Tag Archives: joya de nicaragua

by Craig Vanderslice | December 8, 2024 · 11:27 am

Cigars from Nestor Miranda, Joya de Nicaragua, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Foundation

I ended up smoking some pretty great cigars over the last few days! I started off with the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024. I have memory of smoking the 2011 and 2012 versions, which were the only other two previously released. The 2024 was released in celebration of Miami Cigar and Company‘s 35th anniversary. It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 torpedo, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro. This is an absolutely delicious cigar. It started with an interesting spice, maybe like nutmeg, very intriguing. It had a really nice desert cigar feel to it, like smoking a pie. I thought it was really good. Thanks to Gabe Pińeres for sending me this. Super-yummy.

Next up was the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco. I know this one has been around for a while, but one came into my possession at the the Florida Barn Smoker last month. This was the Corona Extra vitola, 6 ¼” x 46 with a pigtail cap. Cinco de Cinco seems to translate to “5 out of 5”, but I want to say it has something to do with the company’s 55th anniversary. I think this is my favorite cigar out of the Obras Maestros collection, and there are some great cigars in that collection. I have to say that it’s really hard to pick a favorite, Numero Uno, Cinco Decadas, Cuatro Cinco, now this one? What a line up! This one has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan fillers and binder. Burn and draw were outstanding, and it was loaded with dark chocolate flavors, and I loved it. It’s definitely one I’ll be revisiting. For someone who loves dark chocolate, but has to severely limit my intake because it triggers migraines for me, this is an acceptable substitute!

Yesterday, while watching hockey, I smoked the newest size in Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s Sin Compromiso line, the Selección No. 4, a 5″ x 54 soft box pressed robusto. This is another San Andrès wrapper, this one Saka calls “Cultivo Tonto” which has the farmer removes all bet the best leaves from the plant so that they get the most nutrients. This make the tobacco more expensive, of course, because there’s no lower quality leaves to subsidise the better leaves. Saka only ever uses the best and most expensive materials anyway, right? I absolutely love the No. 5, which is a Toro, so I was excited to try the robusto. This was a really good cigar, although I felt like it wasn’t quite as sophisticated as the larger size. Sure, it was better than a lot of cigars, had some earth and black coffee notes, but it just seemed less refined. If I can afford it, I’ll pick another one up one day.

Finally, I smoked a cigar that Stace Berkland sent me a bit ago. I may have mentioned before that Stace had sent me some cigars in an unexpected reciprocation for some things I sent him. Here’s the silliness: Stace wanted to purchase one of my 20 year old plastic cutters, the little rectangular ones that Saka’s über expensive Guillotino de Saka is based off of. I had a few that’s I’ve had for years, used to buy them at my local shop, the guys there called it the “hot knife through butter cutter”. Like I said, I have had three of these for 20+ years, I’ve got a load of cutters, sending one to a friend wasn’t a problem! He felt the need to retaliate, so he sent some nice cigars. One of them was this Foundation Cigars Grasshopper, which appears to be from an exclusive box from Small Batch Cigars. This box had six of the Candella Grasshoppers, six of the Maduro, and one barber pole version. I had never seen this cigar before, but my first thought was that it was from Foundation, something about the look of the band. This is a small, box pressed torpedo, 5¼” x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper, Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli. This was another great smoke with some spice and dark cocoa. Burn was excellent and I really dug it. Thanks Stace!

I need to start getting my Secret Santa gift together, names went out and it’s too late to join! I gave plenty of notice. I”ve got my work cut out for me this time! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2024, cigar, cigars, Cinco de Cinco, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Foundation, Grand Reserve, Grasshopper, joya de nicaragua, Nestor Miranda, Sin Compromiso

by Craig Vanderslice | October 20, 2024 · 9:23 am

Kristoff, Joya de Nicaragua, and Illusione Cigars

This week I smoked a bunch of cigars that I picked up at various shops in my area. I’m fortunate, I guess, to live in an area with an abundance of cigars shops, and one of them (a chain, actually, with about five shops within a ten mile radius of my home) is a TAA member. Every now and then I stop in one of he shops to find something new and interesting, sometimes I find both, sometimes neither! I’ve been picking up some of the TAA exclusives lately, as regular readers will have noticed. I picked up a Kristoff TAA Exclusive from last year, a neat perfecto shaped cigar. It’s 6 ¼” x 60, tapered at both ends, like cigars in old cartoons. It has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican fillers. This was a really fun cigar to smoke. I was surprised to read that this was a Connecticut Shade wrapper varietal. While I had sweet woody notes, it didn’t make me think of shade. I really enjoyed this, it was smooth, rich and quite enjoyable. I wish more cigars came in this shape!

