Joya de Nicaragua | Half Ashed

Half Ashed Episode 097: Joya de Nicaragua “Joya Red”

January 6, 2015 By Kip Fisher

Joya de Nicaragua “Joya Red”

Welcome back for Episode 097 of Half Ashed, featuring the Joya de Nicaragua Red. Kip’s preshow notes about the cigar were:

In June 2014, Joya de Nicaragua announced a new blend to be available at IPCPR 2014 (story archived at The Cigarmy). The line was dubbed Joya Red, and marketed as a bit of a departure for the company in that it would forego the typical high-ligero content often present in their cigars. The Joya Red would be more sedate in potency, yet strive to achieve boldness in flavor. It carries a Nicaraguan Habana wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler from Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli. Four vitolas are available, the Short Churchill (4.75” x 48), Robusto (5.25” x 50), Cañonazo (5.5” x 54), and Toro (6” x 52). I was skeptical at first, but have come to appreciate the kinder, gentler JdN offering. I often get lots of bright, airy citrus flavors from these, with some lighter leathery flavors at times. While I can’t say that I’ve mortgaged my house to stock up on them, they’re not a rare occupant of my humidors.

Tune in to find out how it went!

News

In the news, we had several stories to catch up on after missing last week’s show. We discussed a couple of items related to Quesada, notably that they are producing a St. Patrick’s Day cigar – the Quesada Keg Edition. Similar to the Oktoberfest cigars, it is intended to be paried with a beer, this time an Irish stout. It will come in a singular 6”x50 vitola carrying a PA broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan filler & binder. It will launch in March, and be available in 21-ct kegs (250 keg/5250 cigar total production). MSRP is $7.95, and production is set in the Plasencia factory in Nicaragua. Secondly, they are expanding the Casa Magna lineup with a 3-vitola extension to the Domus Magnus II line. The extension is collectively called the Three Good Emperors, and features the D-shaped “Trajan” (5.5”x60), and two other vitolas (Marcus Aurelius and Hadrian), which have not had details yet released. I understand the blend will be much like the standard Domus II offerings, but with a few tweaks.

We also covered an upcoming release from The Crowned Heads. They will be introducing a 4”x42 vitola to the Jericho Hill line. They will be called “Shots” and should launch somewhere around February 2015. It is being marketed as a winter time smoke, due to its diminished size. Halfwheel is reporting total production around 50k, but some hopes of seeing them again in 2016.

Room101 non-chalantly changed their header image on Facebook today….to a teaser about upcoming Master Collection Three. No comment; no detail. Just that it’s coming in February 2015. I know a lot of listeners were fans of the first and/or second series…so get ready for the third!

Back in 2011, a short run of 5,000 cigars known as the M80 were released by Tatuaje and sold exclusively through Two Guys Smoke Shop. It was a 4×50 petit robusto, and its end has been much lamented ever since. Well, it’s returning. Pete Johnson made comment this week, detailing that the blend will remain the same (Ec Habano Maduro over Nica/Nica), but packaging will change to avoid confusion with the original release. It will be a regular production item, but still only available through Two Guys.

Also – and you’ll have to tune in to the show for this – I had a bit of a catharsis on the myriad “Top ??” lists for 2014. Every Tom, Dick and Harry put out a list this year, but I’m not sure they’re all necessary….

What Have We Been Smoking?

Craig – Santos Corona Gorda

Kip – 2014 Casa Fernandez Aniversario, more LTC Reserva Familiar, La Aurora Preferido Corona Esp. Platinum (Cameroon), and Fratello

Wrap Up

Next week, we’ll be featuring the Bodega Premium Blends “Digestivo” as our Cigar of the Week. Be sure to tune in Friday night at 9:30pm EST and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the “Click to Contact Us!” tab at the side of this page, or at the following emails: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed YouTube Channel.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected]. This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in. I will provide an address to send them. Thanks!

