Nestor Miranda Danno 2012 (7x56)

I won a few of the Danno 2012 cigars by Nestor Miranda on twitter a few weeks back and finally had the chance to sit down and smoke a few. I would like to apologize for my lack of reviews as of late, my wife's grandfather recently passed away and there has been a storm of life issues that have kept me from being able to enjoy a cigar. What better way to get things rolling again than a limited production cigar from Nestor Miranda? I usually go for the shorter cigars because of time constraints and fear of getting bored with the smoke before the cigar is finished. That being said this one has the complexity to keep you interested for the entire 7 inches of it's length. The 2012 release of the Danno cigar, named after Nestor's late son Daniel, sports a San Andreas Maduro wrapper and a bit of ligero to boost the strength a bit. The wrapper is not a dark brown, but a medium-brown chocolate color with only a few small veins. The wrapper offered up only a light scent of cocoa and the foot offered a fruit-like sweetness. The Danno 2012 was firm and well packed with no soft spots or visible defects. I clipped the cap with my Xikar MTX and found a perfect draw that had the same sweetness as the scent of the foot. After a quick toasting of the foot, the single flame torch had me in business.

The Initial third opened with notes of cinnamon, caramel, and a nice blend of spices. The body was med-full and very smooth. The was light and creamy with the flavor of caramel and a light sweetness. There is just a tad of spice to the retrohale. The second third brought some toasted nut and leather notes, as well as a few faint floral notes. The body remains constant at med-full and full flavor going through the second third. At around the mid-point of the cigar a few coffee notes began to pop in. The body picked up to full just before the start of the final third. Most of the floral notes faded going into the last third as notes of black pepper and a oak-like woodiness join the party. The ash was a bit flaky but held to around two inches at a time and was a salt and pepper color. The burn was a bit wavy at times but always corrected  itself. This was an excellent cigar, one that after smoking you feel in your tummy. It's not a nicotine overdose feeling, but rather a full and satisfied feeling. Each puff seemed to bring a different mix of flavors. The spices in the first third resembled, to me, asian cooking spices. If every churchill size smoke had flavor by the pound like this, I would make time to smoke more 6-7" cigars. If you have yet to try the Danno 2012, I highly recommend it. It's only available in the 7"x56 size Thank you to Miami Cigar & Co. and Barry for the opportunity to sample this cigar, I will be on the look out for more of these for sure! You can find more information about Nestor Miranda and Miami Cigar & Co. at www.miamicigarandcompany.com. The Don Lino Africa, reviewed in a previous post, is also a Nestor Miranda blend from Miami Cigar & Co. I have not tried all of their offerings yet but the few that I have tried have been great and I look forward to trying more of their brands in the future.