I am not sure how many of you have heard of Black Star Line Cigars. The Chicago based company was founded by 2 childhood friends – Adetola “Aric” Wimberly-Bey and Derrick Bell. Over the years they realized their passion for premium cigars and with a little help from folks like Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate, and Sandy Cobas of El Titan De Bronze, they launched their company and dove into the premium cigar world with their El Milagro line.
The line includes two blends, both in a single toro vitola; El Milagro Sun Grown Habano and El Milagro Mexican San Andres. For this review I will be focusing on the El Milagro Sun Grown Habano which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press. I sampled 3 for this review.
The Black Star Line El Milagro Sun Grown Habano blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Nicaraguan Sun Grown Habano
- Binder – Ecuador
- Filler – Dominican and Nicaraguan
The El Milagro Sun Grown Habano is expressed in a single 6 x 54 toro vitola and comes packaged in a 10-count cabinet box. The MSRP is set at $79.95/box. You can order these directly from the company on their website here.
As noted, the Black Star Line El Milagro line is handcrafted at the famed El Titan De Bronze factory in Little Havana, Miami, FL.
Pre-Light Examination
The El Milagro Sun Grown Habano is a well constructed, triple capped cigar. It has a medium tan shade to it and has quite a bit of veins running along the barrel. A squeeze here and there shows that it is well packed and solid.
There is a single band that adorns the cigar. The band is gloss black with a thin, powder blue border on the top and bottom. Without closer examination, you would not know what the brand is, but looking more closely you will note the company’s star logo embossed around the band.
As I ran the El Milagro Sun Grown Habano across the nose, I noted a lightly pungent note along the barrel and a bright fruit–like note off the foot. Indeed it has some well aged leaf in it.
As usual, I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder with a double blade Xikar cutter and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. The restriction was just fine and the draw offered a good amount of pepper on the lips along with an earthy sweetness on the palate.
I warmed the foot slowly with a dual flame torch and took in the first puffs of that hit the nose with pepper on the retro-hale and a light butter cracker note on the palate.
Cigar Review Notes
- Pepper on nose on first light
- Buttery cracker notes fill in the background
- Creamy – full volume of smoke
- Sweet cocoa aroma wafts off the foot
- Light grey flaky ash evolves with a slight wave in the burn
- Butter notes become more predominate as the smoke is quite smooth after and inch of burn
- An off burn developed that required a mild touch up
- As the ash fell it reveled a decent burn cone
- A natural sweetness is mild laying in the background
- Aroma shifts to more of a syrupy sweetness
- Moving through the midway point a light spice graces the palate
- The spice increases into the final third
- A mild nut lingers near the finish
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 25 minutes
Overall, the Black Star Line El Milagro Sun Grown Habano was a decent medium bodied cigar that had a core of natural sweetness and smooth smoke through the journey with pleasant aromas and flavor nuances. There is a shift to light spice in the final third and it settles with a mild nut that lingered on the palate. This is worth picking up a fiver and I rate it a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Off Burn; (-1) Flaky Ash; (-1) Required Touch-up
