Rosalones by Joya de Nicaragua 552

This 5 X 52 reddish brown cigar smells of cedar and black pepper.  This cigar has been exclusive to the European market since 2010 but has now found its way over to America. The cigar is almost flawless in appearance and is a bit oily.  The first light reveals a large amount of cedar and black pepper.  This is a rarity that the flavors match the smell, but I'm not complaining. The flavors are a medium to full in body and starting to move to straight full.  The first flavor after a draw is a sweet but overpowering black pepper.  The pepper hits you hard, but no so hard that it hurts.  The cedar is rich and sweet and leaves a oily slick on your palette.  The cigar gives off a gigantic amount of smoke with each puff, an unusual amount, more then I've gotten from most cigars.  The cigar continues to billow plumes of smoke from the tip and does not stop the entire experience.  I made the mistake of smoking this one in the car, it filled the car with smoke in less that 5 draws.  The burn isn't razor sharp but is not requiring any attention.

The second half of the cigar brings a nice coffee.  The coffee flavor is faint and is over powered by the pepper and cedar but it does remain after each draw.  The pepper is at at solid 7 out of 10 and dominates the draw flavors but the after taste is all cedar and coffee.  The body is Full but does shift from medium to full which I found interesting.  The flavors are nice and easy to pick out and is very enjoyable.  The burn is staying the same  as the last update, not even, but not presenting any problems. The cigar however does have a little bit of "young-ness" to it.  Its a bit fresh and does hit the back of your throat with a little harshness.  I believe that I will let my remainder of these cigars rest in my humidor for a couple months to see if the harshness and the pepper mellows a little bit.  The cigar is a bit of a powerhouse.  Now, I will tell you, I do enjoy mild to medium body cigars the most.  However, this cigar is a good change of pace.  If you have never smoked a full body cigar before, this would be a good one to transition to because of the ease of the capture of the flavors on your palette.  Its not overpowering completely, but it definitely isn't a medium bodied cigar.

The last two inches get warm and the flavors start to wash into a toasted nut.  The flavor is a welcome change from all the Pepper, even though the coffee and cedar are staying present with the nutty-ness.  I enjoyed this cigar as it was a change of pace from what I normally enjoy smoking.  I think this cigar would pair very nicely with a spiced rum or perhaps a lighter bourbon.  I'm looking forward to what this cigar can become with a proper amount of time resting in my humidor.  I ended the cigar with around an inch and a half to go at the 48 min mark.

Price: $4.00
Appearance: 97
Draw: 92
Burn: 89
Flavor: 91
Burn Time: 89

Overall Score: 91