Tom M. Ok, now that I have your attention… I recently kicked-back and lit up an Antano 1970 by Joya de Nicaragua and it was dark, smooth, attractive and seemingly well put together but in a short period of time it became clear that this cigar was high maintence.  This cigar was a diva!

The taste profile was excellent and on par with what one has come to expect from a Joya de Nicaragua:  a full bodied powerhouse with an earthy core, some black pepper and strong nose full of leather.

This particular cigar was fairly smooth while maintaining its full bodied profile.  It was well rolled in that the burn was amazingly even from beginning to end.  As it burned it produced a lovely silver grey ash and a copious amount of intoxicating smoke.  But…  The draw was so tight that if you left this otherwise beautiful cigar unattended for more than a minute or so its fire screamed to a startling halt.

I had to relight it twice. Not what one expects from a Joya de Nicaragua or any other fine cigar for that matter.  At a 48 ring gauge we are not dealing with the issues one sometimes encounters with a smaller cigar.  One or two strong draws every minute to minute and a half should have been more than enough but it was not.  The overly tight draw was a fatal flaw with this particular cigar.  It required entirely too much attention…  It was a Diva of a cigar.  In a world full of people and things that scream for our attention the last thing I need is a needy cigar!

Note: Image from Wikipedia commons

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