A Couple Nestor Miranda Cigars and a Couple Panacea Cigars

For the last three weeks I’ve been smoking the Boneshaker cigars, this week I smoked a few Nestor Miranda Special Selection cigars from Miami Cigar & Co.  These have been around for along time, and it’s been quite a while since I smoked one.  I don’t think I’ve written about these here at all over the last 14+ years.  I’ve smoked a bunch of the Nestor Miranda Collection cigars, but haven’t had that many of the Special Selection.  In a break from my normal routine, I started with the Connecticut version.  The “Toro” is a 5½” x 54, with a Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. I’m pretty sure it’s made in the My Father factory. Shade cigars aren’t my go-to, but this one was a surprise.  It started with some spice, and eventually got to some sweet cream in the second half.  I recall wishing this was longer, as I did with the Habano blend.  I feel like 5½” is a robusto extra rather than a toro, for some reason that half inch makes a big difference. 

I moved to the Habano to wrap up the work week. I had taken Monday and Tuesday off as we had planned to travel to view the eclipse, but the weather wasn’t favorable, so we stayed home and watched it on our deck.  I smoked a really nice Rocky Patel Sungrown maduro.  Now there’s a company that knows how to make a toro, theirs are 6½”!  Anyway, the Nestor Miranda Special Selection has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Criollo 98 Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Esteli, Jalapa, Condega. I don’t quite know how or why this cigar has eluded my notice for this long, I guess I just don’t see them around anyplace. I think maybe a local broker has recently taken on Miami Cigar & Co, so maybe I’ll see them more around.  This cigar, again, was too short!  It had that nice sugar cane sweetness that I enjoy so much, along with a little bit of spice.  Burn and draw were great on both examples.  I might dig into some old Nestor Miranda Collection cigars that have been in the humidor for several years. 

Last week I mentioned welcoming the Flatbed Cigar Co. to the CigarCraig family. This company is based right here in Pennsylvania, a county or two east of where I live. Panacea has been on the market since 2007, and is in a couple stores here and there, but mostly sells direct. It’s been a while since I smoked a Panacea, so I ordered a sampler  of the Classic Line from their site.  I would say that the process was simple, and I received the cigars the next day.  I just placed another order today, I expect it will get here Tuesday. I started with the Panacea Brown Label in the 6″ x 52 torpedo size.  This has a Brazilian maduro wrapper, a Dominican binder, and Cuban seed Seco, Ligero, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaraguan fillers. The cigars are made in the DR. This cigar had a dry cocoa flavor. It’s the same blend as the Connecticut, with just the wrapper changed, so I’m going to be really interested to smoke the Connecticut. There was some creaminess and spice too,   it was a very nice smoke.  

While watching some hockey on the porch last night, I lit up the Panacea Green Label Robusto.  This one has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, Dominican Habano wrapper and Piloto Cubano, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaragua ligeros in the filler. Yes, that’s triple ligeros, should be strong, right?  It’s a full bodied cigar, there’s no doubt, but it’s not in any way overpowering.  The purchase I just made was a sampler of the Green Label in all the sizes, by the way.  The Robusto is 5″ x 50, and got me from the start of the second period, about half way through the third. I expect a Toro would be good for two periods of hockey.  I liked this a lot. It had some spicy cocoa flavors, and some earthiness.  This one was a winner for me (which is probably why I bought more).  So far I’m digging the Panacea line. It’s been practically a decade since I sampled any of their cigars, too long, I think.

That’s all for today, more Panacea cigars next week, among others.  Until the next time, 

CigarCraig