This is part one of my Joya de Nicaragua (regular line) review. This is titled old JdN, because I found this puppy in the back of the humidor in a local tobacconist and this featured an older band design and the cello was seriously yellow from aging. The band does not have the metallic gold ink like the Antano’s, my guess is that this stick was at least a year old. Before you read this review:

1) I will be smoking a “newer” JdN (regular line) tonight as comparison, I’ll write up a review for that as well.
2) I love the Antano’s… so I’m not JdN-hating.

Joya de Nicaragua Consul (old band) – 4.5 x 52

Appearance and construction (12 of 15 points possible)

Good looking cigar. Brown wrapper (CM) with few veins, no visible tooth. The cap, however, was slightly loose, looked like it was slapped on as an after thought. Firm to the touch, but not to the point that I thought it was under filled. Ok, now to my biggest issue… this bad boy looked dyed! There were some inconsistencies in the color of the wrapper across the length of the cigar (reminded me of a lighter MX2). Dark brown splotches next to lighter areas. At this point I became concerned…

Flavor (18 of 25 points possible)

Hmmm. Ok, I’ll admit I was expecting a “less than full-bodied” Antano. Maybe that was too much to ask for, because I did not get it. As soon as I put the cigar in my mouth I got the characteristic taste of a dyed cigar. Now some of you may say that you cannot taste a dyed cigar, but I disagree. Compare the initial taste (pre-light) of any Padron Maduro to say a Fonseca Sun Grown Cedar or a CAO MX2; I cannot describe it but I always get a dull chemical taste with the latter. So aside from that, I got very little from the cigar. I detected woody notes and some earthiness, but to be honest that was it. There was a fair amount harshness at the end with real bitter metallic notes, forcing me to put it out with a little over an 1 ½” left.

Smoking Characteristics (24 of 25)

Well, the good news was that the cigar smoked beautifully. A more than decent amount of smoke… very aromatic (caramelized sugar and mahogany), which to me contradicted what I actually tasted. The cigar burned almost dead-even and I only had to touch it up once with the lighter, but I attribute that to the fact that I got rid of the ash a little too early. The best feature of this cigar was how it smoked.

Overall Impression (25 of 35)

This was a medium-full bodied smoke. I did not expect the harshness, after all this cigar has been sitting for a long time, so that was a big disappointment. The cigar did smoke well, but the obvious “dye-job” really affected my enjoyment. I am not sure why the regular cigar in this brand would need to be messed with; a Colorado colored wrapped is nothing to be ashamed about. This cost me around 4 bucks and while I have smoked a lot of cigars in this price range that were worse, this cigar was in no way a value. For the same price I would get an Antano any day.
But! And a big but at that (no, not JLo’s)… this cigar has been reblended at some point (see Perlman’s 2004), this may have been rolled before the reblend. Therefore, I am reserving final judgment until I smoke the “new band” JdN tonight. I will post on this puppy tomorrow.

Overall - 79


Stoge, hope this answers your question from Tonight's Smoke.

Man that sounds terrible and your right a dyed cigar has a funny smell and taste.

Good review JS, I'll be looking forward to the second part.

I've never tried the JdN regular line, only the Antano's, mostly because I've never heard anything good about the regulars. I'm a little suprised that you said it was med - full, as I've always been told they were pretty mild.

you might argue with me that these are med, not med-full... but no way could i call these mild!

but then again, maybe with the reblend, these became milder in body. i'm trying the "new band" tonight.

I've never tried them, so take my word. I've just had others tell me they were mild when I've asked about them.

Nice review. Sounds like you might have just saved me a few bucks. I wondered how the regular line was.

Yeah! I can pretty much blame Idesign for getting me hooked on the whole JDN thing! Now I got a box of JDN Celebration Belicosos and JDN Antanos Belicosos coming into my delivery! What a pal!!!

This is part two of my Joya de Nicaragua (regular line) review. This is titled new JdN, the band resembles the one on the Antanos, minus the “Antano” (duh). This cigar was found in the same shop as the old JdN, this also appeared to have been there a while (the cello was yellower than Stogie’s teeth!).

Joya de Nicaragua Torpedo (new band) – 6 x 52

Appearance and construction (12 of 15 points possible)

This cigar looked like it came from out of a Dr. Seuss story. The cap is very curvy and looked like it was wrapped by a blind man. Had a dark brown wrapper (M) with big honking veins, no visible tooth. Unlike the old band JdN, this cigar did not appear to be artificially enhanced (no dye). This cigar was very firm to the touch, more so than the “old” one. But when I clipped it and took a pre-light draw, I didn’t have any problems.

Flavor (24 of 25 points possible)

When I tried the old band the night before I said I expected a “less than full-bodied” Antano; this time I think I got it. As soon as I lit the cigar I began picking up subtle coffee notes, which were present throughout the entire smoke. The first half of the cigar also gave me quite a nice amount of mellow leatheriness. As I passed the halfway point, I began to detect a touch of pepper and cocoa. This was a very enjoyable mellow tasting cigar with no harshness present.

Smoking Characteristics (22 of 25)

This cigar also smoked beautifully. This bad boy had tons of dark grey smoke, reminding me of the Antanos. The stick burned fairly even, requiring a few relights. The ash peaked out at about 2 inches and was dark grey and black. The ash was very, very flaky.

Overall Impression (30 of 35)

Perlman (2004) described this cigar as full bodied… I’m going to disagree there and call it a mild-medium smoke (this is more inline with what you’ve heard, Idesign). Nice and complex, but very mellow. It was not pretty by any means, but it smoked very well and was extremely flavorful. This would be a great morning smoke if you were a fan of the Antanos. This falls in the same price range as the Antanos, however it is real hard for me to pay 5 buck for a milder smoke… but that’s me, I still liked it though. Those that were interested in trying it should go ahead and do so, you might really enjoy it.

Overall – 88



Now to answer the question… I believe these two smokes were different blends – different color, body, and flavor profile. The JdNs were reblended in 2000, so that means that the old band was probably at least four years old – after all that time, it still wasn’t that good of a smoke. It makes sense why it was reblended. The new band I believe was also in the humi for a while due to the yellow cello. So I think it’s fair to say that my review is based on two cigars that have rested for quite a while.

Hey JSprenk, I might have to go try one now, nice review. It sounds much better than the earlier JdN. I'm man enough to admit that I don't mind a mildish cigar here and there, as long as it's still flavorful.

Thanks IDesign! If you do get try one, let me know what you think!

Thanks Funny guy , nice review JS!! Im gonna have to try one of these one day. I dont usually smoke mild cigars either, but if they have good flavor and balance I dont mind one every now and again.

Thanks Stoge!

Wow I've never heard anyone say the Antano was mild to medium bodied; I've smoked a bunch of the Antano's in all sizes and found them to be a full bodied smoke with quite a bite. Maybe the Belicoso you smoked had been aged quite a bit and that lessened the bite. I never can seem to let the sit in my humidor long enough to see of they mellow as I find them to be one of the best smokes out there for the money.

No one said the Antano was mild-med. He said the regular JDN line was mild-med. The antano is definitely full bodied.

Thanks for clearing that up, my bad. I thought he was comparing the Antanos against the regular JdN.