The Joya de Nicaragua Joya Red White & Blue offers a solid progression of sweet tobacco, bread, wood, baking spices and earth, but the profile gradually becomes more dominated by tannic wood and increasingly aggressive spices. The excellent construction helps the cigar considerably, but the increasingly tannic and spice-driven character keeps the overall experience in the Average range.
Overall, the Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection is a good cigar, capturing a good amount of complexities to never bore the palate. The combination of spice, wood, natural sweet creaminess and a mouth coating oiliness worked really well. It's not the typical profile that I gravitate towards but I respect and enjoyed the blend.
Flavor-wise, the cigar remains approachable and well-behaved but lacks the depth, progression or intensity needed to rise above an Average overall impression. This Joya de Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Secret Cask feels like a cigar built for consistency rather than memorability. It's competent, clean and easy to smoke, but not one that demands a second look.
The Joya de Nicaragua Antaño CT Gran Consul had a nice start, with a good combination of flavors. It took a step down in the second third as the construction paper joined in and the creaminess faded out. It remained that way for the remainder of the cigar. While this isn't my favorite vitola in the line, it was still fairly interesting. I don't necessarily see myself coming back to this, but for those that enjoy large ring gauge cigars, it's something to consider.
The Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Torpedo had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around the toasted cedar and earth, with black pepper being the primary supporting note. This is a fairly typical Connecticut shade offering and doesn't really stand out from the pack. The price is attractive, but it's not high on my list to revisit.
The Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Medio Siglo Robusto had a nice start, with a bold and interesting flavor profile. It dropped down in the second third as the black pepper began to fade and maintained that level the rest of the way. This is an interesting cigar for the brand that carries a very nice price point. While I wouldn't see coming back to this often, I would be interested in trying some of the other vitolas to see if there is one that shines a bit more.
The Joya de Nicaragua Joya Cabinetta Lancero has somewhat of a cheat code. In fact, all the Cabinetta’s have this strength. Finishing the cigar with that Nicaraguan Criollo really lights a spark plug in terms of flavors and strength after the Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper portion. The Connecticut portion is solid, with a nice bit of depth and strength, but when you put that darker and stronger wrapper on the cigar it sends it in a whole new direction, and it captures your attention in a good way.
This Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco Corona Extra was a nice Mexican wrapper offering. I don't think it was needed by the company for the Maestros portfolio, but it was good. Lots of other Mexican releases have been busts recently. The Corona Extra was not my favorite size in the portfolio in terms of blend performance, but it is a great size and an enjoyable flavor profile that I will come back to this offering.
I enjoyed the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco Robusto Gordo, and have enjoyed all the releases in the Obras Maestras portfolio. I would not say this is my favorite, but it is definitely a nice Mexican release and solid medium-full maduro offering. One of the better Mexican releases of late as well. I do appreciate that Joya has kept things different with each of these releases. I look forward to 60 years.
2023 brings Joya de Nicaragua’s 55th 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.