Commentary: Gold Star Smokes (Part VI)
12 Jul 2012
It’s been too long since the StogieGuys.com team published a new list of Gold Star Smokes. As you might recall, this special designation celebrates cigars that we feel are worthy of strong recommendations. They don’t necessarily have to be five stogie-rated—just commendable smokes we turn to time and again.
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief Patrick A
The Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve typically sells for $12 per cigar, but when my local shop put the torpedo (6.1 x 52) on sale for $9.50, I grabbed up a sizeable stash. This wonderful cigar, which debuted about a year ago, has a flavor of spice, cream, earthiness, and sweetness that hits my palate in all the right ways. Expertly balanced and more complex than most realize, this is a fine cigar with excellent construction. It’s too bad only 10,000 torpedos were produced.
Co-Founder & Publisher Patrick S
As soon as I smoked Babyface, the Tatuaje Monsters version of “The Face,” I wished I had bought more than the two boxes of the Little Monsters I purchased, plus the one I was gifted before mine arrived (each Little Monsters box has two Babyfaces). The robusto-sized cigar features tremendous creaminess, graham cracker, and dark chocolate. The finish is deliciously clean and the cigar has excellent construction. I would buy two boxes in a second if this cigar was available by the box for its pro-rated price of $7.50 per cigar.
Tampa Bureau Chief George E
Sometimes it’s necessary to experiment within a line to find one that’s made for you. I tried several of the smaller sizes when Le Bijou debuted; while I enjoyed them, I wasn’t blown away. Then I had the My Father Le Bijou 1922 Churchill (7 x 50), a complex powerhouse that shifts gears, weaves in and out, and continually impresses and delights. For me, the larger size opened up a “new†cigar. And made for a Gold Star Smoke.
photo credit: Stogie Guys
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
I agree the Miranda Reserves are very good. Still waiting for my box of baby monsters, so can't say yet. As for the Le Bijou, haven't tried a churchill yet. Despite my preference for larger cigars, the premium vs. the petit robusto is a nearly 75% bump @ CI. That's just insane. I don't recall another cigar legal in the U.S. (Cubans vary wildly in price around the world, and "official" rates aren't really a factor on every day Cuban smokes) where there was such a wide gap in prices. Per cigar, it's a difference of $6.28 v. $10.95. A quick glance at three other sites shows similar disparities.
You guys turned me on to that new 312 blend from Tesa — the one that has the Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, I believe. That smoke is THE SHIT.
Ditto on the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserves. Those smokes are BOSS!