Sometimes you have to go back to your roots, what put you on the scene, for all to see. In the case of Moya Ruiz cigars, I am talking about the La Jugada line of cigars. With all the “cool” coming out the Moya Ruiz team like the Chinese Finger Trap, Dim Mak, Nunchuck, and Pickle Juice, the original La Jugada line gets lost in the mix. The La Jugada was the first cigar Danny and Nelson introduced in the start of 2o13. It was a maduro named the La Jugada “Prieto” and it was quickly followed up at that years IPCPR with the Habano variety. I recall meeting the team at that 2014 IPCPR in Vegas. Their marketing advertising banner for the cigar was making a point of how to say the name “La WHO gah dah”. This was their baby and it put them on the map.
I am here today to review the La Jugada Habano , which was part the cigar package I received at the Smoke Inn, Great Smoke, last month.
To start with, the La Jugada Habano is stunning looking cigar. It has a silky smooth dark tan habano wrapper that is practically absent of veins. The packing is tight and solid throughout and it is adorned with the classic La Jugada white, green, and gold band with the word “HABANO” imprinted at the bottom.
The La Jugada Habano blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder – Undisclosed (double binder)
- Filler – Nicaragua
Moya Ruiz offers the La Jugada Habano in 5 vitolas:
- Robusto: 5 × 52 – MSRP $7.50
- Toro: 6 × 52 – MSRP $7.70
- Belicoso: 6⅛ × 52 – MSRP $7.80
- Doble Corona: 7½ × 49 – MSRP $8.00
- Ancho: 6 × 60 – MSRP $8.30
The La Jugada Habano hales from the Espinosa La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaragua and packaged in 20-count boxes. SmokeInn has these at about 10% off by the box.
For this review I sampled the La Jugada Habano Robusto
Cigar Review Notes
- Solidly packed cigar
- Triple capped
- Dark tan wrapper with a tinge of red
- Sweet cocoa aroma foot
- Fermented leaf aroma along barrel
- Spice, pepper, earth, and cocoa on cold draw
- White pepper enters early as expected
- Mild cocoa and vanilla spice enter in the first third
- Smoke is full and spicy
- Well formed medium grey ash developing
- Burn started well but started a slight run that needed a touch up at beginning of second third
- Off center burn cone was reveled after the ash fell deep into the second third
- Mild sweet spice enters end of second third joined with a nut component
- Sweetness and spice play well together through the last third
- Medium to full strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 20 minutes
Overall, the La Jugada Habano Robusto was a fairly easy cigar to smoke. It was not a fully complex cigar, yet offered some pleasing flavor components. The burn did require a touch-up, but then behaved itself through the remainder of the smoking experience. I enjoyed the gentle spice that weaved through the profile from start to finish. Certainly a classic cigar for Moya Ruiz.
La Jugada Habano