BRAND: Miura

NAME: Directo de Fabrica

TYPE: Figurado (Perfecto)

LENGTH/RING GAUGE: 6 x 60

REVIEW #3

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Connecticut

BINDER: Nicaraguan

FILLER: Nicaraguan and Peruvian

DATE OF PURCHASE: 8/28/2007

DATE OF RATING: 6/22/2009

TIME IN HUMIDOR: 1 year 10 months

LOOK AND FEEL: 88

FLAVOR AND AROMA: 86

BURN: 88

OVERALL SCORE: 87.2

WEB SITE: http://www.miuracigars.com

STORAGE CONDITIONS: This is the third review in the series of the Miura Directo de Fabrica Perfecto. They have been aging in my Stogie Fresh LE-165 humidor at 68-72° and 70%RH. I have swapped the standard polymer gel humidification system in this humidor to the Boveda pack humidification (72%).

TASTING NOTES: This giant 6 x 60 Perfecto sports a creamy Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper that is velvety to the touch. It has some well-defined main veining, but the smaller veins are non-discernible. The central vein of the leaf was artfully disguised by rolling it to the inside of the cigar. Some softness, or under-filling was noted while gently squeezing the body of the cigar with my fingertips.

I've noticed that since these cigars have been resting in a horizontal position, that gravity has started to win over and flatten them out somewhat on one side. Now they resemble the cross-section of a DC-3 wing rather than a symmetric perfecto.

The faint aroma of tobacco and light spice was detected at the foot of the cigar. The wrapper itself gave off no detectable aroma. I clipped a small portion of the cap and took a pre-light draw. The loose pull gave light musty flavors of nuts and earth.

The foot of this cigar is very small. Petit Corona small. It doesn't take much flame to get this cigar rolling and is easy to char the Connecticut wrapper if you get into a hurry with it. Once lit, it produces a large amount of smoke, and the burn easily progresses.

This cigar started out with light wood and leather nuances and a tart and tangy aftertaste. The body of these flavors continued to build to the ½ point, where the tartness was replaced by a slightly sweet aftertaste. A spiciness was also detected in the retrohale by the 1/3 mark of the cigar.

Just after the ½ point, or the largest part of the cigar in regards to ring gauge, the cigar settled into the nuance of leather, but took on a charry flavor within the aftertaste. Purging seemed to rid the charry aftertaste, but this flavor returned after a few draws. It finished medium in body, with a lingering charry aftertaste that sweetened over a short period.

This cigar produced a pearl gray ash but the burn line has been inconsistent from cigar to cigar. Some ashes have been razor sharp, while others have been flowered and cracked. In each of the review samples of the cigar, the ash did have solid construction and remained intact to the remainder of the cigar. Each time when the ash was initially rolled-off, a hard, off-center cinder-cone would remain. The burn line would sometimes go off, but the cigar was self-correcting.

I also noted that the cigar tended to burn just slightly hot at the mid-point. My deduction is that at this point that the coal has arrived to its largest point, with a decreasing amount of filler to help cool the smoke behind it. As the cigar progressed, the smoke began to cool again due to the smaller coal.

I still have some issues with the overall consistency of these cigars. Although the flavor profile seems to be in line with the theme of the cigar, the flavors vary in strength, body and predictability on when they begin, or dissipate. Overall, aging is showing some interesting effects of this cigar in regards to flavor profile and as the individual tobaccos continue to "marry" their unique flavors.

We'll revisit this cigar after 6 additional months of aging and assign it an Aging Potential Score.

~Blake