Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 2012

2012 marked a return of the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno series.   The Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 2012 made its debut at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show in Orlando Florida.  After a one year hiatus, Miami Cigar and Company decided to release another cycle of this series.  The series began in 2009 with the Nestor Miranda Special Selection 20th Anniversary series.  That cigar marked two occasions:  1) To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Miami Cigar and Company; 2) Pay tribute to Danny Miranda – the late son of Miami Cigars’ president Nestor Miranda.  The series has proven to be popular among many cigar enthusiasts.  I recently had a chance to smoke the Danno 2012 and without a doubt, this ranks as the best release of the Danno series as a whole.

Consistent with the Nestor Miranda line, the cigars are produced at the My Father Cigars factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.   The wrapper options have featured staple wrappers used by the Garcia family for their cigars.  The Nestor Miranda Special Selection 20th Anniversary Danno was the first release and it was made available in a Nicaraguan Habano Rosado and a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro option.   This was followed up in 2010 by the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 2010.   The Danno 2010 also used a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper.  A special retail exclusive cigar was made for Buckhead Cigars in Atlanta, Georgia.  This one was called the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 2010 Buckhead Edition.  The Buckhead Edition used the same core blend as the Danno 2010, but would utilize an Ecuadorian wrapper.   For the Danno 2012, this blend introduces a new wrapper option to the Danno series – a San Andres Mexican maduro wrapper.

Let’s take a closer look at the Danno 2012 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned, the wrapper for the Danno 2012 is a San Andres Mexican maduro wrapper. We don’t know a lot about the remainder of the blend profile. Miami Cigar and Company did say that there is extra ligero in the blend to give the cigar some strength.

Wrapper: San Andres Maduro
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed

Vitolas Available

As with all of the cigars that have been released in the Danno series, the Danno 2012 comes in one size – a 7 x 56 Double Corona.   This is the same size as has been used on the other cigars in the Danno series.

Appearance

The cigars in the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno series have always been visually stunning and the Danno 2012 is no exception.  The San Andres maduro wrapper has a classic coffee bean color.   The wrapper also has some dark spots on it.  The complexion to the wrapper is not oily and has more of a sandy texture to it.   There are some visible veins and a few visible wrapper seams.  The cap to the Danno 2012 has pig-tail.

For the Danno 2012, the banding has changed somewhat.  There are now two bands found on the Danno 2012.  The first band is the same band that is found on the Nestor Miranda Special Selection for its core line Rosado and Oscuro options.  This differs in that the 20th Anniversary Danno and Danno 2010 had a slightly modified version of this band.   The band consists of copper striping at the top and bottom.   In between the copper striping is a large pewter-colored stripe and a large brown-colored stripe.  On the pewter-colored stripe it says “Nestor Miranda” in red cursive font.  Just under that text it says “COLLECTION” (also in red font).   On the brown stripe it has the text “SPECIAL” on one line and “SELECTION” just below it – all in brown font.

The Danno 2012 introduces a secondary band on the footer.  It consists of a brown stripe with copper stripes bordering it on the top and bottom.  On the brown stripe is the text “DANNO 2012” in copper font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I do with any cigar with a pig-tail, I opted to go with a straight cut on the Danno 2012 as opposed to pulling the pig-tail off.  I then moved on to start the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes yielded a mix of coffee, wood, and cedar spice notes.  Overall, I considered this a very satisfactory pre-light draw experience.   At this point, it was time to fire up the Danno 2012 and see what the cigar experience would deliver.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Danno 2012 yielded a nice combination of mocha and pepper to start. Around the five percent part, the mocha notes moved into the forefront and took on more of a classic chocolate flavor. In addition to the chocolate notes, I also detected some cream and earth notes in forefront. The pepper notes were secondary and were also joined by some wood notes.

As the smoking experience progressed through the first third, the chocolate notes became very rich – taking on a milk chocolate quality.  The cream notes also remained in the forefront. Meanwhile the earth notes diminished and joined the pepper notes as secondary flavors.

In the second third, the chocolate and cream notes were still in command.  The pepper notes had increased somewhat and were slowly moving toward the forefront.  Meanwhile I also detected some citrus notes in the background.

The last third saw the chocolate, earth, citrus, and pepper flavors all converge very nicely.  There was some spice as the Danno 2012 came to a close, but there was no harshness to the flavors.   The resulting nub was outstanding – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the construction of the Danno 2012 to be outstanding – and this reflected nicely in the burn and draw of this cigar.  The burn line remained straight from start to finish – only requiring minimal touch-ups with my lighter.  The resulting ash started out with a salt and pepper color.  While the ash was firm early on, I did have some occasional flaking.   In the second half, the ash got tigher and more white in color.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.  I was very impressed that for a long smoke, the burn never got harsh – even at the end.

I found the draw to be excellent on this cigar.   Like the burn, it also was low maintenance.

Strength and Body

With the extra ligero, I was expecting the Danno 2012 to deliver a punch.  The Danno 2012 doesn’t have knockout strength.  I assessed the Danno 2012 to have enough pop to qualify as medium to full strength.  As for the flavors, these have quite a bit of depth.  The Danno 2012 is definitely a full-bodied cigar in my book.  When looking at the balance between strength and body, I found the body to have a moderate edge.  If there is one “area for improvement”, I still would have liked to see a little more strength with the Danno.

Final Thoughts

When the Danno 2012 was announced, I was a little concerned that Miami Cigars was going with the San Andres maduro wrapper.  I’ve been critical of this wrapper in a maduro because I have found the flavors to be very pungent and usually resulting in a less complex smoke.  However, there have been cigar makers that have made this wrapper work.  It appears the Miami Cigars – My Father Cigars collaboration joins this group of cigar makers as I have found this to be one of the better San Andres maduro releases this year.  This is a cigar that both novice and experienced cigar enthusiasts can appreciate as it offers a lot of flavor.  As for myself, this is my personal favorite of the Danno series.  It is a cigar I definitely will smoke again.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 93