Half Ashed Episode 083: Unbanded #018

September 22, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Unbanded 018

I apologize for such a late (2 weeks) post of this episode…..which means, by the way, that you’ll be getting TWO episodes in rapid succession this week. I’ve been pretty tied up with preparing for my upcoming move. Here is a brief wrap-up of Episode 083, featuring Unbanded #018, generously furnished by zedman.

News

The 2015 CFC dates have been announced by Fuente…

Don Pepin has revived the El Rey do Los Habanos line to release as a shop specific cigar for The Pipe and Pint in Greensboro, NC. Five sizes in 23-count boxes; estimated to retail between $8-11 per stick.

Nomad will be offering a lancero in their CT Fuerte line….presented as Fred Rewey’s personal cigar. He says these were previously just rolled for him, and that he wants to share them with the rest of us…..EC Hab//EC CT//DR & Nica.

The Nebraska AG has requested the court to reconsider their decision to declare the existing exemption for cigar bars as unconstitutional. These requests are rarely accepted, but will at least delay the formalization of the decision for several weeks. If accepted, the case would take several more months to get through the process of review. As a sidenote, I read there are only 11 cigar bars in the entire state of NE!!! STORY HERE

What we’ve been smoking

Craig

H.Upmann Sir Winston

Pueblo Dominicano

Bolivar Belicoso Finos

Kip

El Suelo from DC

per Dale’s recommendation: JdN Fuerte B

Other

A demonstration of Craig’s wrapper dissection.

One listener email from Eric Bernabe.

Half Ashed Episode 081: Joya de Nicaragua Dark Corojo

September 4, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Welcome to Episode 081 of Half Ashed when we’r featuring the Joya de Nicaragua Dark Corojo – specifically, the “El Martillo” vitola. This week we review this cigar during the show, as well as cover several news items from Willy Herrera/Drew Estate, the Guayabera Lady, some legislative news, Cigar Federation’s charity raffle, and Ezra Zion. We also discuss what we’ve been smoking, and a couple of other interesting diversions….

Next week, we will be featuring a wildcard Cigar of the Week, as Craig will be out of town. I will be joined by special guest host Barry Stein of Cigar Authority, so be sure to check back in Friday night at 9:30pm EST on halfashed.com where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following emails: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available from our YouTube channel.

Half Ashed Episode 070: Elogio Excepcionales

June 17, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Good day, folks. Welcome to Episode 070 of Half Ashed. We have a big show this week, with a very peculiar Cigar of the Week. It’s the Elogio Excepcionales…which has been likened to a yam in shape. Tune in to find out what we thought of it. We covered several news items this week, including stories from Joya de Nicaragua, CAO, CLE, My Father, and Nomad. Also, we got into a couple of listener emails – but had to save one of the more interesting for next week, so be sure to catch next week’s show if you can.

The biggest item for me (Kip) personally was a good discussion about the big changes I’ve been implementing at The Cigarmy. I’ve completely revamped the look and use of the site….but the big story is the new review guidelines. We cover it on the show, but you can read for yourself on my new Review Guidelines page, which details all the current standards. Bear with its length; it isn’t nearly so complicated as it appears on the surface. NOTE: One change occurred after the show recording: I have converted everything from a 10-point scale to one of 100, since most folks relate to that format. Anyway, have at it and I look forward to feedback from you!

Next week, our Cigar of the Week will be an Unbanded (#017 from Officer Paul), so be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at ~~Cigar Federation~~ ****We will temporarily only have chat access on our Show Page on halfashed.com. We have outgrown our previous chat, and it has been overloading the server and causing various and sundry issues with our hosting provider. In fact, they shut down our site this week during the show. I have installed a stopgap chat for the time being, but it will not frame into the Cigar Federation page. We will remedy this as soon as possible.****, where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following emails: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe. Video, as always, will be available from our YouTube channel.

