Today I will be reviewing another one of the cigars the guys over at SmallBatchCigar.com gave me to review. As you might have expected since it is a Viaje that this is another Nicaraguan puro. The cigar only comes in one size and it packed 25 to a box. The box is plain white just like the band. I did purchase a couple of these from Burn's and smoked one of them before this review cigar.
The band as you can see is embossed white. It is a little difficult to read, depending on the light but is an interesting concept. The wrapper was nice milk chocolate brown in color and had a good amount of oils to it in spite of not having cellophane. When I gave the cigar a squeeze it was slightly soft but there weren't any soft spots to it. Putting my nose to the wrapper brought about light aromas of leather with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw on it I noted some cinnamon and red pepper spice with a good draw.
Once I lit it up the flavors of nuts, leather, cinnamon, sugar, and spice came through. After a few more puffs on it I started to get a slight creaminess on the finish as well. The draw almost felt like there was a tunnel developing but I couldn't see one at this point. The burn was off with a canoe developing. I felt like I had to keep puffing on it to keep it lit. I would say the cigar was at the upper end of medium to start off. Towards the end of the first third I noted, as best as I can describe, the taste of ginger beer and red pepper spice.
As I moved into the second third the burn was far enough off to need correcting with my lighter. The flavors of this third were of ginger beer, leather, oak and basil. The construction continued to be a bit of a problem and I was able to see a small tunnel develop in the cigar. While I didn't need to relight it was a bit of a chore to keep lit.
The final third saw the flavors change again to cinnamon, leather, cedar, and a cola flavor with a creamy finish. The spice built itself back up, however the cigar never really got out of the medium-full range. The construction was the same as the rest of the cigar.
Overall the flavors on this cigar were some of the more interesting ones I have tasted. The amount of change throughout was very interesting and held my attention. However the construction issues caused some consternation and hampered my enjoyment of it. I think that this cigar will do very well with some age and will be letting the one I have left sit for a while.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 8/10
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
For me Viaje = ehhhh Not really available in my area... and never worth the higher price ranges...
ReplyDeleteI had a 5th Anniversary a few weeks ago and for an anniversary cigar, I was somewhat unempressed with it for $15. I was expecting something more bolder maybe?? It wasn't a bad cigar, just not to my tastes at the time. But, I'll give it another try later on.
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