In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Miami Cigar & Company sent out an unbanded cigar to a select few cigar bloggers and asked us our opinion during a Zoom call. The cigar was well received by the vast majority on the call. During the session, Jason Wood told us that Nestor Miranda had blended the cigar himself at La Aurora and fell in love with it, pressuring him to release it. We debated the salability of Lancero cigars which have a very small segment of the cigar marketplace. The result is this limited edition 500 box release of 10 count boxes.
The cigar is said to be the first of future releases under the Private Reserve banner.
Cigar Review: Nestor Miranda Private Reserve
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Criollo ’98
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Brazil
Length: 6.75
Ring Gauge: 40
Size: Lancero
The Look: The cigars are packaged in high gloss luxury box of 10 count cigars laid out horizontally. The box is adorned with some tile artwork that is reminiscent of the Mediterranean. The has a white and gold band with the Nestor Miranda signature vertically placed over a the Miami Cigar & Company logo with a blue and gold foot band with some of the tile work visible and the words Private Reserve. The wrapper is flawless with a nice amount of oils visible and a pigtail cap.
The Notes: The cold draw serves up notes of rawhide, saltines and graham cracker with the latter being the dominant taste while the aroma of the foot has a touch of rawhide and saltines. Once the cigar it cut, toasted and lit serves up graham cracker sweetness.
Moving into the first third the Dominican Corojo wrapper shines with a spicy base note complimented with hints of dark chocolate and rich espresso. The retrohale serves up some red pepper and a subtle leather component.
The second third sees the red pepper notes make it to the palate with nuances of leather and coffee. The dark chocolate disappears before the half way point only to reemerge as the second third comes to a close. The retrohale offers up notes of black pepper and an abundance of leather
The last third sees notes of red pepper become dominant on both the palate and the retrohale with a touch of leather and a subtle graham cracker on the finish. The long finish serves up notes of leather, while the retrohale adds more pepper and black pepper.
The Finish: When I smoked this cigar in the summer of 2020 it was young and at that point it was a good cigar. Now with some age on it a very good cigar that should age well based on the changes over the last 6+ months. It’s has more strength than the Nicaragua made Special Selection with a well defined flavor profile. Expensive for a lancero, but definitely worth a box purchase.
Score: 93
Price: $18.00 / $161.99
Nestor Miranda Private Reserve Lancero
Nestor Miranda Private Reserve Lancero Foot
Nestor Miranda Private Reserve Lancero Burn