At another shop nearby I was there for a Drew Estate event, so I was looking for something new-to-me in their portfolio, no easy task. I spied the Joya de Nicaragua Classico Media Siglo and picked one up. I got the Toro size, naturally, but they offer those in some interesting sizes: a 6″ x 41 and a 5½” x 42. This cigar is supposed to be an homage to the first cigars JdN produced fifty years ago, which I have no frame of reference for, but I’m sure I have smoked the classico, it’s on the milder side. This cigar was on the light side of medium, with leathery, woody notes, which aren’t normally my thing. It was OK, not my cup of tea, necessary. I’m more a fan of the Antaño lines, if I want a milder JdN I usually go for the Numero Uno or Cinco Decadas (with the Joya Silver close behind).

Friday I did what I said last year that I wouldn’t do again, and got both a Flu shot and a Covid Vaccine at the same time. This time, apart from the sore left arm, I had a dull headache all day and that was about it. I get migraines, and this wasn’t one of those, and Aspirin, Tylenol, etc. don’t do a thing for me. I did, however, power through and selected an Illusione Cigares Prívé PCA Exclusive, a box pressed 5 ½” x 56 robusto. This I smoked while watching a movie on the porch (the first Captain america movie, I’ve seen bits and pieces of a lot of Marvel movies, I’m trying to watch them all start to finish. I might have the only Captain America travel humidor on the planet, by the way). This is one of my favorite things to do on the weekend, relax with a cigar and a movie. I believe this cigar was the 2020 version, based on the shape and the band. I may stop back in the shop where I got this and take a closer look at the box. It has an Ecuador (Habano Claro) wrapper, over a Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan (Criollo 98 & Corojo 99) fillers. It was a beautiful cigar, nice cafe con leche colored wrapper with a nice box press. This started with a bright citrus tang, and them mellowed a bit. It was very nice once I got past the sharpness of the start, I wouldn’t hesitate to smoke this again. I’m a bit negligent in sampling Illusione cigars, I need to get try some more.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigares Prive, cigars, Classico, joya de nicaragua, Kristoff, Medio Siglo, PCA, TAA

by Craig Vanderslice | September 1, 2024 · 9:25 am

A Djeep Lighter, New La Gloria Cubana, Punch and Los Statos Deluxe Cigars

Welcome to the “last weekend of summer”. My birthday and Labor Day always get me down as they indicate the coming of cooler, and eventually cold, weather, which I dislike. I like summer. I like stepping outside in the morning and feeling warm. I like not having to bundle up. I know some people like autumn, but it just depresses me. I’m already looking forward to spring! Anyway, I was going through the checkout line at Walmart this week and my eye usually looks at the selection of lighters, and I saw something I hadn’t seen before, a Djeep Turbo Lighter. I figured for $5 it was worth a try. I broke a couple torches lately, although I still have plenty, but one more won’t hurt. It comes full of butane, ready to go, and really works well. It brings to mind the classic Blazer PB207, as it has a cap secured with a chain. It, thankfully, doesn’t have a switch to lock the flame on, which I always thought was a liability. The flame is adjustable and it’s refillable. I’ll use the heck out of it and see how it holds up, but initially I’m impressed. Djeep is a good name in lighters, the soft flame disposable has always done well, I think I had one Macanudo branded many years ago. There are probably cheaper torches that work just fine, but this is a brand name and is easily accessible. The link is to Amazon where they sell a six pack and is an affiliate link. If twenty of you buy these it might pay for the one I bought!

