Yaya Bagua Robusto

Today, we review the Yaya Bagua in the Robusto size. Yaya is a brand that was made by a company called CigarZona. CigarZona is owned by Carlos Guillermo. The Yaya part comes from Taino mythology and he is the god who created everything. The Tainos were indigenous people to the Carribean and Florida regions. Many believe they were the first to cultivate and consume tobacco leaves. Yaya was also the nickname of a grandmother figure who made cigars. Guillermo and his friends would sneak some from the woman as kids. As for Bagua, it is what the Tainos would refer to the Caribbean Sea as.

United Cigars distributes Yaya. The Company already has ties with Taino culture through another brand it distributes—Atabey by Selected Tobacco. In Taino culture, Atabey refers to the mother of the supreme being. United took on the distribution for the Yaya brand back in 2022.

Let’s break down the Yaya Bagua Robusto without further ado and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Yaya Bagua Robusto – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Yaya Bagua is produced at Tabacalera Magia in the Dominican Republic. José Dominguez owns this factory. United Cigars also directly produces several of its lines at Tabacalera Magia. The Yaya Bagua blend features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over all Dominican tobaccos for the binder and filler.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican Cubano
Filler: Dominican
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera Magia

Vitolas Offered

The Yaya Bagua is offered in four sizes. Each comes in 15-count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 54
Gordo: 6 x 60
Short Robusto: 4 x 54 (PCA Exclusive)

Appearance (*)

The Yaya Bagua Robusto’s Ecuadorian Habano wrapper was dark Colorado red and had a light coating of oil on its surface. Upon closer examination, there was also a slight amount of mottling and toothiness on the wrapper. Some visible veins were present. The dark color of the wrapper did an excellent job of hiding the wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Before lighting up the Yaya Bagua Robusto, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, it was time to proceed with the pre-light draw ritual. The flavors of the cold draw were earth and floral notes. Unfortunately, the pre-light draw could not have been more of a miss for me. Floral notes off a cigar simply don’t work for me. At this point, I decided to be optimistic and toast up the footer of the Bagua Robusto and prepared to move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Yaya Bagua Robusto opened up with notes of cedar, floral, earth, natural tobacco, and nut. The good news is the earth and floral notes were not as prominent now. The natural tobacco and nut moved into the forefront as the cigar moved through the early stages, and cedar, floral, and earth notes settled in the background. The better news was the floral notes dissipated midway through the first third. By this point, the natural tobacco notes had a nougat-like sweetness. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered an extra layer of white pepper.

The nut notes receded into the background during the second third of the Yaya Bagua Robusto. At the same time, the nougat qualities of the natural tobacco receded. Toward the end of the second third, the nougat qualities had dissipated. In addition to the nut notes, there were earth and cedar notes. Later, in the second third, there was an emergence of some herbal notes in the background.

By the final third, natural tobacco remained primary. The herbal notes were the most prominent of the secondary notes. Earth, cedar, and nut notes remained. This is how the Yaya Bagua Robusto came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Overall, the Yaya Bagua Robusto had a jagged burn and required multiple touch-ups. The burn also meandered a few times off the path. In the end, while the touch-ups mitigated things, more touch-ups were needed than I preferred. The resulting ash was light gray in color. This was a slightly loose ash. There was also some flowering of the ash. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Burn of the Yaya Bagua Robusto

Draw

The draw of the Yaya Bagua Robusto had a touch of resistance. This is something I consider to be positive, making for an excellent draw. This cigar also produced ample smoke throughout the smoking experience.

Strength and Body

The Yaya Bagua Robusto started out with medium strength and medium-bodied flavors. Both attributes slightly increased in intensity, but in the end, strength and body remained in the medium range of the spectrum. In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overpowering the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

Both the bands and boxes of the Yaya Bagua were done well. As for the bands, the copper color works nicely with the black on the primary band and the blue on the secondary band. The boxes have a piano finish. I also like the 15-count box.

Yaya Bagua Robusto Packaging (Photo supplied by United Cigars)

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

While not scored as a part of a Cigar Coop assessment, the pre-light draw is important because it gives a preview of things. In the case of the Yaya Bagua Robusto, the pre-light draw didn’t tell this cigar’s story. I wasn’t a fan of the pre-light draw, but things changed once lit, and that’s most important. It delivered some nice flavors throughout the smoking experience, and I was quite glad it didn’t reflect the pre-light draw. The cigar could have scored a bit higher if the burn performed a little better. Still, it’s a $9.00 cigar that delivered an 88-point score. This is enough for me to recommend this cigar – and it’s a cigar that any cigar enthusiast can enjoy. It’s also a cigar I would buy and smoke again. I look forward to trying the other sizes.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Nougat, Nut Cedar, Earth, Herb, Pepper,
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good