Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection

If you go on a tour of the Joya de Nicaragua factory, you will be part of a formal program that follows a specific order of events. Every tour I’ve taken has started in Joya de Nicaragua’s conference room, where you can find two of halfwheel’s cigar of the year trophies on display.

While I imagine things have changed since I last took a tour, every time I’ve been in the conference room, there’s been a brief presentation of Joya de Nicaragua and its history. In between the slides of what happened to the factory during the Nicaraguan Revolution (the building was shot at and you can still see some of the bullet holes) and the company’s more modern history, there’s a moment when it is explained that Joya de Nicaragua was once the official cigar of the White House.

In the 1970s, the Nixon White House selected Joya de Nicaragua to be the official cigar and it was given to visitors, who were offered a chance to smoke cigars in the White House’s Green Room, a dedicated parlor. This year, Joya de Nicaragua is celebrating that history with a limited edition size of its Clásico Original blend named after the room.

The Clásico Original line is the modern-day version of the actual line that was used by the Nixon White House. Joya de Nicaragua has been making the cigar for most of the company’s history, though the branding has changed a bit, most recently in 2023.

Currently, it’s offered in four regular production vitolas:

• Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Robusto (5 x 50)
• Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Toro (6 x 50)
• Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Churchill (6 7/8 x 48)
• Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Torpedo (6 x 52)

The new Green Room is a 6 x 54 diadema, in this case more of a stout double perfecto. It’s limited to 1,200 boxes of 20, 700 of which are for the U.S., while the other 500 will go to stores overseas.

“The stories of the Green Room had been told through history and diplomacy many times, but for us the real meaning is much simpler,” said Juan Ignacio Martínez, executive president of Joya de Nicaragua, in a press release in March. “A cigar has the unique ability to bring people together and make everyone equal for a moment. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what title you hold. Every smoker eventually creates his own Green Room, whether it’s a quiet porch, a favorite chair, a local cigar shop, or a gathering with friends, a place where the ritual of a cigar becomes a moment of connection.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seeed)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $13.50 (Box of 20, $270)
• Release Date: May 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,200 Boxes of 20 Cigars (24,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Perhaps it’s due to the contrast with the bands, but these wrappers are rather dull. The lightness of the color means veins are easy to spot, and any discoloration really stands out. The aromas from the wrappers are fairly consistent with scents of flour and dry breading leading a chemical aroma that reminds me of a jar of paste, some roasted wood, and a sweetness that is berry-like for the second cigar, but more of a kiwi for the third. It’s medium-full for the first two cigars, though medium-plus for the third. I get mostly the same scents from the feet but with a smell that reminds me of coconut milk, again medium-full. I’m caught off guard when I take the first cold draw as there’s a very sharp chemical-like burn that hits the center of my tongue. Fortunately, it’s only present on the first cigar. Other flavors include wood, raisins, leather, maple syrup, cereal and apple; balanced, medium-full and pretty sweet. The second cigar has a tight cold draw, though I’m not all that concerned given the shape.

Each cigar starts with a singular flavor combination of woodiness edging out creaminess, grain cereal, and some of the sweetness from the cold draws. It tends to last for 20 or 30 seconds before a toastiness kicks in; medium-full and smooth. As the first third of the Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection gets going, those flavors remain. However, the profile has gone from having all the flavors packed into one combination to something with more layers, creating some separation. Additional flavors include black tea, berries, bread, pencil lead, and, on the second cigar, a mild alcohol burn. Each cigar is a bit different during the finish. The first has minerals, black pepper, salt and some toastiness; the second cigar has more toastiness but is balanced out by a hard pretzel and creamy combination, while the third cigar is saltier, drier, and has some dry herb flavors. Retrohales are much crisper with saltiness slightly edging out creaminess, toasted breads, pencil lead, black pepper and, on the second cigar, a flavor that reminds me of how I taste cilantro. The finish reduces the list of flavors to toastiness, saltiness and black pepper. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium. Construction is awesome.

Nuttiness and creaminess trade turns leading the profile in the second third, though the woodiness is never that far behind. The list of flavors in my notes—hard pretzels, leather, white pepper, salt and dry herbs—isn’t all that different than the first third, though each cigar is drier than it was in the first third. The finishes go in all different directions: the first cigar is sharper, the second cigar adds fruity sweetness and toastiness, while the third cigar gets creamier. Retrohales lean into some of the less sweet parts of the profile: leather leads the first cigar while pencil lead is the defining flavor of the other two. Other flavors include wet mud, sharp white pepper, creaminess and stone fruit. That’s in contrast to the finish, which sees the creaminess take back over and bring the hard pretzel, nutty and more basic earthiness. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength ranges from mild to medium. At the halfway point of each cigar, the Green Room’s burn line gets uneven enough that I need to touch the cigar up, and the first and third cigars require another touch-up each. Also of note, the combustion rate has slowed down a lot in this section.

For what has otherwise been a pretty consistent cigar, the final thirds diverge. The main flavor of the first cigar has lots of sawdust and creaminess, while the second cigar is drier with terroir and leather overshadowing those other flavors, and the third cigar combines those paths, but presents the combination in a much softer approach. The first cigar finishes with creaminess, wood and black pepper, the second cigar is much toastier, and the third cigar has the creaminess but paired with lemon, earth and just a mild amount of pepper. By contrast, retrohaling delivers mostly the same flavors, albeit not always in the same arrangement: pencil lead, creaminess, wood, nuttiness and salt. The largest difference is how the flavors expand through the taste buds; the first cigar is quite compact, while the third cigar is open with the flavors free-flowing. Flavor is full, body is medium-plus to medium-full, while strength is medium or medium-plus. Despite all the uneven burns of the second thirds, none of the cigars have any construction issues in the final third.

Final Notes

• Given all of the various musical tie-ins for cigar names, I’m surprised no one has used the “green room” name before, or at least not that I’m aware of.
• The other part of the factory tour presentation that stands out to me is the discussion of the Nicaraguan embargo by the Reagan administration in the 1980s. This proved to be a crucial moment for Joya de Nicaragua, as it forced the company to look to non-U.S. markets for its cigars. Of the top 40 cigar companies, I’d imagine that Joya de Nicaragua and Davidoff are the two companies that, percentage-wise, rely the least on the U.S. market.
• The wrapper on this cigar is also used on the Número Uno line.
• While the band looks like two pieces, it’s just one piece of paper. I think this will become more and more popular, especially for limited edition releases. If nothing else, it has to be a decent time savings for the packaging department.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• Joya de Nicaragua lists the Clásico Original Green Room Selection as a 6 x 54 diadema. Above are the dimensions I found for the three cigars smoked for this review.
• Final smoking time ranged from two hours and 30 minutes to two hours and 45 minutes.
• Site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co. carries the Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection.

Diadema
Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.
Joya de Nicaragua
Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original
Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection
Nicaragua