I received some new releases from Forged Cigars and General cigars a couple weeks back, and was disappointed to receive the press release, but not the cigars, for a new La Gloria Cubana, a long time favorite brand. Fortunately, my friend Phil of Comedy-Cigars-Music shared a couple of his with me. The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado is a large figurado, 7¾” x 62, with a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. Each cigar has a secondary band with a signature of one of the team who created it, and they only use rollers with 15 or more years of experience. I had a busy week at the day job, and was ready to sit down and relax with a cigar Friday, and I chose this large cigar to do it with. This was a really good smoke. I’ve had some issues with some of the La Gloria releases lately, but this ain’t one of them. It’s huge, so it smoked for about two and a half hours, and had some nice cocoa flavors with some spice through the nose. Mid way through there was some interesting savory flavors, a cigar this large needs some transitions to keep it interesting. I really enjoyed this cigar, I think it’s very fairly priced at $15, and I really appreciate Phil sharing his with me.

Next up from Forged was the latest Matt Booth/Justin Andrews colab in the Los Statos Deluxe line, the Connecticut. I’ll be honest, I thought the other “LSD” offerings were OK, but I really like this one, and it’s really hard to get me excited about shade wrapped cigars. This one has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Esteli, Jalapa, Nicaraguan Habano, and PA Broadleaf fillers, and, get this, it’s made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory! No wonder I liked it. Before I read where it was made, I was thinking that this was a really good budget alternative to a Sobremesa Brulee, and now I know why! This is on a par with the Antaño CT and the Brulee as far as I’m concerned. I’ve smoked a couple of these and really enjoyed them, it’s a smooth, creamy cigar, with some cane sugar sweetness and an appropriate amount of spice. I need to find some of the other sizes, the Churchill especially. Look for the purple packaging, because you can’t see the wrapper to know what you’re getting!

Moving from the Forged division of STG to the General Cigar Co. side, I smoked the new Punch Golden Era in Lancero. Nearly a year ago I wrote about the robusto in this collaboration with Julio and Justo Eiroa of JRE Cigars. I remember getting the Golden Era along with the Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 and being confused by the fact that the Macanudo was the stronger cigar. Like I mentioned last year, unlike the Punch Rare Corojo, this Golden Era actually has Corojo in the blend, Honduran Corojo wrapper with Honduran Corojo and Habano fillers. This is a nice cigar with some bread and caramel notes. The press release incorrectly states that this is the only Punch lancero, unless the 7″ x 37 Chop Suey doesn’t count because it was limited. I think the lancero was better than the robusto, I planned to smoke one while writing this, but a persisting migraine made me scrap that idea. I’ll have one later.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Djeep, Eiroa, Forged, General Cigar Co., Golden Era, Gran Legado, joya de nicaragua, JRE, Justin Andrews, La Gloria Cubana, Lighter, Los Statos Deluxe, LSD, Matt Booth, punch, Torch

by Craig Vanderslice | July 7, 2023 · 6:09 pm

News: The New Antaño Power play Sling Puck

Here’s another new item from Joya de Nicaragua, not cigars, but the packaging. The two cigars in this collection are really good, the Antaño Gran Reserva is great, and the CT is an exceptional shade wrapped cigar. The best thing about it is that they are in the toro size, when is the best size! Pretty cool, check it out:

The New Antaño Power play Sling Puck: Where Tradition, Play and Legendary Cigars Collide

Playing has been shown to releases endorphins, improve brain functionality – and to stimulate creativity. And just because you are no longer a child, doesn’t mean you can’t benefit.

Joya De Nicaragua recognizes the role that their cigars have in adult play; JDN cigars are often called calming, contemplative, fun, and even stress-relieving. So, the country’s first cigar factory now invites you to a whole new gaming experience to enjoy alongside one of its famed cigars.

Encased in a specially-designed 20-count cigar box, the Antaño Power Play Sling Puck includes a thoughtfully created selection of two opposing teams from the revered Antaño family. The 10 Antaño Gran Reserva GT20 6×54 Gran Toro and the 10 Antaño CT Toro 6×50 each offer an extraordinary smoking journey and an exploration of flavors to delight the senses. But that’s not all; the Antaño Power Play box also ingeniously transforms into a dynamic playing surface for intense matches of skill and strategy.

“Building on the success of Antaño Shut the Box, we learned that cigar enthusiasts are keen to combine their cigars with fun,” says JDN Executive President, Juan Martinez. “This time we’ve merged the profiles of their favorite Nicaraguan puros into one game, teasing their tastebuds with contrasting flavors.”

