After last year’s stellar Sobremesa, many of us were expecting bigger and better things from Steve Saka. Without going into a detailed review of his short churchill (which will get its own review later) I am reviewing his new marque, the Mi Querida.

Upon first inspection, this gordo has a very smooth wrapper with minimal veining and a perfect cap. The bunch is firm but not hard. The wrapper smells as much of coffee as it does tobacco and the foot has sweet earthy notes. A nice clean clip yields a perfect draw with some light cashew notes to complement the tobacco notes.

Initial notes of pepper and light nutty tobacco are very pleasant. The dark wrapper of the cigar is a bit misleading when you taste the flavorful medium bodied smoke. This is not a bad thing, just a really unexpected pleasure.

Expecting a fuller flavor cigar, I paired it with a Real Ale Commissar (Russian Imperial Stout), yet was very pleased with the flavor combination.

After the first third, the cigar remains cool and extremely pleasant. The light to medium grey ash is firm but fell just short of one inch.

The pepper notes continue but otherwise this is a very creamy smoke. The burn isn’t “perfect” but has required no touch ups.

At half way the pepper notes have all but disappeared, leaving a very pleasant creamy flavor. There are light nutmeg notes, but this could be a result of the imperial stout. Still an almost perfect pairing of beer and cigar.

The volume of smoke is most pleasing, speaking to the excellent construction of the cigar.

I will admit to expecting great things from a Steve Saka cigar, and I was not in any way disappointed. Even if I had smoked it blind I would still be very impressed. It would definitely be included in a “desert island” selection.

Perhaps not as much as I love the Sobremesas, it is still a cigar that has a place in every humidor.

A solid 96 cigar. Joe Bob says check it out.