Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge / approx. $9.50
From what I could find out online, the Exclusivo was first spotted as a hand-out at events after originally being made for Viaje president, Andre Farkas. A Robusto with a tight little pigtail was sold in jars of 35 for a while before another batch of Robustos (sans pigtails) was released. They are, like many Viaje products, Nicaraguan puros, this time featuring an aged Criollo wrapper. The wrapper had a nice cedar and spice aroma while I got a very little whiff of cocoa on the foot. There were a couple dings, but such is life for a naked cigar as it travels the country.
The cold draw had that nice, distinctively Viaje flavor--I swear it tasted very much like an Oro or Platino--lots of cedar and natural tobacco. The flavor in the early going was much like other Viajes, too, but with much more body. The easiest way for me to describe it would be like this: similar in flavor to an Oro, with the body of the first half of the 50/50 Black.
The Exclusivo provied to be a very enjoyable cigar with mostly just the flavor of very fine natural tobacco, probably owing to the aged wrapper. There were also notes of leather, cedar and pepper spice quite often and occasional hints of coffee and cocoa powder. In other words, a superior Nicaraguan smoke. I paired it with Barbancourt rum and that pairing was not as successful; even though it is less sweet than most mixing rums, it was still too sweet for this cigar. A bourbon probably would have suited it better. Thanks to Matt from Burns Tobacconist for gifting me this cigar.
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