Nestor Miranda – Casa Miranda Chapter Two Toro Cigar Review

As some of you know I have been dealing with some family stuff at home. Dad sick, sister sick, and my little brother is recovering from a terrible motorcycle accident but I am happy to report he is on the mend as the long road to recovery is ahead of him. I decided to take this weekend to do nothing. That’s right, I sat at home and watched TV with my wife all day Saturday then had some German food for lunch, did some yard work and sat out back enjoying the newest offering from Miami Cigar, Nestor Miranda’s Casa Miranda Chapter Two on this perfect Sunday in El Paso.

The Good Stuff: Miami Cigar is poised to release the second chapter in the Casa Miranda series, the Chapter Two. Two years ago they released the Nestor Miranda Casa Miranda Chapter One (you can read my review here) which was blended by the Miami-Based El Titan De Bronze company. The Chapter One was the first cigar in the Miami Cigar portfolio not blended by My Father. Going back to it’s roots the company decided to have the Chapter Two blended at the My Father Factory S.A. in Esteli, Nicaragua and should be released in the next few months as it’s being showcased as I write this at this year’s IPCPR convention in Las Vegas. Nestor Miranda’s Casa Miranda Chapter two will come in 4 sizes: Robusto (4.5 x 50), Corona Gorda (6 x 46),  Toro (5.5 x 54), and the Toro (6 x 60). The cigar will range between $6.35 and $8.00 a stick. Much cheaper than the Chapter One which ranged between $10 and $12 a stick when it was first released. Jason Wood noted that the price point was one of the main factors in decided to move the production of the Chapter Two over to My Father. Our great friend Barry Stein over at Miami Cigar sent us a few pre-release samples including the one I am reviewing today.

Size: 5.5 x 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Unknown
Filler: Brazilian, Nicaragua, Dominican
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $7.60
Pairing: Dogfish Head’s Black and Blue (Fruit Beer 10% ABV)

Prelight: One thing  you can always expect when you pick up a cigar produced at the My Father Factory is flawless construction. I’ve noticed over the past few years that just about everything that comes out of that factory is near perfect, the Chapter Two included. The cigar starts out with a dark, silky smooth wrapper. There are a few veins but they are so small they almost run seamlessly into the wrapper. There are a few dark brown spots throughout the leaf that blend into the medium/dark brown in the leaf. The cigar carries an average amount of oils and tooth through it’s body up to the beautiful, round, triple cap.  The wrapper feels really thin, but hard none-the-less while the cigar has no soft-spots whatsoever.

The wrapper on the Chapter Two kicks out a whole ton of sweetness and cedar while the foot of the cigar pairs up with some great spice and natural tobacco. I can’t wait to get this bad boy lit up. The cap cut very easily and clean using my Palio double bladed cutter. To my surprise, instead of getting all the cedary sweetness I was expecting, the cold draw was full of really mossy/musky flavors. It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the actual experience.

First Smoke: Nestor Miranda’s Casa Miranda Chapter Two started out a bit duller than I expected. Usually, My Father Cigar’s tend to greet you with tons of black pepper and spice but the Casa Miranda lead the way with some sweet chocolate, mild cedar, and some nice espresso notes. As I started to smoke my way through the first third the flavors started to become much stronger with a nice addition of the musky flavor I picked up in the cold draw. The draw on the cigar is perfect and the smoke is very dense. The burnline had a few larger waves in the first third and the ash left behind was solid, with a few flakes and white and light grey in color.

Halfway There: Into the second third of the Chapter Two and the flavors haven’t really changed up much. In fact, while a creaminess began to sneak in, many of the flavors began to dampen out. The sweetness is gone and all I really get is a very mild cedar, very mild coffee, and a bit of that musk. The burnline has completely corrected itself and is now burning perfectly even and razor sharp. I am feeling just a tiny bit of nicotine as I close out on the second third of the cigar.

Finish: I am happy to report that the flavors in this Casa Miranda began to ramp up into the final third. Just before they mellowed back up. It’s been kind of a rollercoaster in the flavor department. The main flavor is still a light cedar with a bit of chocolate and tobacco mixed in with an overall musky mixture. The one thing that did stand true the entire length of this cigar is the burn and construction. It’s been flawless the whole time and required no tough ups or relights throughout the entire hour and a half it took to take this cigar down to the nub. No harshness at all, in fact, this cigar finished off incredibly smooth and creamy with only a slight nicotine kick at the end.

Overview: I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t overly impressed with this cigar. It’s a solid cigar, but it seemed like it was missing something. The flavor kept dropping off in each of the samples I smoked. Had the flavor stayed at it’s prime I think this cigar would have been dynamite. Keep in mind, these are pre-releases and the final cigars will be in top shape when they hit shelves and the tobacco may carry enough age to even the flavor experience out. I think that whenever I get my hands on anything from Miami Cigar I hold it to a certain expectation of greatness, and the Chapter Two wasn’t quite on par with other cigars coming from this company in terms of flavor. But that’s just my opinion. The flavors were great, but the dullness in between is what didn’t do it for me. The burn and construction on these bad boys were as near flawless as you can get though and even with my experience I would probably be prone to picking these up when they hit shelves.

To Sum it Up: This was a good cigar. Not Great, Not bad. The flavors were a bit too mild for me but I think they’d appeal greatly to cigar smokers looking for a smooth/creamy/mild experience. The strength is a bit more full than the flavors suggest. I would probably buy these cigars again when the hit retailers, but unless the full release experience differs than my pre-release samples I don’t see myself picking up a box.

Pairing: Dogfish Head comes through with another great concoction. The Black & Blue is basically a strong Malt beer brewed with blackberry and blueberry puree. Sounds like it could be really good or really bad right? I’m happy to report that this 10% ABV brew kills it. I am never really a big fan of beers that introduce lots of fruit unless it’s a Lambic so I was a bit skeptical at first. Black & Blue leads with a strong, caramel/malty flavor with just a slight aftertaste of tart and fruit. This is exactly what I want in a beer brewed with fruit. I want to taste the beer, then the fruit second. The reason why I paired this beer with this specific cigar is I felt this cigar was missing something, something that a fruity/tart beverage could bring to the table completing the experience and I couldn’t have been more right. While the Chapter Two is a good cigar by itself, the pairing made it a GREAT cigar.