Today we will be taking a look at one of the newest releases from Viaje, the Skull and Bones Little Boy! What’s looking like an annual release (despite this years biannual release), the Skull and Bones Red Label is a take on the original Skull and Bones release the Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter and offers a very similar smoking experience in that it’s full of flavor, body and strength, although we would definitely agree that they are quite different cigars as well. This past spring we saw the first Skull and Bones Red releases and like the original Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter we saw a continuation of the bomb titled theme, with the MOAB, historically is the bomb that replaced the Daisy Cutter in 2008, and the WMD, which is simply any weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and other life forms.

This bring us to Viaje’s most recent Skull and Bones releases, the Little Boy and the Fat Man, which are takes on two very historical bombs. One being the Little Boy, which was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The Fat Man is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945.

The Little Boy and The Fat Man both look almost identical except for the fact that the Little Boy is a touch smaller coming in at 4 1/4 x 52 and Fat Man is 4 1/4 x 56. Both cigars will be released every year at IPCPR, however this first year is the only year they will both be capped on both ends, Andre Farkas has said he did this so people will be able to tell the original release apart from the rest. We are also told that a Zombie release will follow every Skull and Bones Red release to symbolize the effect of the disaster these bombs will cause. I feel silly even writing that last part… but it’s true. However we are told that there will be no Zombie release to follow Little Boy and Fat Man as this year as Viaje’s schedule is jam packed and there just isn’t room. Confusing, eh?

Here are some photo’s of the box and packaging of the Little Boy:

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Lets get to it shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Skull and Bones Little Boy
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 4 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Petit Robusto
• MSRP: $9.20 (Boxes of 25, $9.30)
• Number of Cigars Released: 125 Boxes of 25 Cigars (3,750 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 4

As with the Zombie release, the Little Boy is a double capped cigar with both ends closed, I have heard of people just clipping one end and burning the closed end to get it lit, but I have chosen to actually cut both ends, I have found this is the best way to light it properly. The cigar is dark and oily, with minimal veins and a very tight lumpy pack. It smells of dark chocolate, leather and pepper. The cold draw reveals and very meaty core with earth, spice and leather.

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Starting off in the First Third, the cigar hits you immediately with red pepper and spice, there is a virtual overload of spice and pepper through the nose that literally makes me have to sneeze. Underneath the assault of spices is a real earthy, sweet profile with lots of leather and espresso. The finish is long with dark chocolate, espresso and pepper.

Coming into the Second Third, the spices and pepper settle down a little bit (not much) and the flavors start to come out and take the forefront. The profile turns very meaty with flavors of sourdough bread (dough like in texture with a sweet, almost sour taste), espresso, leather and a lot of dark chocolate and pepper on the finish. I am really feeling the nicotine strength at this point and it’s full bodied to the max.

Finishing up in the Final Third the cigar continues on from the last third with no real change, just lots of meaty, dark flavors of espresso, dark chocolate, wood, leather and the pepper and spice doesn’t hold back at all. It’s a good size because it would be hard to smoke this in a bigger vitola, it would absolutely kick your ass in a Toro vitola.

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Final Notes:

• This cigar is a strong mother! It assaults you from the start with pepper and spice and doesn’t give up the whole way, midway the nicotine really comes out and starts to make you shake a little. I love strong cigars and this was almost too much for me, I have no doubt that this would make the average smoker sick to their stomach.
• Despite the massive strength this cigar has some really nice flavors, it’s full of dark, earthy flavors that really hold up to the strength and spices. While the strength is the focus there are definitely some great flavors to experience here.
• I still prefer the original Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter to this or any other Skull and Bones release, it was balanced the best and the flavors really shined 100%. These Skull and Bones Red releases seem to be overpowered by strength and it really takes away from the nuances the tobacco has to offer.
• Because of this unique double capped vitola I suggest that you let these sit for a few weeks or at least dry box them for a few days, they will be without a doubt a little wet when you get them because of the cigars lack of ability to breathe properly.
• Final Smoking time was just under 1 hour.
• If you want to purchase some of the new Skull and Bones release, Empire Cigars in NC has a few singles left, just call them at (919)-870-0081 and Tobacco Grove in MN also has two bundles of each vitola left, you can call them at (763) 494-6688.

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The Bottom Line: Despite how strong this cigar was and despite my preference for the original Skull and Bones I still enjoyed it. While most Viaje releases come and go without ever seeing them again this will be released every year at the IPCPR and honestly it’s probably not something I would buy a full box of but I would love to have a few around when I want something over the top in strength, I would also like to see what these taste like with a few years of age on them. While this cigar isn’t of the caliber of some of the Viajes we have smoked I still believe this cigar is testament to Viaje’s ability to be more than just a novelty company. The names and themes of these cigars may be a little crazy at times, however, I find that on average Viaje produces some of the better cigars out there and this is no different.

Final Score: 86