Casa Fernandez Miami Reserva

The Casa Fernandez brand is one of Aganorsa's Leafs and has been producing decent smokes for many years now. For example, this cigar, The Casa Fernandez Miami Reserva, was named one of Cigar Affcianado's top cigars in 2011.  The Miami Reserva is a assembled in Miami but is made of Nicaraguan long filler tabacco that is wrapped by a Media Tiempo leaf. This line of cigars is offered in three sizes: 5.2x50 Robusto, 6X54 Toro, and a 6x60 Gordo. Pricing for the line is fairly consistent across the various vitolas at just a bit less than $10 USD per stick.

Wrapper: Nicaragua

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Length: 6"

Ring Gauge: 54

Size: Toro

The Smoke: I smoked this one around mid day on a Saturday. I have been looking forward to these smokes since I bought a 5 pack around 3 months ago. The construction of the cigar was good. There was little movement to the cigar when it was squeezed. I removed the cap using my Palio straight cutter and when doing so a small part of the wrapper leaf tore. I had to remove the hanging chad, otherwise it would have been bothersome to me during the smoke.

The cold draw was excellent. It brings with it some light grass and earthiness to the palate. Lighting the cigar adds some pepper that later subsides and allows a light cedar note to come forward. As the smoke progresses into the middle of the cigar, notes of coffee begin while the cedar transitions to become more oak like. In the final third, light sweetness enters in the form of graham cracker; the coffee note remains during this point too. 

The construction of the cigar is good too. The burn rate is more or less even and the construction of the cigar is retained during the life of the 1:15 smoke for the Toro sized vitola. The draw remains excellent from beginning to end as well.

The Casa Fernandez Miami Reserva is a medium strength smoke and the cigar provides plenty of complex flavor while not overwhelming the senses. Looking at the value, I think this is well worth the sub $10 USD price of admission. It has a very Habano like flavor complexity and is a good value.

The Score: Buy a 5 pack