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 Dos Cientos. This is a cigar blend previously assessed back in June 2022.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Fábrica Joya de Nicaragua S.A
Gran Toro: 6 x 54

The 200th anniversary of Central American independence from the Spanish Empire was celebrated in 2021. This would set the stage for the creation of several Central American nations including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. Since Joya de Nicaragua is a company that aligns itself with the history and culture of Nicaragua, it made sense for Joya de Nicaragua to release a cigar to commemorate this occasion. That cigar would be the Joya de Nicaragua Dos Cientos.

The Joya de Nicaragua Dos Cientos contains tobaccos from various Latin American countries including Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. Production was handled at the Joya de Nicaragua factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. The Joya de Nicaragua Dos Cientos was available in one size – a 6 x 54 Gran Toro. The cigars were presented in 21-count boxes with one of the 21 cigars wrapped in paper. A total of 3,000 numbered boxes were released.

It is worth noting there was nothing different about the paper-wrapped cigar – other than the fact it was paper wrapped and intended to be originally smoked during the bicentennial on September 15th, 2021. Unfortunately, supply chain delays prevented Dos Cientos from shipping by that date. Instead, the company had a virtual celebration in November where people could smoke the cigar.

The Dos Cientos opened up with notes of earth, cedar, natural tobacco, and citrus. The natural tobacco notes became primary early. Notes of chocolate and white pepper emerged and joined the earth and citrus in the background. During the second third, the cedar and pepper increased and were joined by notes of baker’s spice. The natural tobacco remained primary until the end. The baker’s spice was the most prominent background note with the earth, citrus, pepper, and chocolate rounding things out. There was an additional layer of pepper and citrus on the retro-hale.

The flavors produced by the Joya de Nicaragua Dos Cientos were medium-bodied. The strength level started off medium, but progressed to medium to full just before the midway point. This gave the strength a slight edge over the body in the second third. The burn did require more touch-ups than I preferred to maintain a straight burn path and straight burn line. As for the draw, it had a touch of resistance making for an ideal experience.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The Dos Cientos smoked for this agile review were procured separately from what was smoked for the original review. I opted to store these cigars at 70% humidity (higher than the 67-68% from the previous review). This was a gut-feel call. While the cigars weren’t dry the first time, they had a drying effect on the palate. This time provided a much better result with better flavors and allowed some of the nuances of the blend to also shine better. In the end, I can now say the Joya de Nicaragua Dos Cientos is a cigar I would recommend to any cigar enthusiast to smoke – and it’s one I would buy and smoke again. It also raised this cigar to a 90-point score and earns the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence designation.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Earth, Chocolate, Cedar, Baker’s Spice, Citrus, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good