Antaño Power Play Sling Puck demands precision and finesse as you use the built-in elastic band mechanism to propel pucks towards your opponent’s goal – all the while fiercely protecting your own. The friendly competition requires focus, agility and camaraderie to bring cigar smoking amigos together.

The Antaño Power Play Sling Puck Box is a collector’s dream, with only 1,400 exclusive boxes produced for U.S. market and just 600 boxes allocated for the rest of the world. The innovative new packaging has been developed in collaboration with HumidifGroup.

“It has been an absolute joy to collaborate with Nicaragua’s oldest cigar manufacturer,” says Pedro Balgañon, CEO and owner of HumidifGroup. “This project brings our smart packaging to life, driving innovation in the cigar industry, while honoring the legacy and rich history of this cherished tradition.”

Antaño Power Play Sling Puck, priced at $255.75 per box, will be an exclusive collectible available for a limited time. It will make its debut this July at the PCA Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, catering to all U.S. retailers. It will also be showcased at InterTabac in Dortmund in September 2023. It will begin shipping to stores in September 2023.

ABOUT JOYA DE NICARAGUA

Joya de Nicaragua is a family-owned tobacco grower and cigar factory. Established in 1968, it is the first and most authentic premium handmade cigar manufacturer from Nicaragua. Based in Estelí, many regard Joya De Nicaragua as the patriarch creator of the Nicaraguan cigar industry, and its cigars are sold in more than 60 countries around the world. The company’s commitment to quality, along with its skillful and resilient people, has been rewarded with industry recognition more than once.

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Tagged as Antano, Antaño CT Toro, cigar, cigars, Gran Reserva GT20, joya de nicaragua

by Craig Vanderslice | · 5:57 pm

News: Joya de Nicaragua Presents Cinco De Cinco

I guess one of the things I’ll miss about not going to the PCA show this year is seeing my friends at Joya de Nicaragua. They are attending there on their own, where in the past they were integrated into the Drew Estate booth. I always thought they should stand alone, Drew Estate just distributes their cigars in the US. It’s been one of my most favorite factories since my first visit back in 2011. I’m looking forward to trying this anniversary cigar, the last several they’ve put out have been exceptional!

2023 brings Joya de Nicaragua’s 55^th anniversary and to mark the occasion, Nicaragua’s first cigar factory launches Cinco de Cinco, the latest edition to the ultra-premium Obras Maestras line.

“This cigar was made with the people, by the people and for the people,” says Juan Ignacio Martínez, Executive President of JDN. “Our past is all about tobacco. Our bright future is all about tobacco. We are here, stronger than ever thanks to our wonderful community of amigos.”

Inspired by Amigos. Blended by Maestros. Handcrafted for those in the know

Joya de Nicaragua was one of the first to host private cigar blending sessions in its factory in Estelí, offering a fun and fascinating insight into blend creation. The JDN master blenders have since reviewed hundreds of blending records to build the perfect scoring recipe.

Harmonious Intricacy

Cinco de Cinco is made from ultra-vintage tobaccos, including a Mexican San Andres wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers and binders in a soft-pressed format. It is a five out of five in profile and complexity; full-bodied and medium strength, with deep, rich, earthy flavors that offer hints of cocoa and dark chocolate. The cigar box shines bright in emerald green. “An emerald symbolizes love, wisdom, growth and prosperity – values very much embodied in this blend,” says Martinez. “It is indeed a rare and mystical jewel.”

Cinco de Cinco will be unveiled this July at the PCA Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, catering to all retailers, and at InterTabac in Dortmund in September 2023. The handcrafted masterpiece will be on U.S. shelves beginning in September, followed by a global release in October.

Cinco de Cinco comes in 10-count boxes, with five distinct, semi-box pressed vitolas, three of which will be available in the USA and two exclusive for international markets.

Vitola	Size	MSRP USD$/Cigar	Available
JDN Cinco de Cinco Robusto Gordo	5 ½ x 54	$17.95	GLOBAL
JDN Cinco de Cinco Toro	6 x 52	$19.95	GLOBAL
JDN Cinco de Cinco Corona Extra	6 ¼ x 46	$15.95	GLOBAL
JDN Cinco de Cinco Robusto	5 x 50	$15.95	International  Exclusive(Non-USA)
JDN Cinco de Cinco Corona Doble	7 x 54	$20.55	International  Exclusive(Non-USA)