LM Cigars’ newest and most successful Nicaraguan handmade brand is the Nica Reserva. Manufactured at the highly-praised PENSA cigar factory, home of El Baton and Brick House cigars, Nica Reserva cigars are a great smoke for even greater value. For this review, LM Cigar Blog’s team smoked three Nica Reserva Connecticut Toro cigars in a single afternoon not unlike the quality control engineers at the PENSA cigar factory who smoke a sample of each day’s production to guarantee consistency of flavor and draw. The consensus was that these Nica Reserva Connecticut Toro cigars are a silky, creamy smoke with a slight nutty taste well worth the price point. These cigars are a fine addition to any true cigar aficionado’s humidor, especially those who enjoy a smooth to medium-bodied Nicaraguan handmade smoke.
Nica Reserva Connecticut Toro
Nica Reserva Connecticut Toros are a traditional Nicaraguan toro (6×54). The thicker ring gauge than traditional Dominican or Honduran 52 ring-gauge toros allows for more Nicaraguan filler. This adds needed spice and nuttiness to the cigar. These premium cigars come in boxes of 20 and each one is as good as the last with superb combustion that will not burn through one’s wallet. Despite being entirely handmade with aged long-filler, LM Cigars prices these cigars at less than their MSRP of $160 to pass the savings on to the consumer.
Visual Appeal
Each cigar in the box is carefully color-sorted to guarantee a uniform, attractive box. Indeed, each cigar is exemplary of visual and physical perfection. The cigars have a golden shade-grown wrapper of natural tobacco leaf, akin to the color of wheat or café au lait. The smell is even more attractive than the cigar’s look. It delicately embraces the senses with tasting notes of honey, peanut, toasted wheat, and cedar.
Upon closer inspection, the Nica Reserva Connecticut Toros are invariably a blonde hue with a flawless cap and good construction. The wrappers have few dimples and minimal spotting. The cigar band is a nice touch. With its striking white and gold filigree, this cigar is sure to attract some attention. A straight cut from a Craftsman’s Bench Double-Blade Cutter to the cigar’s head reveals a cleanly made cap and a bounty of flavorful Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos. Remember to always be gentle when straight cutting a cigar. If the cap audibly touches the ground, too much was cut off.
Taste
The taste of hay and peanuts is cemented by the cold draw through the cigar. Tasting notes of baker’s spices, specifically cinnamon or nutmeg, join the harmony of the cigar’s profile. A toasting from a Colibri Firebird Triple Flame Lighter accentuates this profile with a rich, silky smoke which smells of crème brûlée and charred cedar. Connecticut or Ecuadorian Shade wrappers are quite delicate and scorch easily. For maximum enjoyment, slowly toast the foot before lighting the cigar in small circles. Once accomplished, the cigar notably burns easily and consistently with a white, billowy ash. A lighter colored ash is a mark of higher quality tobacco grown in a more nutrified soil.
The initial taste of charred cedar transitions to charred bread and barnyard hay. While the cigar’s first act is enjoyable, the second act is what highlights this cigar. A grand ensemble of peanuts and wood arouses all the senses to an ecstatic fever-pitch while a sweetness like honey keeps the cigar aficionado grounded. Towards the final third, the cigar burns quite hot and returns to the taste of charred cedar and burning hay. The reviewers of LM Cigar Blog found these so enjoyable they smoked them to the bitter end. The average smoking time for each cigar was about an hour and a half. The cigar needed a slight touch-up between the second and third act but had almost no issues burning. There was no need for relight and no frustration from poor construction.
Final Thoughts
This cigar is well worth the price point, reifying the reputation of LM Cigar for curating the world’s finest selection of premium handmade cigars with great value. It can easily hold its own against other premium value Nicaraguan handmade brands, such as the Brick House Double Connecticut from J.C. Newman Cigar Co. (also made in PENSA) or Undercrown Shade from Drew Estate, and in some aspects surpasses. However, a true cigar aficionado would verify this by buying and smoking all three. Thankfully, LM Cigars offers all three brands. Owing to its massive popularity, the Nica Reserva brand will expand in the future. Thank you for reading our Nica Reserva Toro Cigar Review. Make sure to check our LM Cigars catalog to stay abreast of new arrivals.