I've noticed that the last few (Belicosos/Toros/Robustos) Reserva Miraflors that I've torched have lost that "slap in the face" spice kick that they once had from the beginning. They have mellowed out a TON. Lit another one last night to confirm and the spice didn't hit me until the last third of the stick. Still a very good stick, but damn how I loved that kick in the teeth right off the bat. :-)

Anyone else experiencing this?
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I haven't had one recently to compare. How long have they been resting?
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Different times...from a year (belicosos/toros) to almost two years (robustos). May be that these sticks just don't age well. :-)
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Your palette could be changing too.:-)
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John...I thought the same thing, at first. I smoked a few of my other "go-to" sticks and they were still right on point. I still enjoy my "slap you in the face spice bombs" as much as I ever did before.
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Never smoked the Mira Flors so I was just taking a stab in the dark. I know 4 years ago the Fuente Sungrowns used to have a spice to me just from the wrapper touching my tongue. Over time I noticed that I never got that kick ever again even when I grabbed some fresh from the shop. I chalked it up to my palette changing but I do miss that spice that I used to get off of them. I just figured you may be experiencing the same thing since your boxes seem to be at significantly different stages of their life.
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Mac, was spending some time going through some threads and came across your thread a while back. IMHO the one that I just smoked was from you and me being a newer smoker I must say it didn't contain much spice to it. I was able to easily exhale through nostrils (snorkle, I think it is sometimes called) multiple times without much burning sensation. I enjoyed the smoke quite a bit, but thought it was relatively mild. My guess is like you mentioned already, they might just lose their spice as they age. :-)
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Good to know, at EPIC I will slap you in the face with Image
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Spice bomb wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_(guidance_kit)
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:-):-):-)

Send that thing Mac's way!
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Mac... I missed this before and hadn't had one in a while. I smoked a corona yesterday and the first 1/2 inch or so was a bit muted but the rest was very tasty and hadn't seemed to change much at all.
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Have not tried the corona...interesting, thanks Brent. :-)
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Now I am going to have to torch one as soon as I get home tonight!!!
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Scott!! What's up brother? Long time no see. :-)
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I've rediscovered them last week, they mellowed out a little bit but not as much as you describe Mac.
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