Some people wonder what happened between Miami Cigar & Co. and myself. The answer is simple, my position in the company was phased out. I’ve had people ask if Jason Holly is my replacement and he owns a brand that is distributed by the company. The answer is no, he was not my replacement and he is someone I respect immensely and consider a friend. In moving on my relationship remains as solid as ever with the great people of this company. At the end of the day we have no negative feelings toward each other and still speak highly of each other. Let’s see if that remains to be the case after I smoke this cigar.
The 25th Anniversary will be available sometime in May and will come packaged in a limited edition humidor of which only 500 will be available. Inside the humidor will be 20 coffins; 10 of which be Dominican from the La Aurora factory and 10 will be Nicaraguan from the My Father factory. Both cigars will measure the same and consumers will be asked to vote on which cigar they like better to become the first ever Miami Cigar slated for sometime later this year.
Size: 5.5 x 54 (Toro)
Wrapper: San Andreas (Mexico)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium-Full
Number of Cigars Smoked: 2
Appearance & Construction: Dark chocolate in color the San Andreas wrapper glistens with oils and features a flawless roll that is practically seamless. Upon close examination there are thin veins from the structure of the leaf present and a fair amount of tooth. There are two bands of black and silver, the first is the 25th Anniversary logo while the second denotes the country, in this case Nicaragua. In the back both bands feature the Nestor Miranda signature.
Flavor & Notes: The nose of the Miami Cigar & Company 25th Anniversary Nicaragua has a slight spice and cedar notes. The cold draw has a cherry like sweetness with a touch of raisin and a hint of leather. Once lit there is some of that classic Pepin spice that fades away a little quicker then expected. As I smoke through the first third I easily get lost in how incredibly smooth the cigar is. The notes in the first third are a a dominant licorice and reminds me so much of a Mike & Ike candy. As the cigar enters the midway point the licorice remains but is slightly muted with some leather and cedar notes. In the final third of the cigar there is a dark bitter chocolate with a dark roasted coffee and leather on the finish.
Smoking Characteristics: The ash of the 25th Anniversary is a bit flaky and is light gray in color. The draw of the cigar was superb and the burn line true. The initial ash held on for the first third of the cigar before falling off. The cigar needed one relight on both samples smoked and there was ample smoke production.
Conclusion: This is one of the smoothest cigars I ever smoked from Miami Cigar & Company and there are nice flavors but one has to call into question the hefty price tag. I smoked one last night with a manufacturer who was talking about the packaging before I mentioned I had one of the cigars. Him and I traded some sticks and upon smoking one he said, “This is a great cigar and if it had the name of a specific manufacturer attached to it, no one would question the price.” I believe Miami Cigar & Co. is hoping that retailers give a raffle ticket with the purchase of each stick and raffle off the humidor if they choose to sell the sticks individually. I’ll close with this, I plan to buy the humidor with the cigars.
Rating: 90*
Price: $25.00
* I chose to give a small penalty on the cigar because of the price. If the price isn’t an issue for you it’s definitely worthy of a slightly higher score.
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