A box of ten Robustos picked up from Nicaragua by a colleaque. At first sight I didn't know what to think of the boxes. Soon enough I got some great advice from Don Fernando and other members of a Dutch cigar forum. From speculations it's most likely a local brand but if anyone knows more, please and feel free to post what you know.


The cigar itself looks decent. A little rough but feels well rolled. Cold, the cigar smells like sweet hay which I'm not used to, compared to fellow Nicaraguan cigars that smell like heavy dirt. After cutting I took a pre-draw which was the same as the sniffing conducted earlier. It even tingels a little in the mouth. The draw is good. Light with a little resistance.

Lighting this robusto went flawlessy as a sweet aroma filled the room. That tingly sensation from the pre-draw was gone and didn't return. Leather, wood and sweet hay were the first tones which became more dominant. Eventually the cedar slowly takes over that of the leathery tone after which it becomes the primary characteristic. Towards the middle, this cigar becomes full-bodied where creamy sweet nuances come by so once in a while. I found this combination to work really well.

The sturdy ash is light grey, almost white and stays put until around 2.5 inches. Got rid of it and purged the cigar. If you don't know how a jet fighter's afterburner works, you could have witnessed it here ... just like my eyebrows almost did. Anyhow, the burn is fairly straight throughout the entire cigar. Lots of smoke, mostly wooden tones in a medium/full-boddied cigar. Lacks a little complexity but the interesting woody tones kept my attention. The little sweetnesses coming by were very welcome.


After all it's a reasonable cigar. Burn was no problem and a sturdy ash which means a very relaxed smoking experience. It's not a prime cigar by any means but the well balanced nuances of different woody and sweet tones makes it a good all-around cigar. Whether you take it out for a walk, smoke it after lunch or dinner.
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A friend of mine brought me some of those in a very small size and i liked em pretty good. :-) nice review.
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A friend of mine gave me one of these in a churchill size. Has the sweet hay scent you describe.

I can find no information on this cigar. My friend gets them from a buddy at work whose family lives in Nicaragua. His buddy doesn't smoke cigars himself so he knows nothing about them other than telling some mysterious story about how these cigars are not supposed to leave Nicaragua and his family sneaks them out for him...

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Thanks for the replies and sorry for my delayed response. I would have never guessed someone to post a picture of another Joya de Esteli in different sizes. Great to see and good to know that you guys like this cigar. I have a couple left and will nurish them in company of friends.
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Looks familiar...


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My wife's uncle brought me back a box of 10 Churchills from his trip to Nicaragua. At first I was skeptical but after smoking one they are not half bad. A little time in the humidor would smooth out the edges and turn it into solid cigar. I thought they were more mild to medium not really full bodied as the OP mentioned but maybe that's because I tend to smoke more full and strong cigars compared to the milder ones. I wasn't impressed with the box and packaging(my first impression was "oh oh dog turd alert") but the cigar sure surprised me. I'm going to see if my wife's uncle can give me some background on them puppies.
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i too have had one from a friend visiting nicaragua, and feel the same as the rest of you: pleasantly surprised
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Hola, buenas yo hablo español, les quiero informar que yo soy el dueño de esta gran marca, digo gran marca porque es muy vendida en Nicaragua a extranjeros como ustedes, bueno también les ofrezco varias marcas como:
Diamante de las segovias entre otros, si quieren mas información pueden comunicarse o ponerse en contacto conmigo, aquí mis datos:
Teléfono: (505) 27141298
Celular: (505)88565905
Correo: rodolfo_torrez@yahoo.com
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Courtesy of Google Translator:
Senor Torrez, Welcome to Cigar Asylum. May I point you in the direction of our New Inmate Processing area ?

Señor Torrez, Bienvenidos al Asilo cigarro. Puedo señalarle en la dirección de nuestra nuevo recluso área de procesamiento ?
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Guess he didn't get the memo!:-)
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