Reviews by Jeff K
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Red is the New Joya
As a self-appointed ambassador of all things cigars, I spend a lot of time thinking about branding. And if there’s one thing that makes me nervous it’s the words “rebranding” and “new directions.” Normally well-intentioned, many “rebranding” campaigns unfortunately end up as big failures (New Coke, anyone?). So you can understand my initial hesitance around Joya Red. A classic Nicaraguan brand known for their kick-ass, powerhouse cigars was going to deliver a smooth and medium-bodied blend? I wasn’t convinced. So when the boxes landed on our docks, I did what needed to be done — snuck a box of Toros away and headed upstairs to perform a little QA.
The first impression was great. While most boxes from Joya are chunky, weighty, and very “old-school”, I like this new approach to packaging here. The red and gold band looks nice against the golden-brown Habano wrapper, and the box is sharp. Paper wrapped, each box contains 20 cigars, in two rows of ten. The next step here was easy. I picked the cigar with the shiniest cellophane, broke out the ol’ cutter and lighter, and began puffing away.
At first, this cigar is rather mellow. There’s a sweetness to it (CA calls it “brown sugar”, that’s a little too technical for me), with a crisp and clean tobacco core. It’s good, but the best was yet to come. Around an inch in flavors of roasted nuts join the mix, and as the cigar burns down it’s only picking up steam. Eventually, I was given a nice medium-bodied mixture of wood, toasty tobacco, coffee, and some hints of black pepper. In all, everything kept cool and smooth, never even inching into the full-bodied territory of some other JdN’s like Antano 1970 or Dark Corojo. But the flavors certainly kept coming. By the end of this cigar, you’re left with a super satisfying, palate-smacking wallop of delicious Nicaraguan goodness, all without breaking a sweat. I let this one burn down as far as I could go without burning my fingers, and then stashed the rest of the box in my humidor.
As you may have guessed at the beginning of this review, I wasn’t sure I’d like the “new” Joya, but I tried Red anyway. And I’m glad I did. Joya Red is a fantastic cigar that I can heartily recommend to anyone who enjoys a balanced blend. It’s smooth, complex, and subtle — a perfect contender for your new daily stick.
90
Master Built?
Powerband is the newest addition to the Master Built Series from Camacho. There are two other cigars in that line: Triple Maduro and American Barrel Aged. Triple Maduro has been a crowd pleaser since the blend debuted. And I liked American Barrel Aged enough to review it last year, and give it a 90 point rating. Needless to say, Powerband had some big shoes to fill if it was going to live up to these two.
So what exactly are we dealing with here? Powerband is inspired by biker culture, and like all Camachos the presentation is on point. But I’m not here to collect fancy boxes, I’m here to light up some great cigars. So let’s pop open the hood on this sucker. We’re looking at a Habano 2000 Ecuador wrapper, a Mexican San Andres binder, and filler leaves from Nicaragua, Honduras, and three different regions of the Dominican Republic. That’s right, there’s 5 unique long-fillers at play.
The fine folks at Camacho tell me this one is made with a “proprietary bunching process that maximizes airflow for peak performance.” Honestly, I’m not sure if that actually affects the cigar at all. Don’t get me wrong, the draw and construction are spot-on. But I don’t think you’ll toast the foot of this and then say, “Wow, I really enjoy the thorough airflow allowed by the proprietary bunching process of the filler leaves!”… Unless that’s your thing, in which case, have at it.
Anyway, back to the cigar. There’s a great amount of flavor at play here. I went with the 6” x 50 Toro for this review, and was greeted with earthy notes and a spicy core at the start. As the cigar burnt, it progressed into a sweetness joined the mix that had me reaching for a nice stout to pair up with this handmade. If I have to make a complaint, I’ll echo what I said in my ABA review: the price here isn’t great. It’s worth the money, but probably a bit too rich to be in my humidor all the time. As an occasional treat, the Powerband is well worth the 5-Pack purchase, and I think it fits right in with the other Master Built offerings.
90
CAO...at it again.
More and more today, new cigar releases seem to be hyping up some sort of gimmick or “uniqueness” factor. Some work, some don’t, and it’s nice to see the industry moving forward in different ways. But most nights, when I’m looking for a cigar to unwind with after a long day, I don’t want something flashy. I want something simple and elegant. Enter CAO Pilon, a cigar that’s been one of my post-work go-tos since it was released in late 2015.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with CAO, but if you have a second, check out their portfolio again, and just count all of the fantastic cigars that they’re behind. This brand is chock full of 90+ ratings (including the cigar at hand today), and I’m expecting that list will keep growing in the future. Pilon was released under their “Classic” line, which also includes the fantastic CAO Gold, Maduro, and Cameroon.
So where does the name Pilon come from? It’s a purposefully stacked layer of leaves, meant to ferment the tobacco. This style of fermentation dates back to Havana, Cuba in the 1800’s. It’s a traditional approach that takes slightly longer than typical fermentation, but that delivers a flavor that is rich, bold, and as the line suggests, classic.
