the wrapper itself. The foot of the cigar reveals a nicely packed vitola.

Flavor & Notes (27/30): Like Ricky over at Cigar Command the first thing that hit me was the well defined sweetness that made me wonder if the wrapper was sugar tipped. The first third of the smoke offered some toasty wood notes with a continue underlying sweetness. The second third of the smoke the sweetness becomes a well defined caramel, with a toasted wood remaining alongside for the ride. The final third of this cigar is a total change of the smoke. Gone are the sweet notes, and what remains is wood notes with a touch of toast and earth. The final third of the cigar also offers a nice aroma.

Burn/Ash/Draw (22/25): The burn of this cigar was a little fast, and it bothered me a little that the smoke lasted a mere 40 minutes. For a lancero the ash was really tight and held on extremely well with no flake what so ever. At one point I measured the ash at just under 3 inches. The draw was a bit of a negative, as I felt like I breathing through a straw with a hole in it at times.

Overall (23/25): One of my favorite finds of 2009 is the Nestor Miranda Special Selection brand, and whenever I see it in a cigar shop I tell people to try one and it is usually met with rave reviews. While I prefer the robusto or the toro, this lancero is among the best of best in that particular vitola.

Rating: 91
Price: $7.00

Check our some other reviews of the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Lancero:

• Cigar Command gives it 4.5 stars
• Nice Tight Ash says buy a box!
• Puffing Cigars calls the blend, “Fabulous”