Joya Cubana 2009 Corojo

Another advance sample from my pal Roger at Joya Cubana, the Joya Cubana Corojo is just that, a Corojo-wrapped torpedo and is a sight to behold. The dark brown wrapper is fairly smooth, with a couple moderate veins and faint sheen of oil. The fillers are a blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos.

The cigar had a free draw, without being completely loose. While smoking, the burn line wobbled a bit ahead of the dark gray ash.

First flavors of buttery cedar and leather, with Corojo's red pepper heat lurking in the background. The sinuses picked up the Corojo heat pretty good. Nice volume of smoke. The corojo is nicely balanced with the other flavors, adding a bit of heat without being overpowering. Occasional hints of coffee present themselves. After the first inch, body mellowed a bit, coming down a notch from a solid medium.

But, After a couple inches, it went out. I relit it and a little bit later, it went out again. The cigar kept self-extinguishing. I smoked three inches in all, then got tired of the game.

The following weekend, I broke out another:



I hate to dog on a cigar that I didn't pay for, but it seems that the rolling quality of the Joya Cubana Corojo isn't what it should be. Either that, or the cigars are still 'young' and need a couple months to age/chill/relax to burn better. I now need to re-smoke the Joya Cubana maduro, and see if I lucked out with a good stick the first time around.

UPDATE:

A rep from Joya Cubana suggests that the cigars may have been a little too humid still from the factory. True, and a couple days in a dry box won't really fix that. So I'm going to hang onto this last Corojo torpedo for a couple months and smoke it again to see what happens. Joya Cubana seems to have been a hit at IPCPR, which is great; they make a great-tasting cigar. I hope to see these in a shop humidor near me.