Jose L. Piedra Nacionales

Overall Score

1 review for Jose L. Piedra Nacionales

  1. Tyler

    Jose L. Piedra Nacionales

    Jose L. PiedraOrigin : Cuba
    Format : Nacionales
    Size : 134 x 16 mm (5 1/4 x 42)
    Box code : STA NOV 09
    Hand-Made
    Price : ~$1 each in Cuba / ~$5 each in Canada

    The favourite cheap cigar – most cigar smokers have one. If you are one of the elite few who have the luxury of always smoking premium cigars then this review might not be for you. For me my favourite cheap smoke brings memories of summer days and nights spent on the beach drinking and enjoying cigars. For others it’s poker night, the fishing trip, cottage, etc. I’m particularly excited about this review because as it happens Jose L. Piedra is my favourite brand of cheap smoke. So during my trip to Cuba I made sure to pick up a bundle to bring home.

    Appearance : [rating:2/5]
    These cigars look rough. They are veiny, miscoloured, sun spotted and inconsistent. One of the redeeming qualities of this bundle is most of the sticks have a decent amount of oil on the medium-brown wrapper. This cigar certainly won’t win any beauty awards however I was impressed that the filler is distributed evenly throughout.

    Jose L. Piedra Nacionales

    Construction : [rating:3/5]
    The construction of the Nacionales is actually decent. The cigar lights easily and has a nice draw. The ash is not very strong – I had to ash it about every half inch. The poor ash strength is another reason I like these at the beach since it doesn’t matter if it falls unexpectedly. The burn is uneven and needed to be evened out twice, but the cigar feels solid when you are holding it which lends well for those hazy nights when dropping sometimes occurs. The wrapper also doesn’t unroll which is a good quality for a cheap cigar.

    Flavor : [rating:3/5]
    The Nacionales is nice and earthy which is one of my favourite qualities of Jose Piedras. It’s a real salt of the earth cigar and when I’m smoking it I feel like I could be out working the fields, cultivating the land or something else hearty like that. It should probably be noted that these are things that I am definitely not capable of doing but it is a nice to sort of feel like you could. At about halfway in, the cigar gives some powdered cocoa flavour. Past that there is no real evolution of flavour. They are fairly 1-dimensional and if you are really paying attention you may pick up some light floral notes on the finish. Medium bodied, they are not the most flavourful but it should be expected that these cigars will not make the occasion. Instead they help contribute to the experience by adding the familiar flavours reminiscent of long days and nights. Towards the end the cigar becomes a bit harsh, however after a day of beer and scotch it normally becomes a knuckle burner for me.

    Value : [rating:3/5]
    At $5 dollars a smoke these are not a bad deal. You can definitely find machine rolled cigars for less than that but for the price they are not a bad bargain for cigars in Canada. In addition to that if you can pick them up in Cuba and bring them back then they are dirt cheap. Another great thing about them is if you know someone going to Cuba and you want cigars brought back, you aren’t taking a large gamble handing them 30 bucks.

    Overall Rating : [rating:3/5]
    This cigar probably isn’t going to win any awards for outstanding quality or flavour. It is not by any means an outstanding smoke and it doesn’t claim to be more than it is. It’s a down to earth cigar that’s great when you are just hanging around with buds. It’s for those times when you’re hanging around the fire, poker table, cabin, fishing boat, whatever. As the day turns to night, one cigar becomes two, then three, four, etc. Sometimes towards the early morning when most people have left and only the die-hards remain you go to your special cabinet and break out something with more depth for your closest friends. By then, the Nacionales have spent the day warming up your palate perfectly. Or other times you are perfectly content to stay with them. The Jose Piedras aren’t going to make the night but they are familiar enough that they add that extra nuance. Then in the winter time or when spring is coming you light one up by yourself and you remember last summer at the beach, table, or cottage and you sit and anticipate what the next time will bring. Everybody has the cheap cigar that they prefer. You may like this one, you may not. Give it a try and see what you think. I find these cigars pair well with pretty much everything. I especially like them with a nice crafted beer, particularly with a good ale.

    Helpful?
    0 0
    • Andreas Pantzis

      I smoke Jose L. Piedra!
      Today after lunch i smoke one cigar and inside was an iron nail. I photographed it!I you want I can send you the photos!
      Maybe I won something?

    • Bobby Geraghty

      Gimme some cheap cigars man I love Cuban too expensive bt these I like better than Cohiba Siglo’s

    • Kemal

      ı was regular user of josel piedra cigars, but ı just gave up to somoke anymore today, because of last two ones not burmed ,çı have photo of some woods of ınsıde the cigars. Kemal

    • twohand

      Sounding in a bit late, but wanted to also add how much I love these ugly beasts! Very good cigar that can be had for less than $2 a stick on some of the duty-free websites – that is, when they are in stock! Tough little buggers to come across spring thru summer.

      When you smoke these babies, you have to remind yourself they are inexpensive. This is a double-edged statement, for sure due to the brands inconsistencies. Sometimes I have one that I’m telling myself “Holy crap! This is the best gar I’ve had in ages!” Other times I am trying to figure out a way of getting a good mouthful of smoke without giving myself a hernia! I take it all in stride, though, because I have had My Father cigars that burned uneven or was like trying to light up a hot dog.

    • Zen Cigar

      This is Cuba’s version of the bundle cigar. NOT known for their consistency, JLPs are super cheap and have mixed filler.

      I could barely draw from the one I smoked today, it was so tight.

      As far as flavor is concerned this has a bit of the cuban muskiness and there also is a touch of tobacco. I barely got any smoke out of this, and I had to give up or my cheeks were going to implode.

      JLP are very hit and miss; some are okay, this one was not.

    • Edytor

      Great review!
      A JLP and a glass of scotch make my nights after a long day at work (and it doesn’t have to be a special occasion). I live in China were cubans -real ones, not fake- are usually expensive, but I can get a pack of 5 JLP cremas for 17 USD. Is important to mention that in China any famous brand of cubans cost around 3-5 times its price in Mexico (where I come from) so it is a good thing that JLPs are not very famous around here and can keep a real price. I just finished one BTW, it didn’t have the usual nice draw but I still loved it.

    • EdT

      Jose Lamadrid Piedra cigars are “Quality” cigars, whereas most consumers associate a higher cost with quality, quality professionals know full well that quality is what you can get the most for the least cost and the JLP line of cigars surely falls into this category.

      Many online resellers state that JLP line is “machine made”, Habanos S.A.’s claims they are totally handmade with short leaf tobacco !

      My favorite is the JLP Cazadore, dollar for dollar or in this case penny for penny there is no Cuban cigar that comes close !

    • paul

      These are my favorite cheap cigars!
      They do not have that salt/pepper mineral taste like cigars made from tobacco grpwn in Vuelta Abajo, but they still provide that cuban taste which all others try to emulate.
      I agree that these are not the most beautiful sticks ( in a bundle of 25 you hardly can find wrapper of the same color) but construction is good and burn is razor sharp.
      Better than most non-cubans under $5.00!

    • Jculbreth

      Great review,Tyler, on an inexpensive,yet, very enjoyable cigar

    • bear

      Very well done review. Thanks.

    • CptBluebear

      I used to buy bundles of these 10 years ago! Good to see they are still around.

    • tempbond

      Thanks for the review Tyler. Finally someone who loves JLPs as much as I do ! I like all of them, but my favorite are the Cremas.
      Good, honest cigars that don’t pretend to be something they’re not.

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Cigar Region Cuba
Filler Cuban
Wrapper Cuba
Binder Cuba
Length 5 1/4
Ring Gauge 42
Vitola Nacionales
Construction Hand Made