Moya Ruiz La Jugada Habano Belicoso
Moya Ruiz was formed by Danny Moya and Nelson Ruiz at the end of 2012. Rolled at the Espinosa “La Zona” factory, La Jugada means “the play” or “the move” as in dominos. Their newest line the La Jugada Habano is a line extension of their La Jugada. It was released at the 2013 IPCPR Convention in Las Vegas. I did a review of the La Jugada Preito earlier this year and it had some pretty good results.
Cigar Stats
Size: 6 1/8 x52
Vitola: Belicoso
Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Factory: La Zona in Esteli Nicaragua
Price*: $7.00 via Atlantic CigarsÂ
Sizes available:
Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 52
Double Corona: 7-1/2 x 49
Ancho: 6 x 60
First Looks
This belicoso has a rounded head adorned with a double cap. Looking downward, the band looks very similar to the Preito, except the word “Prieto” is replaced by the word “Habano”. The Prieto wrapper is considerably darker in color, as the Habano is a medium brown color. If you are looking for the Habano, give the band a second look. It would be fairly hard to mistake the two, but if you are not familiar with the two, it could be. The band has a classic look to it. I like the simplistic scrolls and “old school” font chosen for the band. The wrapper has a few veins towards the head of the cigar, but nothing worth worrying over. This is a firmly packed cigar as there are no hard or soft spots throughout it.
The wrapper has an aroma similar to musty haw and some light tobacco as well. The foot’s aroma reminds me of nutmeg, a light straw and a possible herbal note mixed in as well. I cut about a 1/4″ off the cap and doing so revealed a nice draw that centered on my tongue. The cold draw had notes of a bit of a somewhat spicy hay.
Construction
The draw stayed spot-on throughout the entire cigar. The draw was pretty good as well. There were a few wavy points, but nothing too far off to cause a touch-up. The ashes were pretty decent and lasted a good bit past the 1″ mark. Each ash was semi-flaky with shades of off white and gray in the ash. I like the 52rg of this belicoso, it gave off nice, almost massive amounts of smoke from the draw. Overall a good constructed cigar as one would expect from the La Zona factory.
 
Flavor
At the start, this cigar toasted up fairly evenly and quick. Right off the bat, this cigar produces a good amount of smoke that has a woody room note to it. The first draws had a spicy wood note with a slight creaminess that kept the spice under control. A little ways into it, I get a very slight brown sugar sweetness in with the creaminess that really surprised me. About half way through the first third, the spice eased off some, but still was there on the finish.
Moving into the middle part, the creaminess shines more and eases off the pepper more than before. I start to get a nice hint of a chocolate and a even slighter coffee note. Working the burn line towards the band, I start to get a nice leathery note with some hints of cedar here and there on the back half of the cigar. The body of this cigar started off along the lines of a solid medium, now its moving more towards a medium-full.
Getting into the final third, there is a bit of a nuttiness creeping up onto the palate. That along with the creaminess and chocolate & coffee really turns the flavors to the complex status. With an inch or so left, I get a sense of a caramelized or dried fruit; slightly sweet. Accompanying these flavors comes a woodsy note that was borderline similar to the leather from before.
 
Final Thoughts
Over all, this was a darn good smoke! I like how it started with a nice rich and strong pepper that eased off with some creaminess and sweetness from the coffee/chocolate notes. Then at the last half of the dense smoke, the body ramps up a bit. That and the complex flavor ending makes for a good cigar that I would definitely suggest to try. I don’t have a favorite between the Preito or the Habano. They are both flavorful cigar with a few similarities, but with differences between the two.
*This cigar was provided to me, unsolicited, from Danny Moya of Moya Ruiz Cigars  for this review. Many thanks to Danny for the opportunity to review this cigar!
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