90 Miles From an Infamous Island Country

The Gonzalez family, owners of Flor de Gonzalez Cigars, fled Cuba in 1980 and set up a cigar making operation in Florida. In the late 1990’s they moved the business to Nicaragua and then eventually they bought their own tobacco fields in Ecuador. Presently they have about 8 brands, including “90 Miles” – the distance from Key West Florida to Cuba. I met with Flor de Gonzalez at the 2013 IPCPR and they gave me one of their 90Mile brand cigars to review.

The cigar they provided was a Reserve Selectra of the 90 Mile series, a 6 X 54 that they call Sublime in their literature. One meaning of sublime is turning a solid into a vapor when heated that then becomes a solid deposit upon cooling. Sounds like smoking a cigar. The Sublime has tobaccos aged 3 to 5 years from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic as fillers, with a binder from Nicaragua and an Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper.

The Sublime had a good looking, dark wrapper that promised a Maduro taste. The construction was firm and the cap had a small pigtail. The Maduro wrapper delivered on the hint of sweetness while the first half had flavors of chocolate and nutmeg. The draw was very easy and the smoke output was above average and creamy. The final half introduced flavors of cedar and some spice. It was not overly complex but still quite satisfying. The ash was above average.

I took 50 minutes to smoke the Sublime and it was very pleasant, somewhere between medium and full bodied. I found it on line for about $5.60 if you buy the by the box. Considering the flavor, price and smoking experience, I rate this a 4.5 out of 5.