Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco Décadas El Doctor. This is a cigar previously assessed with the Fundador size back in November 2020.

Wrapper: Not Disclosed
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua SA
El Doctor: 6 x 52 (Box Pressed)

El Doctor is the fourth vitola in Joya de Nicaragua’s limited production Cinco Décadas line. It was a line introduced in 2018 to commemorate 50 years in the cigar business for Joya de Nicaragua. This was a significant milestone for Joya de Nicaragua in that it is the oldest company in Nicaragua, and the brand has close ties to the history and culture of Nicaragua. For the most part, the names of the vitolas in the line pay homage to the people and events that have been a part of Joya de Nicaragua’s culture. In this case, El Doctor pays tribute to Joya de Nicaragua Chairman Dr. Alejandro Martinez Cuenca.

To date, Joya de Nicaragua has not released any details about the blend of El Doctor. The cigar itself is a 6 x 52 box-pressed belicoso. The cigars are presented in very elegant ten-count boxes. The new size made its debut back in 2020. A total of 600 boxes were produced. Production of Cinco Décadas is limited. There was a production of Cinco Décadas done in 2021, but El Doctor was not one of the sizes included.

It is also worth noting that three sizes of the Cinco Décadas blend have landed on the Cigar Coop Cigar of the Year Countdown: El General (2018), Diadema (2020), and Fundador (2021). In addition, there was a fifth size of Cinco Décadas called El Embargo released as an exclusive in Europe.

El Doctor delivers notes of natural tobacco, black pepper, earth, wood, and what I term a signature cherry cream flavor that this cigar produces. During the first third the natural tobacco and cherry cream take over as the primary notes with the retro-hale delivering an additional layer of black pepper. Later in the first third, the natural tobacco takes over as the primary note. The second third sees an increase in the wood notes and a decrease in the cherry cream. By the final third, the wood notes join the natural tobacco in the forefront.

Throughout the smoking experience of El Doctor, the flavors were medium-bodied countered by medium strength. The burn was excellent – requiring minimal touch-ups. While normally I like a little resistance on the draw, this draw was tighter than I prefer.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

On its own, El Doctor scores a very respectable 89. The problem becomes when you compare it with the three previous sizes (El General, Diadema, and Fundador), it doesn’t quite deliver the same performance that those cigars did. In the end when you have a set of vitolas in a blend, one does have to rank at the top and one has to rank at the bottom. In this case, it is the El Doctor size at the bottom. In the end, I’m inclined to recommend one try a sample and see if the blend/size is something that is satisfactory.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Wood, Cherry Cream, Earth, Black Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good