Just hand over the case of La Jugadas and nobody gets hurt.
Do you remember in the movie Pulp Fiction when Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta go to fetch the brief case filled with an unknown, golden, glowing substance? The contents of that brief case have been the subject of many debates. Well, I’m here to tell you that I’m fairly certain that the brief case was filled with La Jugada Prieto cigars. The La Jugada is the first release from Moya Ruiz Cigars and its produced in the La Zona factory by Erik Espinosa. The La Jugada (la hoo-gotta) is a dark, “prieto” Mexican San Andres maduro wrapped cigar, with a Nicaraguan binder and filler.
The most striking thing about this cigar is the label. This thing just flat out glows! And when you put a few of them next to one another, you have the Aurora Borealis of cigars. If you know me, you might know that I am a graphic designer by trade and I’m always partial to cigars with a good presentation and this La Jugada has one of the best presentations you will ever lay eyes on.
But presentation doesn’t always equal good performance, so I smoked a couple La Jugada’s and I can tell you without a doubt, these babies taste as good as they look. After cutting and taking the pre-light draw, I can tell already, this is a well crafted cigar; which is typical coming from Erik Espinosa because the resistance is absolutely effortless, just the way I like it.
The toasting and lighting reveals a super dark rich coa coa flavor, but the thing that grabs my attention is the chalky, oily smoke. I love when the smoke from my cigar coats my mouth with flavor. You can almost chew on the smoke of the La Jugada.
After you work your way into the first third of this cigar, you will be greeted with espresso flavors with a subtle sweetness. This brings up my first bit of advice on smoking this cigar: pair the La Jugada with something such as a water, or a gin & tonic, possibly a mojito, or even bourbon. Don’t pair the La Jugada with a coffee flavored drink, because it will mask the gorgeous and complex espresso flavors that the La Jugada produces. I unknowingly smoked my first La Jugada with coffee and I noticed the flavors covering one another, so the next one I smoked I paired with a Mojito and it made all the difference in the world.
Halfway home and the La Jugada turns a bit from the coffee flavors and shifts to a deep aged tobacco and leather flavor, which is extremely pleasant. The burn on both of the La Jugadas that I smoked was a bit funky, but it never effected the performance or the enjoyment of the cigar. Tons of billowing white flavorful smoke emanated from this cigar until the very end. The ash was firm and didn’t fall off until I coaxed it in the ash tray.
The La Jugada is an “any time” smoke. It’s a very balanced medium strength, yet full flavored cigar. You won’t find yourself feeling dizzy or queazy after this cigar, as it’s just as pleasant in the morning, afternoon, or night. Currently, the La Jugada is only in a few stores, therefore it might be hard to find, but I’m sure with a cigar this good it will soon be widely available.
Would I smoke this cigar again?
Heck ya! I have two more in my humidor that I can’t wait to smoke. The second La Jugada I had was even better than the first, so I can’t wait to dig into number three and number four. The La Jugada is priced under 10 bucks, so it’s a major value in my opinion.
Short Link:
- Great with age
- Warm citrus flavor
- Balanced flavor
- Wavy burn
- Better with age