Viaje Zombie Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $10.50

Whenever I am in the mood for a powerful cigar, Viaje is one of the companies that I look to. They are very rare in my area. Luckily a friend of mine, and fellow cigar reviewer, Traveling Stogie, sent me this cigar to try out. Yesterday I was debating what cigar to review next, so I asked a couple of people that follow my reviews. This was the cigar that was chosen based on their feedback.

The Nicaraguan wrapper on this cigar is a medium shade of brown and very oily. This cigar just shines. There were a few very thin veins running through this cigar. I knew that these veins wouldn't be of any bother to me.

One thing that stands out about this cigar is that it is capped on both ends. Both caps are composed of three layers that all lay perfectly flush. The cigar itself is very solid and gives off a very sweet pre-light draw and smell.

As soon as I lit this cigar up, I was hit with exactly what I was expecting. There was some strong pepper flavor as well as a strong earthiness. After about a dozen puffs, the spice smooths out a little bit. Once the spice mellowed out, a strong woodiness started to form. Even though the spice mellowed out, it was quickly building on my tongue and palate.

Once I got down to the second third, the flavor profile started to smooth and balance out. There were some leathery flavors that came out, while the whole time there was the strong pepper flavor. As I moved toward the halfway point, the flavors started to switch up.

At the halfway point there seemed to be some coffee flavors that came out of nowhere. There is also an slightly sweet flavor that comes out. The sweetness has a little bit of a fruity citrus flavor, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly which fruit it was.

The sweetness and the spiciness both added great accents to the earthiness. The spice began to balance out a little bit once the sweetness came out. But throughout the remainder of the second third the leather and wood flavors stayed strong.

The last third balanced out overall. The spice mellowed out a bit more and became a slight accent instead of being a main focus like earlier in the cigar. The finish was very woody and leathery, yet very strong. There was a ton of flavor in each puff that lead up to a fantastic finish.

The ash was a medium to dark shade of gray with a little bit of brown marbled through. The ash also held on for about two inches. The burn was uneven at the start, but it eventually evened out. The draw was a little bit tight, but it really wasn't that bad. The draw still produced a very earthy, thick gray smoke.

This cigar, although small, requires a full meal prior to smoking. This is certainly not an empty stomach cigar. This is a very full bodied cigar, so if you are new to smoking, stay clear of this one.

I really enjoyed smoking this cigar, and I wish they were easier to obtain. I wouldn't mind having a box of these aging in my humidor. I give this cigar an 8.5 out of 10.

Thanks for reading,

Zack the Stogie Man