Initial Thoughts
Earlier in the year I was able to go down and tour the Joya de Nicaragua factory in Esteli. This was an incredible first time experience for me. I was allowed to actually sit down to bunch, and roll my own cigar. It’s incredibly difficult if you’ve never done it before. Hopefully one day everyone will get the opportunity to. It gives you an entirely new appreciation for every cigar that you smoke.
When we were down, they gave us a test blend to smoke and give our evaluations of it. I’m not sure if Joya Red was in fact this test blend, or not. If it was, it completely changed from what I smoked down there.
There’s not much of a backstory on this cigar in terms of how the blend was created. All I know is that it comes in 4 vitolas: Short Churchill, Robusto, Cañonazo, and Toro. For this review I smoked the Robusto size.
Early on I couldn’t find any of these Joya Red available in Nashville. I reached out to my buddy Tony B at Big Star and he hooked me up. Then about a week later some samples arrived in the mail as well. Needless to say I was more than happy to receive more. So let’s jump on into the review and see how it unfolds.
Looks
This Joya Red is a beautiful looking cigar. The wrapper is a nice milk chocolate brown. There is one noticeable vein running through it, but the seams are nearly impossible to find. It appears to have a triple cap attached at the head of the cigar that is wrapped perfectly. Just flawless construction on the outside of the cigar thus far.
The band is big, bold, and red. The top and bottom edges have a solid gold stripe all the way around them. It has bold white letters printed with Joya Red near the top center part of the band. Directly below, is the JdN logo, a gold 3 leaf symbol that is now seen in all of their marketing and branding materials. Simple to the point and executed perfectly. I’m loving everything about this cigar thus far.
Function
When squeezing this cigar, the barrel gives off a nice bit of spring to the tobacco contained inside. I quickly clipped the cap with my Xikar Xi cutter. It’s a fancy new cutter that I just got recently, and I’m loving it (badah bop bah dah)! The cutter made quick work of the cap and I was ready testing the cold draw.
Lots of air coming through the barrel on the draw. A nice crisp clean draw, gotta love it. I put my Stratosphere lighter to the foot of the cigar it took to the flame instantly. A good dose of smoke rolling off the foot and we’re off to the races.
Smoking
The first third of this Joya Red smoked perfectly. A nice solid ash well into the 2nd third. It actually held near 2 inches. I probably could have made it last longer if I wasn’t afraid to lose it in my lap. The ash continued to hold well over an inch all the way through the cigar. The burn was fairly straight. Nothing that ever got crazy and unruly. If there were any sort of issues with the burn line it always self corrected itself. Now, onto the exciting part of the review!
Flavor
On the pre-light I picked up a lot of great flavors. Started with some barnyard and hay notes. Very rich and aromatic. That was coupled with coffee and a very earthy note. All very common aromas of Nicaraguan tobacco.
Initially I got a big dose of red pepper, a nice tingling spice, especially on the retrohale. There were also earthy coffee notes along the way that really enhanced the overall flavor of the cigar. The flavors didn’t change much throughout this Joya Red from third to third. Instead it was just consistent, and very tasty. It never built up to more than a medium bodied cigar for me. It was incredibly flavorful though and packed a little bit of a punch. Overall, I really enjoyed this cigar, alot.
Would I Buy It Again?
In a heartbeat.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Absolutely
Would I Buy a Box?
They are definitely box worthy, especially for the price.
Conclusion
At around $6 a stick, this is an incredible value cigar. This Joya Red hits everything that I want in a Nicaraguan cigar. It’s easy to smoke, full of flavor and it won’t break the bank. Well done everyone.
