Tuesday, August 26, 2008

JOYA DE NICARAGUA CELEBRACION CHURCHILL


JOYA DE NICARAGUA CELEBRACION
CHURCHILL

Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua Criollo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Place of purchase: Famous Smoke Shop Online


TASTING SHEET RESULTS


SIZE: 6-7/8x48
APPEARANCE: very good to excellent: thin veins with a single prominent vein, very toothy, dry wrapper, evenly colored
CONSTRUCTION: very good to excellent: nicely applied wrapper and cap, firm, nicely filled bunch
DRAW: perfect
BURN: very good to perfect
AROMA: very good
FLAVOR: very good
DOMINANT FLAVORS: leather, pepper, some coffee
AFTERTASTE: leather, tobacco
STRENGHT: somewhat strong to strong
SMOKING TIME: ~ 2 hours
GENERAL IMPRESSION: excellent


CUT: Xikar
PRELIGHT: leather, pepper
LIGHT: easily with a classic flame lighter
BEVERAGE: coffee black

1/3:
Very peppery on initial puff. Raw power. After a few puffs, pepper tames and gives way to leather. Very powerfull on nose blow, not recommended. Great burn and draw. Compact ash, but fell just short of an inch. Abundance of cool smoke. Subtle coffee notes present. Very nice flavor mix. Medium-full body.



2/3:
Leather persists with coffee, pepper faint in the background. Some cinnamon pops in and out. Body slowly picking up. Notes of citrus linger on the palate, not unlike grapefruit. Nearing towards final third, the flavor becomes sweeter with wood and molasses taking on ground accompanied with some distant charr. Leaves palate somewhat dry, so have something to drink on hand.



3/3:
Sweet wood dominates on top of slight nutty notes but with real clean and crisp flavors. Finish very short and a bit tangy. Body in the lower range of full. Cigar does not withstand abuse and smokes hot really quickly. No tar build-up visible, nicely fermented tobacco.


NUB:
Pepper returns with charred wood. It irritates the back of the throat. Short finish.

I really love this smoke. It is a regular in my rotation. The only bug I very often get from Joya de Nicaraguas, especially Antanos, are the burn issues, especially on larger ring gauges. But I have figured it out, as you can see in the photos. This brand is loaded with ligero, and that means lower RH is desired to keep the cigars in good smoking condition, low 60`s IMO. I started to keep all my cigars in this range and it really shows. No more plugged smokes.

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