News: Kinder, gentler Joya de Nicaragua coming in the Joya Red

June 9, 2014 By Kip Fisher

NOTE: Subsequent to this post, JdN has issued a mass email that “Due to a conflict with the name “Cardinal”, Joya de Nicaragua have changed the vitola name to “CAÑONAZO”“

JOYA RED: Rediscover Joya

According to Joya de Nicaragua, smokers should rethink any preconceptions about the company’s proclivity toward making powerful cigars.

During this past week, they released plans for the JOYA RED, a new blend to launch at IPCPR 2014. In their words, it has been developed “for the modern smoker by the youngest executive team in the industry, together with the most senior Master Blenders of Nicaragua.” Recently appointed Joya de Nicaragua President Juan Ignacio Martínez led the current team of both fresh and longstanding executives in creating the blend. The JOYA RED is promoted as a “vibrant smoke you will enjoy anytime, anywhere; class, as always, but also a lot more fun.”

Technically, the press release noted, the blend was still created with tobaccos from Nicaragua. However, with the JOYA RED, a move was made away from past predominance of ligero and thick wrapper leaf to “more visos and lower priming Habano wrappers.” Binder and filler tobaccos were also grown within Nicaragua’s tobacco regions of Estelí, Jalapa, and Condega. The company hopes to provide a medium-strength blend with interesting flavors, allowing “for an extremely pleasant smoking experience.”

The line will ship in four vitolas, packed in 20 count boxes:

• Short Churchill – 4 ¾ x 48
• Robusto – 5 ¼ x 50
• Toro – 6 x 52
• Cardinal – 5 ½ x 54

The JOYA RED will be available during the upcoming IPCPR Annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas this July. As usual, Drew Estate will distribute the brand as part of their exclusive agreement for the USA, and it will also be available worldwide through JDN’s International Marketing Division and partners.

Rediscover JOYA, Rediscover cigars!

About JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A.

JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A., is a family owned, Nicaragua-based cigar factory that handcrafts traditional cigars for the premium luxury cigar market. First opened in 1968, it is Nicaragua’s oldest cigar factory in operation and home to the legendary JOYA DE NICARAGUA® brand of cigars. JDN is regarded by many as the patriarch crafter of robust, unique puro blends of locally grown black tobaccos, and its cigars are sold in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.joyacigars.com.

Press Release: Cuatro Cinco by Joya de Nicaragua

October 15, 2013 By Kip Fisher

45 years of the Nicaraguan cigar industry celebrated with a Limited Edition by Joya de Nicaragua

Esteli,Nicaragua—‐1968 was the year when it all started: the first Premium Nicaraguan cigar was hand-rolled in Estelí under the Joya de Nicaragua seal. With it, the Nicaraguan cigar industry was born and a new era for Premium hand‐rolled cigars began. JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A is proud to honor this achievement with Cuatro Cinco, a Limited Edition cigar.

Cuatro Cinco has been especially crafted to commemorate four and a half decades of history of Joya de Nicaragua, its people and the city of Estelí, where it all started. Cuatro Cinco is an authentic Nicaraguan puro, hand rolled in Estelí with tobaccos grown in the region and in Jalapa, with a special 5 year old ligero that the factory had been saving in its bodegas for this special occasion. As if time wasn’t enough, the filler tobaccos have been specially aged in oak barrels for more than a year to give them distinctive and sophisticated notes, and the silky smooth wrapper and binder are Nicaraguan grown in the Jalapa valley.

“We are very excited about Cuatro Cinco, for this is one of the few Limited Editions we have produced. With this cigar we are capturing the true Nicaraguan Spirit, rich in the tradition that embodies our cigars and that defines us as the archetypal Nicaraguan cigar maker, because before Joya, there was no Nicaraguan cigar. While this cigar promotes our heritage, it is also a celebration of the future and the many years we still have ahead of us. It’s been 45 years already, and we are just getting started!” stated Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman of JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A.

