Joya De Nicaragua’s Antano Dark Corojo is a Real Joy

Joya de Nicaragua started making premium cigars in 1968 and that level of experience is evident in their Antano Dark Corojo Double Fuente. This is one of the few cigars that I believe truly earns the label “oscuro” (blackish or dark). The oscuro wrappers come from the top of the plant where the extra sunlight and time before picking begins to cure the tobacco on the plant. This gives a darker, richer and more flavorful wrapper than the typical maduro processing. Joya gave me one of their Dark Corojo Double Fuente cigars at the 2014 IPCPR to review. It was a 5 ½ X 54 they refer to as El Martillo.

El Martillo has a Nicaraguan Corojo Oscuro wrapper that is a beautiful dark, almost black color. The binder and filler are also Nicaraguan so El Martillo is a puro. The wrapper had a nice, slightly oily feel, although I did find a large bump about 1/3 from the foot. The pre-light aroma is a very heavy chocolate. The initial flavor is dark chocolate with some spice. About midway through the cigar pepper surfaced along with notes of cherry and sweetness. The ash and draw were good and the smoke was very creamy.

El Martillo is a full bodied cigar and the Antano line is distributed by Drew Estate. It took an hour and 50 minutes to smoke the cigar and no relights were needed. I would smoke another one but only after a meal later in the day. The SRP is $7.85 and I rate it a 4 out of 5.