Nestor Miranda Collection 75th Anniversary

Miami Cigar & Co. is not known for releasing an abundance of new cigars; in fact, other than flavored cigars, the company had not announced a new cigar in more than two years.

That changed in September when Miami Cigar shipped the Nestor Miranda Collection 75th Anniversary, a 7 1/4 x 57 salomon Nicaraguan puro that carries an MSRP of $19 each. While the name may suggest that the company itself is 75 years old, the cigar was actually released to commemorate the 75th birthday of its founder Nestor Miranda, whose birthday is, notably, on Valentine’s Day.

There were a total of only 1,000 15-count boxes produced and the cigars were rolled at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua, which also happens to be the same factory that produces the company’s regular production Nestor Miranda Collection cigars. While most retailers had to wait until the 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show in July, members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) were able to place preorders at the organization’s annual meeting and convention that took place in May. It didn’t matter when the orders were placed, the cigars didn’t begin shipping until mid-September.

• Cigar Reviewed: Nestor Miranda Collection 75th Anniversary
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 7 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 57
• Vitola: Salomon
• MSRP: $19 (Boxes of 15, $285)
• Release Date: Sept. 14, 2018
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 15 (15,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Visually, the Nestor Miranda Collection 75th Anniversary is a gorgeous-looking salmon with a milk chocolate wrapper that is silky smooth to the touch, although there is very little obvious oil. There are a number of significant veins running up and down the length of the cigar, as well as a large soft spot located about halfway between the foot and secondary band. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of cedar, leather, manure, dark chocolate and generic nuts, while the cold draw brings flavors of cocoa nibs, cedar, leather, coffee grounds, salty peanuts and black pepper, along with some slight spice on my lips.

Starting out, the Nestor Miranda features a strong peanut and hay core combination, with other flavors of creamy cedar, bitter espresso, baker’s spices, leather and a touch of floral bringing up the rear. There is a slight sweetness that reminds me of cotton candy as well as a bit of black pepper on the retrohale, as well as a surprising amount of spice that is present on my tongue as well. Construction-wise, the draw is excellent so far after a v-cut, but the burn is bad enough to need a correction out of the gate, albeit just one. The smoke production is massive off of the foot, while the strength starts out near the mild mark and does not increase very much by the time the second third begins.

The peanut and hay core combination that was so prevalent in the first third has been replaced by a creamy cedar note, similar to that of the cold draw, followed by notes of creamy leather, earth, anise, hay, citrus and that same touch of floral from the first third. The cotton candy sweetness on the retrohale remains at about the same level, but both the black pepper and spice fade significantly. Fortunately, the burn has evened up nicely, while the draw and smoke production remain great. Strength-wise, the Nestor Miranda increases enough to come close to the medium mark by the halfway point, but seems to stall out there, showing no obvious signs of going much further.

The final third of the Nestor Miranda 75th Anniversary is quite similar to the second third, but soon takes a turn, with the creamy cedar note easily taking the lead spot, followed closely by dried tea leaves, hay, dark cocoa, barnyard and anise. The cotton candy sweetness is still present but reduced quite a bit compared to the second third. While the black pepper on the retrohale remains noticeable, the spice on my tongue is long gone. Unfortunately, the burn gives me more issues, leading to needing a couple of touchups, but the draw is as good as ever and smoke production continues to be well above average. The overall strength has not budged noticeably from the second third and I put the nub down with a little more than an inch left with it still just under the medium mark.

Final Notes

• I noticed very quickly that this is one of those cigars that becomes bitter fast if you puff on it too hard or too often, so I really made an effort to slow down that aspect for this particular review, which helps tremendously. Unfortunately, the combination of that, the larger ring gauge and the length also increased my smoking time quite a bit, as you can see below.
• On each of the three cigars I smoked for this review, the wrapper around where I cut the cap unraveled to various degrees, although none of them were bad enough to affect the overall construction.
• I really love the look of both bands on this release: white, silver and gold are a classic combination. The larger vitola really makes it less noticeable that there are two separate bands.
• Miami Cigar & Co. advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were sent to halfwheel byMiami Cigar & Co.
• Final smoking time for all three samples averaged two hours and 38 minutes.
• Site retail sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars.com, Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar all have the Nestor Miranda Collection 75th Anniversary in stock.