Miami Cigars – La Sirena Prince (100% iPhone Review)

First off, this review was written 100%, and photos were shot 100% on the iPhone. I didn’t have my laptop or camera so I decided to try to see if I could do a whole review using my phone. So…What I am trying to say is…Don’t make fun of my crappy pictures. I know this review is late but I have actually been out of commission the last week. I have actually been prone to a very severe gout attack. It’s getting better but this also means, no pairing. I’m sure Daniel won’t be pleased to hear about that. This review of Miami Cigar’s La Sirena was paired with a nice, tall, glass of water. Hopefully in the next week or so I will be back up to par and pairing with some nice craft beer.

The Good Stuff: The La Sirena is one of the newest blends Miami Cigar Co. has pumped out, Alongside the New York Exclusive La Aurora Broadway which I reviewed here. Miami Cigar had a remarkable year releasing not only a ton of new blends, but some of the best we have had yet. If you hadn’t seen it already we had decided that the La Sirena actually topped out list of best cigars for 2010. The La Sirena cigar is produced in the My Father Factory and is the first full bodied blend that Pepin has actually created for Miami Cigar. The cigar starts with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper securing an all Nicaraguan Binder and Filler.

These cigars were purchased from out good friends of at Bonita Smoke Shop. She still has plenty in stock. If you can’t get your hands on these sticks be sure to check here. The size I will be doing the review of is called “The Prince” (robusto) and runs about $9 a stick.

Size: 5 x 50  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf  – Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  – Body: Full

Prelight: The first thing anyone notices about the La Sirena is the band. Its tough to overlook. The damn thing is HUGE. I don’t mind it much, but I’m not sure if it will actually turn smokers off more than attract them. It does have some awesome shelf appearance though. The band is about 85% the height of the body of the cigar sporting a very nautical look with a ship’s wheel, an anchor and a silver mermaid medallion encrusted within the luxurious gold, silver, blue, purple, teal, and red band. The Mermaid on the medallion looks a bit strange, almost like a skeleton, robot, Indian chief mermaid. The banner that sports the “La Sirena” label actually reminds me a lot of the same typeface Iron Maiden uses. This gives it a few brownie points in my book. Outside of the band (which can be a little hard to get over) the La Sirena sports absolutely perfect construction. It’s a bulky little robusto with a few larger veins, a very firm wrapper and toothy wrapper, capped off with a smooth rounded double cap. The wrapper is a very deep, milk chocolate and is perfectly consistent until you reach the cap which is just a shade lighter than the body of the cigar.

The La Sirena gives off a very strong barnyard/hay smell from the wrapper leading up to a very dough, spicy scent given off at the foot of the cigar. The cap put up a bit of a fight, but in the end clipped clean using my palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw gives off a really deep, tobacco flavor with hints of cinnamon and spice.

First Smoke: The La Sirena took a little extra effort to get a comfortable burn started, but once it did the cigar took off. The cigar starts off with the infamous pepper we have all learned to expect with any Pepin blended cigar. The pepper was very light, only enough to tease the lips and tongue before quickly fading. What was left was this very smooth, sweet, woodsy cinnamon flavor. The draw on the La Sirena is very easy and laid back producing a very thick cloud of lingering smoke. The cigar produces an average amount of extremely pleasant, spicy, cedar scented stationary smoke. The burn started off a bit wavy but quickly corrected itself. The ash was a beautiful, tightly compacted light gray. It only held on for a little over an inch, but as you can see in this next picture, it probably would have held on quite a bit longer if the gigantic ass band didn’t push the ash away from the cigar. I wanted to keep the band on as long as I could, just too see what would happen. It didn’t really make an impact on the experience at all outside of forcing the ash off early. The best part about this band is it is extremely thin on the reverse side making it a cinch to remove.

Halfway There: Halfway through the La Sirena and the best way to describe this cigar thus far, is smooth. This cigar is supposed to have more body than most of the other cigar Miami Cigars has in their portfolio, but it’s not really showing as much as you would thing. Sure the body is up there, but nothing compared to other Pepin blended full-bodied cigars. The pepper is completely gone at this point and the woodsy, spice is still there with a very strong sweetness and clove being thrown into the mix. The retrohale on this cigar is amazing coating my nasal passage with the wonderful sweet cedar, paired with a bit of bittersweet chocolate.

Finish: The body began to ramp up a bit in the final third of the La Sirena, but still nothing to write home about. The cigar is still incredibly smooth and is one of the few cigars that actually seems to get smoother as you get closer to the finish. The cinnamon is still there, but not as strong followed up by the wood, a bit of earthyness, sweet tobacco, clove, and a bit of espresso creeping in. This cigar smokes pretty fast, only taking about an hour to finish. There was no harshness whatsoever towards the final inch, if anything it finished the opposite with this very sweet honey flavor coming in just as you are ready to put the cigar to rest. I didn’t feel any nicotine off of this cigar what so ever.

Overview: I listed this as my top cigar for 2010 and I stand by it. The La Sirena isn’t a terribly complex cigar, but it makes up for that by being an all around smooth, and flavorful smoke. It’s probably one of the smoother cigars with this amount of flavor that I have ever had. It’s said that this is the first full bodied cigar that Miami Cigars has had Pepin blend for them. With that being said you would expect this powerhouse, and the La Sirena is not. Sure it touches in the full bodied category, but this cigar isn’t something that will knock you on your ass. This cigar is by far boxworthy, and perfect for any smoker from the novice on up to the everyday cigar smoker. If you stumble across these, pick them up, you will not be disappointed. This is a cigar that is in, and will be in my regular rotation for quite some time. The price, in my opinion is exactly at the crest of what one should pay for a cigar of this caliber.

On a side note. This will probably be the last iPhone review I will ever do. It was convenient, and easy, but the pictures just look like garbage 🙁

Have you had the La Sirena? It seems I got a lot of flack for having this cigar listed as my number one cigar last year. A lot of people thought this one missed the mark. What do you think about this cigar? What have you heard about it?