Leonel Raudez, General Manager and Head of Production of Joya remarks: “this is also a tribute to the people of Joya, the ones that went and the ones that are still with us, even after 45 years. We Estelianos are proud of contributing to make Nicaraguan tobacco among the best in the world, and to celebrate that, we have made one of the most exceptional cigars we have rolled, using our finest local tobaccos and rolled by a selected few of our talented tabaqueros. The profile of this cigar is nothing like what we’ve produced, although the richness and complexity of the Nicaraguan grown tobaccos still predominates.“

Cuatro Cinco will be available in a single vitola: a 6 x 54 semi–‐box pressed in 10–‐count boxes. As a Limited Edition, only 4,500 boxes of Cuatro Cinco are being produced each one numbered to guarantee exclusivity. The initial batch will start shipping in the first week of November 2013 to special Joya customers in the United States and around the world.

About JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A.

JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A. is a family owned, Nicaragua–‐based cigar factory that handcrafts traditional cigars for the premium luxury cigar market. First opened in 1968, it is Nicaragua’s oldest cigar factory in operation and home to the legendary JOYA DE NICARAGUA® brand of cigars. Joya is regarded by many as the patriarch crafter of robust, unique puro blends of locally grown black tobaccos, and its cigars are sold in nearly 40 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.joyacigars.com

Press Release: Jose Blanco departs from Joya de Nicaragua

August 29, 2013 By Kip Fisher

In the wake of earlier organizational changes at Joya de Nicaragua, it has now officially been announced that José Blanco is stepping down from his role as Senior Vice President. As the news was spreading throughout the cigar community last night, José initially confirmed this on his Facebook page:

After two years of blending and participating in the Nicaraguan cigar-business at Joya de Nicaragua I now feel even more experienced in this great tobacco which I now cherish even more than before. And as I am now back in my beautiful Dominican roots I definitely plan on staying active

A press release has been issued this morning from Joya de Nicaragua, detailed below. José is one of the good guys in the industry – in terms of personality, dedication, and knowledge base. I wish him the best in whatever is next for him…I know it will be something fantastic.

From Joya de Nicaragua:

Estelí, Nicaragua – JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A announced today that José Blanco has stepped down from his role as Senior VP of the Company. The move comes at the end of a two-year contract that resulted in a fruitful collaboration between José and Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, from which the popular CYB brand of cigars was born. Now José returns with his family to his roots in the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman and CEO of JOYA DE NICARAGUA expressed “We are very grateful for Jose’s company over the past two years. It’s been another big learning experience for all of us at JOYA, as much as we hope it was for him, and we thank him for his contributions and for helping spread the love for Nicaraguan cigars, especially during his tireless trips in the USA. We wish him and his family the best in theirfuture endeavors”.

“Working for JOYA fulfilled my curiosity and love for Nicaraguan tobacco and it’s been a great and very interesting couple of years for me to work hands-on in a true and traditional local factory.I express my appreciation to JOYA DE NICARAGUA for these two years of collaboration and I wish them all the best. I would also like to thank Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel and the entire Drew Estate team for all their great work and support during my stay and my US-trips” said José Blanco.

About JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A.

JOYA DE NICARAGUA S.A., is a family owned, Nicaragua-based cigar factory that handcrafts traditional cigars for the premium luxury cigar market. First opened in 1968, it is Nicaragua’s oldest cigar factory in operation and home to the legendary JOYA DE NICARAGUA® brand of cigars. Joya is regarded by many as the patriarch crafter of robust, unique puro blends of locally grown black tobaccos, and its cigars are sold in nearly 40 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.joyacigars.com.

News: Organizational Changes within Joya de Nicaragua

August 27, 2013 By Kip Fisher

News of some organizational changes and executive appointments emerged from Joya de Nicaragua today in the midst of celebrating its 45th anniversary. A series of executive changes were detailed in a letter from Chairman and CEO Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca earlier this afternoon. Dr. Cuenca will continue as Chairman and CEO of Joya de Nicaragua S.A.; additionally, the Board of Directors has elected Mr. Juan Ignacio Martínez as Executive President, [Read more…]