Miami Cigar & Company – Calibre 58

Miami Cigar & Company is a distributor of some fantastic cigars and has given us such names as Leon Jimenes, La Aurora, Nestor Miranda and Don Lino. Make sure to visit their website and read more about their products and the company at: www.MiamiCigarandCompany.com. Not long ago they ventured into creating their own house blend cigar which turned into the Calibre 58 creations.

These new cigars were graciously sent to us from our friends over at Miami Cigar & Company. The Calibre 58 is offered in two sizes and two different wrappers. The sizes they created were non-standard but offer something different to the cigar enthusiast in us. The two shapes are what resembles a Short Churchill and a Short Torpedo, both measuring in with a 58 ring gauge. The wrappers offered for the Calibre 58 are a Nicaraguan Rosado and Oscuro.

Up for review today is the Short Churchill version of the Calibre 58 wrapped in the Nicaraguan Rosado wrapper. There’s a couple things to note about this cigar. Firstly, this is a Nicaraguan Puro, which means all the tobacco leaves used come from the country of Nicaragua. Secondly, this is a pre-release version which means that future releases could see some differences such as the addition of bands or slight changes in the blend.

Cigar: Miami Cigar & Company Calibre 58
Drink: Quinta de Infantado Tawny Port (2004)
Vitola: Short Churchill (4 x 58)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Around $5-6
Burn Time: 1 Hour

Construction:
• Very even diameter throughout the length of the cigar
• A couple prominent veins but none seem big enough to cause any burn problems
• Fairly firm from end to end with just a tiny bit of spring
• Very cleanly applied triple cap
• The foot appears to be very well packed
• The large ring gauge just fit barely into by double blade cutter but it did cut nice and clean, you might need scissors or a punch cutter if your guillotine style doesn’t fit large ring gauges
• A small crack formed near the head but it never caused any problems

Burn:
• Toasting took a fairly long amount of time but it did toast up nice and evenly with no dark spots
• Burning very slowly, needs a few extra draws to stay lit but nothing overwhelming
• Burn has been fairly even through the first inch although it did require one minor touch up
• Almost went out near the halfway point, needing a little more attention now
• Some more touch-ups as the cigar burns, I seem to have this problem a lot with large ring gauge cigar, possibly because I smoke them very slowly when reviewing

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke right off the first draw
• Moderate amount of resting smoke giving off a nice woodsy aroma
• Ash appears extremely strong in the first inch of the cigar with no flaking
• First ash fell off at about 1.5 inches, it probably could have held on longer if it wasn’t for some touch-ups

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is mostly cedar with some hints of earthiness
• The foot brings more cedar and a sweet nutmeg type spice
• Pre-light draw has more cedar and some pepper mixed in with the nutmeg spice
• Initial draws bring flavors or toasted wood and some peppery spice
• Retrohale starting off with lots of cedar and a smooth spicy finish, just a small bit of kick
• About 1 inch in some of the nutmeg spice is making a more prominent appearance and the pepper has settled down, just getting minor hints of it here and there
• Some added earthiness is joining the flavor mix, they all seem to be well balanced so far
• Passing the halfway mark there is some creaminess being added to the mix and despite the touchups there has been little to no harshness
• Body started off a bit mild and has slowly made it’s way up to medium
• The creaminess also added itself to the finish of the retrohale, nice and smooth and the bite has gotten a little more aggressive
• Body definitely picking up as I approach the last inch, also feeling a bit of nicotine kick, surprising for this short vitola cigar
• Used a toothpick near the end to maximize nubbing since there was very little harshness

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this cigar and I think most people would. It had some peppery spice at the start and end but not a very in-your-face type of pepper that usually turns me away. It was fairly balanced throughout and had a fair bit of dimensionality considering it’s shorter length. It does kick into full gear near the end so novice smokers may need to be careful here. A good drink is key here, something with some sugar in it will help reduce to nicotine kick you get. The burn required some touchups but it was never major, just make sure to keep some constant draws and it should burn no problem. For the price it’s worth picking up a few of these and trying them out. I’m curious to see if they change the blend at all on the official release but I’ll try another one when they come out regardless.

Pairings:
I finished off my last bottle of Quinta de Infantado Tawny Port with this cigar. You can read more about this port from this review of the Tatuaje Verocu Red Tubo. This paired very well with this cigar. I find that the sugar in port helps reduce any nicotine kick in stronger cigars. The oaky flavors also matched nicely with the cedar/woodsy notes and the spicy notes in this cigar. A good porter/stout, sweet tea or a dark soda would also pair nicely here.