Cigar Review: Viaje Exclusivo

The Viaje Exclusivo is the private label, or personal cigar, for Viaje Cigars owner Andrew Farkas. Within the last few years this has become increasingly popular for cigar manufactures to publicly realease their private labels, which are usually meant for personal consumption of the brand owners or the families of the cigar makers. Pete Johnson of Havana Cellars released his personal cigar, the Tatuaje Black, and it has been a great success. Steve Saka of Drew Estates released his Liga Privada #9 and Alan Rubin of Alec Bradley Cigars released his Family Blend cigar which was meant for the family to smoke as an everyday, any time of day cigar. I like the idea but wonder about the authenticity of the stories told by the cigar makers but who cares, if it’s a good cigar, I’ll smoke it.

Cigar Review – Viaje Exclusivo
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Made In: Honduras – Raices Cubana Factory
Size: 4 7/8 x 50
Price: $10.00 Per Single Cigar

Appearance & Construction: The Viaje Exclusivo is a nice looking robusto. The Exlusivo has a nice oily wrapper that has a few minimally sized veins. The cigar is finished with a short triple pigtail cap. As always with Viaje cigars, the band looks amazing and has some of the nicest looking artwork in is some of nicest artwork in the industry.

Smoking Characteristics: The Viaje Exclusivo has an excellent draw to it that produces a ton of smoke. The burn is razor-sharp and very even. The ash on the Exlusivo is solid and compact and holds on for about two inches.

Flavor: The Viaje Exclusivo has a nice cedary core with notes of coffee, spice and brown sugar sweetness. The second third the shows some notes of leather while the spice seems to back down. The final third turn a bit earthy and looses some of the cedar but the sweetness still remains. The body of the Exlusivo is medium and the strength is a tad stronger than most cigars.

Final Thoughts: Surprise, surprise, yet another top-notch gem from Viaje Cigars. The Viaje Exclusivo has tremendous flavor with a good amount of complexity. The only problem with this cigar is its limited production at 100 jars of 35 sticks, in fact my local shop is already out. Although I would prefer the Viaje Holiday Blend over this cigar, I would still like to have a couple handfuls of these in the ol’ humidor. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it again; Viaje Cigars is making some of the best cigars right now and very quietly I must say. I highly recommend, if you have not already done so, trying their cigars. The entire line of Viaje Cigars is fabulous and you cannot go wrong with any of them.

Cigar Rating: Great