Corona Gorda, 6" x 48 ring gauge / $9.30, Burns
After the last couple Viaje cigars I smoked, I declared myself "over the hype." It's not that the cigars are not good. More often than not, they are at least good...in the case of the VOR I had last year, great would be appropriate. The problem is too many seemed to be going toward the "how hard can we smack you in the head with a 2x4" area in the strength category. Except for well-defined times (you know when they are) smoking a cigar shouldn't be about a challenge...it should be about relaxing and enjoying life. With that attitude, my patience for very strong cigars is pretty short. Give me something great tasting regardless of strength or fullness of body...I'd much rather have a flavor explosion in a mild or medium smoke than a fairly flavorless strong cigar. I digress...so I ignored the Late Harvest when they came out because I was. Pretty much "over" Viaje. Months later, it seems like I'm not the only one because there were still Late Harvest from the original batch sitting on the shelf. I decided to pop for one and see what all the fuss was a out. I know a few friends that really loved these, after all...maybe this one justified the hype machine. As is fairly normal with Viaje, these are said to be Nicaraguan puros. In a somewhat familiar story, the Late Harvest borrows a concept from the wine industry, allowing the leaves to remain on the plant a bit longer so they have more...well, grapes left on the vine longer get more sugar content. Tobacco leaves get thicker and maybe oilier so they would be stronger in elasticity as well as flavor. This review is based on my first experience with this blend.
The appearance is nice...normal for Viaje, but nothing super special, either. The band is the regular Oro design with a bit more art denoting the Late Harvest in words and graphics. The wrapper leaf had a slightly oily, velvety touch, a relatively dark brown color with a touch of patchy mottling that was darker, and a few veins that would qualify as medium to large. The pigtail cap was extraordinarily tight and overall build quality looked great. Putting nose to wrapper, I got an intense aroma of earth with a bit of a chocolatey overtone; the foot was an intense dark chocolate aroma. The prelight draw was excellent and had a great mix of earth, cedar and cocoa powder flavor.
It was clear from the early going that this was going to be a potent cigar. The smoke was full bodied and spicy, rich in cedar flavor on the palate and roasted nuts on the retrohale. A few minutes in, I noticed a thick molasses sweetness coming through as well, although more of an accenting note than anything else. I was not sure what to think of the Late Harvest by the end of the first third. It was plenty strong and definitely full bodied, but it presented a fairly unique and unusual flavor profile, with dark fruit, cinnamon, earth, molasses and cedar all seemingly mixed together. Sometimes this mixture worked and other times it made me scratch my head and wonder what was going on.
As I burned through the second third, though, the Late Harvest started coming into clearer focus. It was very leathery with a good amount of earth and spice, but not much else at this point. The flavors just seemed to have become a little more deadened and more like the Viaje stuff I've been avoiding for the past 6 or 8 months. It reminded me somewhat of the last Skull and Bones I had, but not quite as strong. Construction was superb, with a great draw, flawless burn line and strong ash that held on for up to an inch.
That same flavor profile continued into the last third and left me more than a little disappointed. This cigar started with great promise to be unique and complex, but ended being little more than a slightly less strong version of some of the other stuff Viaje has been producing in the last couple years. Maybe it just comes down to the fact that I am not a fan of the "Viaje flavor profile" and that's fine...my lack of buying them will be made up for by the ones who love them. I will say that it is interesting that over the last year sales of the brand have seemed to erode dramatically, with cigars that used to sell out overnight sitting on the shelves for months now. Maybe the market for this kind of limited release mania is drying up? Strength and body will make this a cigar that newbies should just avoid; Viaje fans will find a home here, though.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10
After the last couple Viaje cigars I smoked, I declared myself "over the hype." It's not that the cigars are not good. More often than not, they are at least good...in the case of the VOR I had last year, great would be appropriate. The problem is too many seemed to be going toward the "how hard can we smack you in the head with a 2x4" area in the strength category. Except for well-defined times (you know when they are) smoking a cigar shouldn't be about a challenge...it should be about relaxing and enjoying life. With that attitude, my patience for very strong cigars is pretty short. Give me something great tasting regardless of strength or fullness of body...I'd much rather have a flavor explosion in a mild or medium smoke than a fairly flavorless strong cigar. I digress...so I ignored the Late Harvest when they came out because I was. Pretty much "over" Viaje. Months later, it seems like I'm not the only one because there were still Late Harvest from the original batch sitting on the shelf. I decided to pop for one and see what all the fuss was a out. I know a few friends that really loved these, after all...maybe this one justified the hype machine. As is fairly normal with Viaje, these are said to be Nicaraguan puros. In a somewhat familiar story, the Late Harvest borrows a concept from the wine industry, allowing the leaves to remain on the plant a bit longer so they have more...well, grapes left on the vine longer get more sugar content. Tobacco leaves get thicker and maybe oilier so they would be stronger in elasticity as well as flavor. This review is based on my first experience with this blend.
The appearance is nice...normal for Viaje, but nothing super special, either. The band is the regular Oro design with a bit more art denoting the Late Harvest in words and graphics. The wrapper leaf had a slightly oily, velvety touch, a relatively dark brown color with a touch of patchy mottling that was darker, and a few veins that would qualify as medium to large. The pigtail cap was extraordinarily tight and overall build quality looked great. Putting nose to wrapper, I got an intense aroma of earth with a bit of a chocolatey overtone; the foot was an intense dark chocolate aroma. The prelight draw was excellent and had a great mix of earth, cedar and cocoa powder flavor.
It was clear from the early going that this was going to be a potent cigar. The smoke was full bodied and spicy, rich in cedar flavor on the palate and roasted nuts on the retrohale. A few minutes in, I noticed a thick molasses sweetness coming through as well, although more of an accenting note than anything else. I was not sure what to think of the Late Harvest by the end of the first third. It was plenty strong and definitely full bodied, but it presented a fairly unique and unusual flavor profile, with dark fruit, cinnamon, earth, molasses and cedar all seemingly mixed together. Sometimes this mixture worked and other times it made me scratch my head and wonder what was going on.As I burned through the second third, though, the Late Harvest started coming into clearer focus. It was very leathery with a good amount of earth and spice, but not much else at this point. The flavors just seemed to have become a little more deadened and more like the Viaje stuff I've been avoiding for the past 6 or 8 months. It reminded me somewhat of the last Skull and Bones I had, but not quite as strong. Construction was superb, with a great draw, flawless burn line and strong ash that held on for up to an inch.
That same flavor profile continued into the last third and left me more than a little disappointed. This cigar started with great promise to be unique and complex, but ended being little more than a slightly less strong version of some of the other stuff Viaje has been producing in the last couple years. Maybe it just comes down to the fact that I am not a fan of the "Viaje flavor profile" and that's fine...my lack of buying them will be made up for by the ones who love them. I will say that it is interesting that over the last year sales of the brand have seemed to erode dramatically, with cigars that used to sell out overnight sitting on the shelves for months now. Maybe the market for this kind of limited release mania is drying up? Strength and body will make this a cigar that newbies should just avoid; Viaje fans will find a home here, though.Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10
Sounds like Viaje just misses the mark again. I have a very limited knowledge of the brand and only had the Holiday Blend but more and more people seem to be saying the same thing great for a $6.00 stick but just ok at $9.00
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