Joya De Nicaragua Anatno 1970 Gran Consul

Size: 4.75 x 60 (Gran Consul)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder and Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Full
Price: Roughly $6 bucks each

Behind The Stick:

Some of you may have heard this name before, but for those who are not familiar with the Joya De Nicaragua story, a quick recap. The Anatno is actually the first cigar ever to be produced in Nicaragua when the cigar factory opened in 1964 – shortly there after ( 1970′s ) the cigar had taken off in popularity, many of the politicians and ‘famous’ of the time particularly enjoyed these smokes and helped in making them quite the popular choice. Many would think this would be the start to a great future, but due to the political and social unrest in Nicaragua at the time the production actually came to a complete stand still until 2002 when the Joya De Nicaragua name was revived and the Anatno 1970 again began production – this time a tribute to the start of the Nicaraguan growing and production history.

I’ve had two of these cigars resting in my humidor for about a year and a half, time to finally get this one out and see how it performs!

Construction:

Talk about a short, fat little smoke! Evenly packed from head to foot although a little on the firm side. Not enough to make me worry about the draw enough to pick up any tools, but the concern was still in the back of my mind. The dark brown wrapper does have a few oils, but surprisingly enough not as much as I was expecting. The feel to the wrapper on the other hand – now that made me realize just how oily this cigar is! No flaws with the wrapper, cap placement or issues when cutting. My pet peeve with band removal was even flawless. Hate to say it but I’m almost looking for something to bitch about. So far so good.

Flavor:

Just as I was worried about, the draw was a bit tighter than I prefer – I was still getting some smoke through but it reminded me of sucking a freshly made milkshake through a straw. That being said, the first third mainly consisted of me trying to open up the draw and focusing on the poor burn rather than the flavors, which surprisingly still shined and were quite intense when licking my lips. A mild ‘spice’, wood and leather flavored combination pretty much carried this smoke through till the band. At that point, the spice seemed to calm down, the wood flavors turned darker and the leather kicked into full gear straight to the nub.

Overall:

This is not a cigar I would personally grab first out of a line up, but at the same time I do admit, this was a pretty damn good smoke. The larger ring gauge helps give you the true flavors of the filler tobacco rather than the wrapper aiding with a bulk of the flavor. There is nothing wrong with this, but I did notice about half way through I started to get bored with the flavors – they were enjoyable but more than once I thought ‘is this it?’

Now here is the caviot, at the price of roughly 6 bucks a pop or just under $5/each when buying a box, these are a great budget smoke that I can see that a lot of full body smokers will go nuts for it. This isn’t one I’d write off without a try, but unless your jumping at the bit or consider yourself a big full body fan, I’d try a pair or a 5 pack before you splurge on a box. Hell, this might just be a smoke that falls into my regular rotation. If you have had the chance to smoke some please let me know what you though of them!

Every Cigar Has A Story, Every Smoke A Memory