I got behind on the news last week, it became overwhelming and I got busy with work and didn’t get around to a few stories. Again, I wasn’t sure a company’s opening a warehouse abroad was interesting to a large portion of my readership, but there was one from Joya de Nicaragua that I wanted to post but didn’t get around to. When you get a chance, hunt down the news on their Número Uno at one of the many reputable sites such as Developing Palates , Cigar-Coop, Halfwheel, or the many other great sites that posted the press release. Drew Estate, who distributes Joya, has been sending their press releases every damn day around 3PM eastern time, which is a crummy time for those of us with jobs, but I guess there’s no good time for everyone. One more week and the buzz will die down and everyone will be in Vegas bitching about the IPCPR changing their name to PCA and having CigarCon and all of that. I’m kinda glad I cut ties with all that drama, to be honest! I love going to the show and seeing all the great friends I’ve met in the industry and seeing all the new stuff, but the drama is more than I can take. My only hope is that this new version of the IPCPR learns to finally treat the (online) media like other trade shows treat media, but that’s another post that I don’t have in me any more! I came here to talk about some cigars!
I was contacted recently by Danli Honduras Tabacos about trying their cigars, and since new and unusual cigars have been few and far between for me lately, I figured it was worth a shot. I’ve been in a bit of a thing lately where I’ve been wanting to smoke cigars within certain parameters, smoking for pleasure and self satisfaction really. Quite selfish of me, I realize. So I was anxious to try something new, and was surprised when these beauties arrived. I wonder if the folks at Danli Honduras Tabacos did some research, because they send their Don Juan Calaveras cigars in Sumatra and Maduro wrappers, two of my favorites. I decided to break tradition and smoke the Sumatra first. I don’t talk about it much, but I do like a good Sumatra wrapped cigar. 
There are a lot of great cigars that use Sumatra wrapper, Ernesto Carillo is a big fan of the wrapper, and it’s used on the Diamond Crown Maximus, to name a couple off the top of my head. With both the Sumatra and Maduro, the presentation is unique. They have a black tissue paper “jacket”, with lapels folded down framing the sugar skull band. I though it was a neat touch. I’ve smoked a couple of these and they are really quite tasty. I found it to have a nice spice, and a good balance of flavor and strength and excellent construction. I enjoyed one yesterday on a beautiful afternoon walk and it was quite relaxing and satisfying.
Another thing I liked about the selections that I received was the size, they were toros, 6″ x 52, my favored size, Of course, I couldn’t wait to try the Maduro, so I smoked a couple of those too, and I really dig the Maduros! As far as blend information goes, their website is in Spanish and seems to be either in it’s infancy or something but there isn’t a lot of information there. The letter they sent says that they use a “diatinto” wrapper on all of their cigars, I’m not sure if this is a typo for the Spanish “distinto” or “different” wrapper, or if “diatinto” means something else. They say that they use Jalapa and Jamastran in the fillers, so Nicaraguan and Honduran, which makes sense. Like the Sumatra, this is a spicy cigar, with a bit more of the chocolatyness that one would expect on top of the spice. Fuller bodied than the Sumatra, 
to me, at least, and, once again, quite satisfying. I had no issues with any of the cigars as far as construction went, all four examples I smoked burned perfectly, with flat embers and straight burn lines. I’m impressed with these cigars, the packaging is striking, the cigars perform well and taste great, I just need to find out how to go about buying these! I’ve been searching and so far haven’t found that out. I’ll have to ask! Perhaps that’s something they are working on. I hope they don’t run into any issues with the name and or bands, because the bands are beautiful, although I can think of a few others that have used the Dia de los Muertos theme on bands.
Anyway, that’s about all I have for today. I’m going to put together a contest with some of the above-mentioned cigars, and some other goodies since I haven’t done a giveaway in a while. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