Before we dive into the flavor of these sticks, let’s quickly go over the presentation. For my money, it’s unbeatable. The box is simple, the band gives you all the information on the blend that you need (why don’t more cigars do this?), and the text on the front tells you all about the Pilon story. Inside the box, you’ll find 20 perfectly rolled Nicaraguan gems. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper is slightly oily, and really compliments the Nicaraguan fillers and binder.
The result of this blend is a medium-bodied mix of spice, earth, cedar, leather, and a natural nuttiness. The cigar grows in strength as you burn it, and by the end, it certainly has a bit more kick, without being overwhelming. This is a perfect companion to a glass of rum after a great dinner. The balance of this cigar makes me confident recommending it to anyone, and as of now, I’m making sure I always have a few of these on hand. It just goes to show you — trends come and go, but passion and talent are timeless.
92
This one handles beautifully...
Bugatti accessories have been around the cigar world for a while now, and they’ve always been solid performers. When I heard that they were going into cigar manufacturing, I must admit, I had some doubts. When you’re good at what you do, I want to see you do that, not something else. No one’s lining up to watch Jordan Spieth play football (although, after the recent Masters, maybe he’s considering making a switch). In this case, though, I’m happy to say I was wrong. Bugatti cigars are the real deal.
Yigal Harel, president of the Bugatti Group, was quite enthusiastic in this launch. While most cigar brands come onto the scene with one or two different offerings, Bugatti launched an ambitious five. At this point, I’ve tried four out of the five of them, and while I certainly have my favorites, I feel solid recommending any if you’re looking for a top-shelf blend. Let’s talk about one in specific today, though. The Bugatti Ambassador.
What we’ve got here is a true medium-bodied, balanced blend. And for those of you who’ve seen my past reviews, you know that this is the type of cigar I keep coming back to. Bugatti Ambassador is made in the PDR factory in the DR. As you may have guessed, the presentation here is spot-on. Bugatti knows how to make something look good. The sleek black and red design of the box, with the matte finish on top is flawless. When you open this box, you know you’re getting something premium.
But of course, you don’t want a sports car just for the looks. You want to know that when you hit the gas, you’re peelin’ off in the best of the best. Lighting up these samples, I was instantly impressed. The Ecuador Habano wrapper delivered a sweet creaminess that kept this blend smooth and mellow, which spicy flavors came in and out throughout the burn. There’s a box of these in the office right now, and I’d expect that it’ll be gone by the end of the week — the guys have been ripping these daily.
The only knock I have against this cigar is the price. To be fair, with this one, you’re getting what you pay for, but it certainly ain’t cheap. If you’re looking for a 5-pack for your golf crew, though, this one’s a no-brainer. After those are gone, I wouldn’t be surprised if this showed up on your wish list (Father’s Day is right around the corner after all…)
91
One Village, one helluva good coffee.
When I got the call from Woody at One Village Coffee, a local company, asking if we’d be interested in carrying their line of coffees, I was skeptical…after all we are a cigar company. He grabbed my attention though with his passion and enthusiasm about coffee and by explaining the similarities between growing coffee beans and growing tobacco, and it didn’t hurt that he was a cigar smoker…always a plus.
Woody’s a licensed Q grader – which is apparently kind of a big deal…like a coffee sommelier or something and I wasn’t sure what to expect when Woody came in to do a presentation that included brewing coffee with some crazy looking equipment that could’ve come out of a science lab. There were scales, grinders, and some wild glass beaker thing called a Chemex…I was frankly amazed and was wondering where to put the K-Cup. Woody then explained how to properly brew a cup of coffee…hint, no K-Cups…and began throwing around all kinds of terms I had no idea about. Ever ‘bloom’ your coffee before to release the gases? We knew after the show that Woody and One Village were the real deal, and the coffee he brewed was nothing short of amazing. One Village Coffee routinely visits, searches out, and buys from many of the same areas that we make and buy our cigars – like Honduras. Their mission is a good one, they support and go to lengths to ensure the well-being of the farmers and make sure the coffee is grown in a responsible and sustainable way.
A few weeks ago, we fired up the old Bunn in the office and brewed a pot of the Honduras variety, and although I didn’t have all the fancy equipment, this was without a doubt the best pot of coffee I have ever made. The coffee is sourced from a single farm, and really highlights the quality of the beans. It smelled almost like a flower garden with flavors of fruit with some hazelnut on the finish, now I take my coffee black so this was a surprise. The best way I can explain this is using a cigar analogy…coffee you buy at a store is mass produced and contains a blend of beans, kind of like a Swisher Sweet, whereas One Village coffee is more of a super-premium cigar that contains premium tobacco, like a Man O’ War. I would recommend giving it a try and seeing what you’ve been missing out on.
92
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