Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 is light brown with some darker marbling and some lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is very well finished. There are two bands, both with various shades of red along with gold and white. The primary denotes the brand and line, while the secondary denotes the year. The aroma from the wrapper is a barnyardy mix of hay, wood and earth while the foot brings musty cedar, earth and some spice. The pre-light draw brings a mix of cedar and bread along with mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 is a solid looking torpedo. It is slightly firm throughout and finished with a slightly marbled Colorado wrapper. Leather like coloring. There are few veins present on the cigar, and those present are small. The cigar has a nice tapered finish with aromas of leather, earth and oak on the wrapper. The foot has some earthy qualities with soft spices.
John: The Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker with the cigar information and an integrated tear space so it remained intact when opened. There are two bands, with a primary Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve band and a secondary 2024 band. I weighed the cigar at 13.0 grams.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. At a half inch in, the pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is earth and toasted cedar along with very mild black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the earth takes a slight lead in the profile. As the third comes to a close, the earth is slightly ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper just behind the middle of the profile. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with a leather and wood focused flavor profile. There are some soft creamy aspects present as well, along with some soft coffee and cocoa notes. There is a touch of spice present on the finish with some black pepper qualities. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third initially delivers flavor components of creaminess, medium strength spices and wood. Wood combines with mossy earth to finish, and the wood becomes more defined as fresh cut wood as the cigar settles in. Some mild chocolate develops on the retrohale to add complexity. Moving towards the halfway point, sweet tobacco and bread notes lead off the retrohale.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the toasted cedar becomes pretty stale. At a half inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit more. The retrohale is now an even mix of earth, toasted cedar and black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the stale, toasted cedar gains some wood bitterness. As the third comes to a close, the earth is just ahead of the stale, bitter toasted cedar, with black pepper in the middle of the profile. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver that flavor profile of leather, wood and soft cream. The coffee and cocoa notes are still present with the coffee becoming more pronounced. Soft pepper spice notes are present on the end. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood takes the cigar into the second third with dry, tannic wood to finish. Wood is the primary flavor driver as the cigar continues, and I struggled for the remainder of the third to pick out any other components.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the staleness of the cedar eases up a bit. The retrohale remains an even mix of earth, toasted cedar and black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper increases a bit. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is slightly ahead of the slightly stale and bitter toasted cedar with the black pepper just ahead of the middle of the profile. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is right in line with the first and second. There is very little change of the flavor profile. No harsh mineral notes on the end, but rather some musty barnyard and herbal qualities. Core flavor profile of cream, leather and wood. Bits of coffee and black pepper also. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The last third greets me with creamy wood as tannic wood is still defining the finish. As the last third settles in, the retrohale is sweet tobacco and bread notes, with the bread being pushed aside at times by the intensity of the wood. By the halfway point, the profile consists of sweet wood to lead off and dry wood to finish. Through the bottom half, heavy tannic wood is defining the finish and post draw.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn was solid from beginning to end. Thick burn line, but even.
John: The burn had some minor unevenness at points, but nothing that required intervention.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was good. I cut the tapered head more than I usually do, but that was beneficial.
John: The draw was at most 1/2 to 1 notch towards the open spectrum, which puts it in the ideal range between open and resistant.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. The earth later took a slight lead in the profile. The second third saw the toasted cedar become pretty stale and later gained some wood bitterness. The final third saw the staleness ease up a bit and the black pepper increased a bit. Construction was perfect. The Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 started with an average flavor profile consisting of toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. It took a step down in the second third as the cedar became stale and bitter, but picked back up in the final third as the staleness eased up. Overall, not a very exciting profile, and I wouldn’t see myself coming back to this with any kind of frequency.
Seth: I am still of the mindset that a limited edition really needs to pop. While this Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 is not a bad cigar, it needs to be more than just average. I was disappointed with the overall flavor profile, but the Grand Reserve 2024 is an affordable limited edition and an easy smoke. $18.00 for a limited edition in 2024 seems quite reasonable. There was little transitioning throughout, and I felt it lacked some overall complexities. Burn and draw were very good, but that should be the case with every cigar. I can’t believe that it has been twelve years since Nestor Miranda released a Grand Reserve!
John: I thought the initial third of the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024 provided some good flavors and engaging combinations. The second third was flat and linear and some more interesting notes returned for the last third. The burn was without issue and the draw was perfect. Ignoring the price point of the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024, I think the overall flavor delivery was lacking for an annual limited release. I can’t see myself smoking another one of the 2024 release, although I’m sure I will try the 2025 release to see how it compares. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 52 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.40

Cost/Point

$3.33

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.35

Cost/Point

$3.36

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.95

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024