Joya de Nicaragua Introducing JOYA RED at IPCPR 2014 (Update)

While Joya de Nicaragua has become known in the U.S. for its stronger cigars, the company was not founded on Antaño Dark Corojo. In recent years, it has made attempts at blending a mild cigar (Cabinetta), a cigar for the European market (Rosalones) and now its attempting to make a modern medium cigar, JOYA RED.

Heading up this project is Juan Ignacio Martínez, the company’s president and the son of owner Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, who represents the younger side of the company and Leonel Raudez, Joya’s longtime factory manager. What they came up with is a Nicaraguan puro that is described as medium in strength. It will be offered in four sizes: Short Churchill (4 3/4 x 48), Robusto (5 1/4 x 50), Toro (6 x 52) and Cañonazo (5 1/2 x 54).

Pricing is set at $5.75-$8 before applicable local taxes and the cigars will be sold in boxes of 20.

News of the cigar was first reported in Cigar Insider.

“Our Company has changed a lot over the past few years and I’m excited to be part of a new side of JDN,” said Ignacio Martínez in a press release. “We can say that JOYA RED is a true rediscovery of our factory, tobaccos and blends. This new cigar is classy as always, but a lot more fun”.

The company will debut the cigar at the 2014 IPCPR convention and trade show in July and expects the cigar to arrive in the same month.

“This time we are broadening our focus to satisfy the demand of modern smokers who want to experience the quality of Nicaraguan tobacco in an extremely pleasant, medium bodied cigar,” said Martínez Cuenca. “It’s a smoke you will enjoy anytime and anywhere.”

Joya de Nicaragua is distributed by Drew Estate in the U.S.

Update (June 11, 2014) — Joya de Nicaragua announced today that the 5 1/2 x 54 vitola that had been called the Cardinal was being renamed to Cañonazo, due to a conflict with the Cardinal name. E.P. Carrillo currently has a line called Cardinal, though that was not cited in the press release as the specific reason for the change.

Update (June 19, 2014) — With the introduction of JOYA RED, the company is removing the Clássico and Celebración from its U.S. product catalog, however, it will be available to retailers who request it.

The official statement regarding that change reads as follows:

Clásico and Celebración are part of our core portfolio of brands and they continue to be available worldwide. They have a wide coverage internationally, especially in Europe. For the moment our marketing focus will be on JOYA RED, Antaño 1970, Dark Corojo, Cabinetta and CYB. From now on, Clásico and Celebración will continue to be available in the USA in a limited basis.

This article was originally published on June 4, 2014.