Cigar Info
The Viaje Exclusivo Chiquito is released once every two years in very small batches to a handpicked retailer. Last year, the 2015 release landed at Atlantic Cigar. Originally released in 2009, the cigar was was made available in two stores and sold out so quickly Andre Farkas decided to make it a bi-annual release. The small figurado shape is a classic, and over the past 6 years, the Chiquito has gained rave reviews and a close following.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The 2015 Viaje Exclusivo Chiquito production was 100 boxes, packed in slide top cabinets of 25 cigars. The cigar has a classic miniature figurado shape coming in at 4 7/8 x 51. The blend is all Nicaraguan, using a dark and oily Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Perfecto
Length: 4.75″
Ring Gauge: 51
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Raíces Cubanas
Blender: Andre Farkas
Number of reviewers: 4 —– Sandeep (Djangos) Jeff (ExpendableYouth) Craig (WyldKnyght) Wes (SosaCub4Life)
Price: $8.56
Age: 7 Months
Release Date: June 2015
Contributed by: Atlantic Cigar Co.
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 93
“Very cool looking snub nose cigar. Lighter brown wrapper with barley any visible veins or seems. Great looking cigar.” -Wes (SosaCub4Life)
Aroma: 88
“The aroma is mostly leather and some cedar and the dry puff is an almost sawdust like woodsiness with some mild white pepper on the tongue. Not many sweet flavors appreciable.” -Sandeep (Djangos)
First Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The cigars main flavor profile is cedar, and pepper. The retro-hale also has a woodiness to it, but it also has a slight sweetness to it as well. My big complaint is tar is just spitting out the back of it and comes off when I touch it. I have already cut it back once but it is just saturated in tar within minutes of doing so.” -Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
“There is a bit of sweet spice to the cigar. The spice is very nice on the retro and the cigar has a nice creaminess to it. For being a snub nose so far the burn line is almost perfect.” -Wes (SosaCub4Life)
Second Third
Flavor: 86
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The middle third continues to have the same flavors of leather and cedar and a sawdust like flavor. The pepper is slightly more prominent and this definitely adds to the complexity. Everything was going smoothly till about the midpoint of the cigar when the draw suddenly clamped down. There was almost no smoke production at this point. I thought about using my draw tool but slight pressure at the nub region opened it up. after a few puffs however I felt this acrid taste on my tongue. Unfortunately this was from tar production and collection. This definitely caused the cigar to lose some points. I had to make another cut to get rid of the tar portion. After this the problem did not persist for the rest of the third.” -Sandeep (Djangos)
“The draw was still a little tight during the second 3rd, so I used a draw tool to loosen it up. I started to get some spice flavor with the leather and wood from the first 3rd.” -Craig (WyldKnyght)
Final Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The final third of this cigar is also the best of this cigar. The leather flavor picks up in intensity as well as the cedar flavor is slightly more pungent. The pepper increases in intensity and is more pervasive at this time. Definitely more complex at this point. The draw is very good now in the final third and no more tar build up. The burn line is straight now. Good finish to this cigar.” -Sandeep (Djangos)
“The only positive thing I can say about this cigar is that the tar has finally stopped running out the back of it. the profile is still the same, but it hasn’t started wowing me even sans the tar flavor.” -Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 84
“A little tight to start, but a draw tool helped loosen it up.” -Craig (WyldKnyght)
Burn: 93
“The burn was wavy for most part in the initial and middle thirds but straightened out in the final third. No need for any touch ups.” -Sandeep (Djangos)
Construction: 91
“Well constructed double perfecto that was firm to the touch. Softened slightly with the heat going through it. No issues with the wrapper cracking or peeling. However the shape and filling made the draw slightly problematic. There was also some tar build up in the middle third. ” -Sandeep (Djangos)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Overall Experience: 91
“Except for the issue with the draw and tar build up in the middle third the cigar was quite very good with excellent flavors and a reasonable level of complexity. May benefit I think from some time in the humidor. will definitely try again.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
“I wouldn’t smoke another because of the tar issues, and lack of complexity. I would completely pass on this one.” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
“Overall this was a good cigar, nothing spectacular, but I would smoke it again.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)
“Overall this was a very nice cigar. The appearance was great. I enjoyed the nice spice throughout and the overall creaminess and then the slight char flavors at the end.” –Wes (SosaCub4Life)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 52
|
Reviewer
|
Appearance
|
Aroma
|
1/3
|
2/3
|
3/3
|
Draw
|
Burn
|
Constr.
|
Overall
Experience |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandeep | Djangos) | 90 | 90 | 90 | 87 | 92 | 85 | 88 | 90 | 90 |
| Jeff | ExpendableYouth) | 90 | 88 | 80 | 83 | 85 | 80 | 88 | 78 | 78 |
| Craig | WyldKnyght) | 95 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 88 | 87 | 100 | 90 | 88 |
| Wes | SosaCub4Life) | 97 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 92 | 95 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.