Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970 Belicoso

November 28, 2021: This cigar is a 6 x 54 belicoso. It's a Nicaraguan puro. It looks identical to its elder cousin, the Gran Reserva Belicoso, which I reviewed last week and the Churchill 1970, which I reviewed a month or two ago. I was very interested to compare them. The Gran Reserva is supposedly aged five years. 

Appearance and Construction: The cigar is a well constructed, solid, belicoso. The wrapper is medium brown and mottled, suggesting a bit of ageing, albeit not as much as the Gran Reservo.

First Puff: Smooth

Draw and Burn: Draw was easy with no major resistance. Burn was fine; a minor wave at the end but no touch up required.

Flavour and Complexity: Flavour was similar to the Gran Reserva. The cigar had a very pleasant medium roast coffee with a dried fruit taste, like apricot. It was very pleasant. 

Body: Hovered around medium throughout. 

Strength: No strength to speak of. Standing up after 100 minutes I could feel some effects, so there was some strength, but nothing perceptible while smoking.  

Finish and Aftertaste: Finish was long and delicious. Aftertaste was clean and had the pleasant dried fruit quality. 

Aroma: Deep and rich. Very pleasant.

Ash: held on nicely for 30 minutes per ashing.

After one hour.

Balance and Consistency: Consistently good. No transitions, unlike the Gran Reserva which started mild and ended more intense. But flavour, body and strength were perfectly balanced throughout. 

Time smoke: 100 minutes. Difficult to let it go.

After 95 minutes. So tasty that I was reluctant to let the cigar go.

Overall: "Balance" is the word that comes to mind. Flavour, body and strength all fitted together very well. The citrus 'twang' was an interesting flavour component. The cigar was consistently good. It burned and drew without issue. Very satisfying. 

January 9th, 2022: This was a dud. Plugged throughout. I kept struggling with the draw hoping that I would pass the knot. But there was no knot; the cigar was badly rolled throughout. My friend, smoking another sample from the box, had no such problem. His cigar burned perfectly and he reported that it was very nice. These things happen. But Joya seems to have this issue more than others: Red, Black, both boxes have these badly rolled cigars.

The tell-tale spike of a badly rolled cigar.

April 2nd, 2022: This cigar was very good. It made up for the dud of January 9th above. It was smooth, medium bodied during the first two thirds and built up to a nice level of strength in the final third. Flavour was cocoa and dried fruit. Aftertaste was clean but finish was medium at best. Draw was a little resistant: it took a few puffs to extract a good volume of smoke. Burn was fine. One of the most satisfying aspects of this cigar was the aroma: it was rich and prevalent. Balance, as discussed above, comes to mind: flavour, body, aroma, transition to greater strength. I eked almost 90 minutes to the nub. Very satisfying. 

May 22nd, 2022: This was an excellent example of the blend. Flavour started out mellow and mild to medium. Draw and burn were almost perfect. But the final third was the star. By a bit past the midpoint the cigar really shone: complexity, body and a bit of strength all increased to create a very satisfying package. 110 minutes to the nub. 

Excellent balance of body, flavour without too much strength in the final third.

August 13th, 2022. This was a dud. It was soft and squishy, despite being stored at 69% humidity. I assume that it was badly constructed. The spiked ash confirmed my suspicion. Flavour was dull and thin. Body was weak. Draw was difficult. By the end of the final third draw was almost plugged. I binned it. 

3rd April, 2023. I was not inspired to return to this brand after the previous construction issues. Hence the long interval. This cigar began with a difficult draw, but within a millimetre the cigar opened out and the first third was delicious with the sweet, fruity flavour, which I have described above. The second third became plugged again. Draw was difficult. The final third opened out, draw was easy and smoke was full, even though the cigar was squishy. Flavour returned and a bit of strength ensued. Altogether, around 90 minutes, with some interesting transitions and draw challenges. Quite satisfying.  

July 18th, 2023: This cigar was hard. It felt like it was over packed, but it drew quite nicely. The cigar started out quite pleasantly: good draw, fairly even burn, the typical fruity flavour, no spice or pepper. The final third was a disappointment. Flavour dissipated to a rather empty vegetal, much like the cigar of August 13th, 2022. I binned the cigar before the nub at around 65 minutes. Pleasant for the first two thirds, but not satisfying.