I’ve been a big fan of Nestor Miranda ever since I purchased a few of his 'special' maduros from Cigars International some seven years ago. I first tried the Connecticut version, which was awesome in its own right. Most of the ones I bought were smoked in fairly short order or gifted away. I think a few may still lie deep within one of the coolers I collectively refer to as my humidor.

More recently (a year or so ago), I grabbed a few of these down at Cigar World in Marietta, Georgia, and recalled enjoying them very much. Then, as I was rummaging through the humidor at Maxwell’s Cigar bar a few weeks back, I saw a fresh box of the robusto sitting on the shelf, and grabbed a few cigars from it. 

For a real review, I always buy two in case of human error - mine or the rollers. Stuff happens. You may encounter a tight cigar now and again. But sometimes, you just want to smoke a second one if you think there is a twist of flavor or some nuance that you want to try to catch better.

In this case, I smoked them both.

Prelight:

The wrapper was dark - not black, but rather a deep chocolate brown. The prelight draw was smooth, and characterized by a rich tobacco scent. The wrapper and foot smelled of wood and earth with a hint (but only a hint) of freshly roasted coffee. The cut was clean - no apparent large stemmy looking bits, and revealing a nice tight roll. I could see several different shades of tobacco in there, with a ribbon of dark ligero as well as some very light and medium brown leaves making up the bunch.

As seems to happen with almost every review session, something went wrong. I began to toast the foot, lightly holding the cigar inches away from the torch flame until I saw a few sparkles of tobacco igniting, warming and... the ligher ran out of butane.

Never fear, I always carry two lighters.

The second lighter was empty!

So, I had to run upstairs and grab my trusty screwdriver and a can of Xicar butane.

The Light:

The process I described above began anew. I warmed the foot of the cigar, drawing some air through it, then again brought the flame closer until the foot was glowing red. A few puffs later and the cigar was fully lit. A firm ash began to form.

The smoke:

The first inch brought forth rich tobacco notes within a framework of mild strength, but not much more. There was bit of spice on the tongue as a rich gray ash developed. A bit further in, the strength of the cigar built somewhat and the body fleshed out - medium strength perhaps. The flavor rounded out a bit, and those subtle roasted coffee notes sensed in the prelight aroma started to appear.

The spiciness on the tongue grew slightly, and the flavor, along with the strength, settled into the 'medium' range. The ash held for another half inch, and might have held longer if I hadn’t bumped it on the ashtray.

Halfway through, the coffee notes gained intensity. I also tasted cocoa. For this one reason, I smoked the second cigar a few days later. At that time, I swear I detected a hint of creaminess like, well, real cream.

I know that flavors in a cigar are subjective, but 'coffee break' is a very good name for this cigar. The flavors of the smoke are like a lightly spiced (peppery perhaps) mocha latte.

The wrapper split - I’ll chalk that up to Georgia humidity.

Three-quarters through, and the flavors were persistent. I should have had a cup of coffee with this, I think.

And then it was done. The flavor had kept on coming throughout the smoke, though that peppery spiciness did fade a little toward the end. And the cigar never got hot. All told, the blend was quite good, maintaining a consistency of flavor right to the last.

What we have here, dear readers, is a very fine cigar, and another reason to respect the skills of Nestor Miranda as a true craftsman blender.

Rated on CW's 10 puff scale:

Pre-light 9

Light 9

Draw 9

Construction 8

Flavor 7

Power 6

Overall 8.7