Cigar Review: Joya Red

Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5.25” x 50 ring gauge
Price ~$7
Review samples provided by Drew Estate

Background

Joya de Nicaragua earned its reputation for solidly strong and full-bodied cigars with sticks like the Antaño 1970 and Antaño Dark Corojo, both of which can make even experienced smokers pay attention. The “softer side” of JdN has been around for quite some time, with the Cabinetta (released about 4 years ago) having a milder profile and CyB (released 2 years ago) having a flavorful medium-bodied profile. This year they decided to emphasize again this other face of Joya de Nicaragua with the release of Joya Red.

Drew Estate is the sole distributor of Joya de Nicaragua products in the United States and they sent me several samples of Joya Red for review. I have to say that when I originally opened the package, I thought there were 2 sizes. I smoked one, then realized there were more than 2 sizes left in the bag, so I don’t even know what size the first one I smoked was. Or the second one, for that matter. The truth of the matter is that Joya Red is available in 4 vitolas, all of which are between 48 and 54 ring gauge (48, 50, 52, and 54) and all of which are between 4.75 and 6 inches long. The leaf enthusiast part of me says, “Please make a Corona as a regular production item” while the retailer part of me says, “What about the 6×60?” It may be that this blend just works best at this narrow range of ring gauges, but I do think a bit more variation in sizing would have been better. If I owned a retail shop, I’d probably try all 4 sizes for myself, then order 2 of them to have for sale.

Like the classic JdN’s of yore, the Joya Red is a Nicaragua Puro. It uses fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Condega; a Nicaraguan binder, and a Habana wrapper from Nicaragua. This review is based on the 3rd time I smoked this blend.

Prelight

The new look of Joya works well with their rebranding and reinvigoration for a new generation of cigar enthusiasts. The used of red gradients and gold foil all works well to mix classic and modern feels together. It does remind me a bit of some one else’s banding…maybe a little of Ortega Serie D, a little of Felix Assouline Ego, maybe a little of something else that evades my memory. The Habana wrapper leaf was a dark tan color with some medium veining and an oily feel under my fingertips.

Giving the cigar a good sniff, I picked up notes of grass on the wrapper and a manurey, grassy earthiness on the foot. The prelight draw was excellent and tasted of sweet hay and earth.

Flavor

The Joya Red opened up with a combination of sweet hay and somewhat astringent cedar after a lengthy toasting and lighting process. After a few puffs, I picked up on earthiness and nuttiness just under the surface, plus some medium-strength red pepper on the retrohale. From the start, it was medium-bodied and the flavors were right up-front, not muddled in any way. As I got near the end of the first third, I noticed some lemon-citrus flavor creeping in.

The mix of citrus, sweet hay, earth and roasted nuts continued during the second third. Pepper notes died off a bit and the retrohale was more nutty than before. The final third was mostly the same. If I have one criticism of the Joya Red it’s that the flavor didn’t change much from the beginning of the second third through the end of the cigar and I found that on all three that I smoked. I wouldn’t call that a game ender, though, because the flavor was quite good throughout.

Construction

In terms of construction, I’ve had no problems with any of the Joya Red samples I’ve smoked.

Value

I think the different vitolas of this top out at around $8, which means that none of them are all that expensive, so definitely a good value.

Conclusions

Overall, the Joya Red is a very good smoke, showcasing some properties of Nicaraguan tobacco that you might not normally experience. This cigar is a powerhouse of flavor instead of body and nicotine. I would say the overall experience is somewhat similar to the multi-country blend they produce in the CyB, although I have to admit to slightly preferring that one to this. Definitely give this one a try when your local shop gets them in stock.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10