Corona, 5.5" x 42 ring gauge, approx. $6Joya de Nicaragua first debuted their cigars in 1970 but the company was forced to disband during Nicaragua's political "unrest" (read: Communist takeover by the Sandanistas). Their Celebracion line debuted in 2004 and is intended to be a less-powerful companion to the Antano series, purportedly using the same filler and binder, but a different wrapper, all of which are Nicaraguan.
The wrapper on this cigar was fairly lumpy and bumpy, although no large veins were showing on the wrapper leaf itself. The surface was fairly oily and the color was medium-brown with some mottling. There was also a greenish spot just below the level of the band. From the wrapper, I detected hay and grassy aromas; from the foot there was some compost and manure, as well as just a hint of cocoa. The cold draw was slightly tight, but not too bad, so I did not expect problems. During that cold draw, I got flavors of sweet hay and just a touch of chocolate; it also left a bit of a spicy tingle on the lips.
Initial puffs had hay and sweet tobacco flavors with more subtle flavors of caramel and almond. The retrohale was a spice-packed punch in the nose and surprised me by being almost painful. After that initial light-up period, the flavors become heavier--earthy and leather, with some roasted almond still and a significant dose of black pepper. The burn line was perfectly straight so far, although the draw was showing signs that it might yet develop problems. While there was a bit of tightness at first, it was not an issue until near the end of the first third when it got a bit tighter and started to require multiple draws to get the same amount of smoke.
I did not have to resort to surgery with a draw poker device to fix the problem as they resolved themselves fairly quickly in the second third. There was not a great deal of flavor change here, though--mostly just roasted nuts and leather leading the way followed by a steadily diminishing pepper component.
The final third had more earthy and leathery flavors. The spice was gone but there were occasional hits of roasted nuts. Overall, this was a very good cigar that provided a different take than usual for a Nicaraguan puro. While not my favorite flavor profile, it was pleasant and worth the time spend. The body was medium-to-full and I would enjoy this as a nice afternoon smoke or maybe the first cigar of an evening herf.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight 1.5/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10
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