Viaje Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter

Today's review is the newest release from Viaje, the Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter. This is actually the first Viaje I have had the opportunity to smoke, thanks to one of the great guys over on the BOTL forum. This was a pretty limited release cigar, with 150 boxes of 25 made. So, unless you have a box already, these might be a little hard to come across. The Skull and Bones is a Nicaraguan Puro with a Sungrown Criollo wrapper. This is a small cigar, measuring in at 4 x 54. I love the pirate theme band. When I first heard about these, I thought the packaging might be a little cheesy, but it turned out perfect.

This is nice looking cigar, with an oily dark chocolate colored wrapper and a fairly firm feel to it overall. The cap is a little sloppy, but overall, a nicely made cigar. This has a great draw, with a nice amount of resistance. If a cigar this size has a loose draw it can burn hot very quickly and pretty much ruin the cigar. The predraw flavors show cocoa and leather, a promising start. Once lit, the Skull and Bones starts with a rich cocoa and coffee flavors, with some black pepper spice on the tongue. I am loving the creamy chocolate flavors and the small amount of spice mixed in. The burn is slow and even with a slightly dark gray ash.

After the first inch or so, the cigar seems to mellow just a little bit, and the spice recedes, and a light cedar flavor joins in with the chocolate flavor that was already present. There is a nice complexity to this cigar so far. At the halfway point I would put this down as a medium bodied cigar with a very rich flavor. I knocked off the ash at the halfway point so I could take the band off, but I could tell the ash would have held on much longer if I had tried. These are definitely well made cigars! For the last third of the Skull and Bones, the black pepper returns and this cigar moves into the full bodied category. I had a feeling this thing would amp up towards the end, and it certainly doesn't disappoint! The power isn't overwhelming at all, there is still a nice balance with the rich flavors. I never had to touch up the burn, which is always a great thing to see on a cigar.

This was a great cigar. Unfortunately Ill probably never get to smoke it again due to the limited release on these. I love the rich flavors of chocolate, black pepper and cedar. These sold for $9 a piece, so it isnt a cheap cigar, but I would definitely pay that price for this cigar if I ever found them. At first when I saw how much these were compared to the size, I was thinking they were a little overpriced, but after smoking one and seeing how slow they burn and how well they perform, they are worth it. I am interested in trying some of the other cigars Viaje makes after smoking this one.