Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition Maduro

As far as we can tell, since 2016, Viaje has released a Birthday Blend cigar every year with the exception of 2021—when our records say Viaje didn’t release one—and now 2024. That’s because for 2024 Viaje released not one but two different Birthday Blend cigars.

Viaje says these cigars were created to celebrate the birthday of Andre Farkas, the company’s founder. The Birthday Blend originally started out as a White Label Project (WLP) release, a series that served as a catchall for all sorts of different blends and cigars, though in 2018, it graduated out of WLP and became its own line. What that means for consumers seems to more or less amount to a packaging change.

Unlike just about every other cigar company, Viaje does not offer any core line, regular production cigars that retailers can order whenever they’d like. In fact, the company doesn’t really let retailers order cigars. Instead, Viaje allocates cigars to retailers, typically one shipment per month, usually drawing from a large portfolio of lines such as Skull and Bones, Stuffed Turkey and Zombie. Sometimes, Viaje will simply rerelease the same cigar as it previously did—the first seven Birthday Blends were all 6 x 52 torpedos—though other times, it will change the blend and/or size.

For 2024, Birthday Blend is getting a new size and, in at least one case, a different blend. The Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition Maduro is a 6 1/4 x 54 belicoso, a larger shape than the first seven cigars and part of what earns it the Collector’s Edition designation. The company has previously stated that if a cigar is a Collector’s Edition, it means that specific blend and size will not be released again.

While that cigar—the one being reviewed—shipped in April, the company announced that there would be a second release in May. That cigar is the Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition 2024 Criollo. In replying to comments left on Instagram, Viaje stated that the “other one” used a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper, seemingly confirming that the cigar being reviewed today uses the Mexan wrapper that other Birthday Blend cigars have used. That said, the company did not reply to an email from halfwheel that asked about blend details.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Birthday Blend Collector's Edition Maduro
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 6 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Belicoso
• MSRP: $12.88 (Box of 25, $322)
• Release Date: April 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The very dark, slightly purple-hued wrappers have consistent color and do a great job of hiding the veins. Both visually and to the touch, there’s little oil to be found. The aromas from the wrappers are medium to medium-plus with sweet tree bark and dry cocoa powder leading some generic tobacco scents. The feet are full with the cocoa dominating woodiness, vanilla, barnyard and a smell that reminds me of tobacco curing in a pilón. Cold draws are a bit all over the place. The first cigar is somewhat open with oatmeal leading sourdough, leather and some sweet lemon tea. The second cigar has a more balanced profile of leather, fruitiness and coffee over tartness, creaminess and a hint of pepper. It’s medium-full and more than anything, it tastes like a generic cured tobacco flavor. The third cigar has a very tight draw with sourdough bread and white rice leading red wine and floral flavors, around medium-full.

The first two Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition Maduros start off with raisin and cedar leading secondary flavors of minerals, cinnamon, rice and leather; both around medium-full. The third cigar has a tight, nearly plugged draw, with woodiness, toastiness and leather before black pepper and mineral terroir flavors emerge; a profile that is fuller, drier and more aggressive than the other two. Pretty early on, it’s clear that the third cigar is just overfilled, something that is confirmed by a combination of the look and feel. We rarely describe a cigar as tasting like “tobacco,” but more than most cigars I smoke, that’s the story of the Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition Maduro. What flavors and sensations are present tend to be quite mild; it is a cigar that largely tastes like well-cured tobacco. Outside of a pepper burn, the two most prominent flavors are leather and woodiness. Secondary flavors include saltiness and mild bread. Mineral flavors and roasted meatiness outlast the leather as the finish develops. I find the cured tobacco flavor to be even more present during the finish, which I enjoy more than the initial moments when the smoke hits my palate. The third cigar is often very dry, reminding me of rocks and dry hay, though there are some puffs that have a flavor that reminds me of watered-down bourbon. Retrohales are smoother, with nuttiness and creaminess adding themselves on top of some floral flavors, though these sensations are all quite subtle. Flavor is just shy of full, body is full and strength is medium. All three cigars could improve the draw, though the third cigar is the only one with a draw that is poor enough that I’d prefer not to smoke the cigar. The first cigar has very flaky ash, something that isn’t present in the other two.

While I find more distinct flavors than the first third, the second third of this Viaje still delivers a below-average amount of sensations other than the taste of tobacco. Creaminess, pistachio, leather, earthiness and pepper are all present—largely as a very intertwined core—but it’s remarkable how little there is in the way of sweetness, saltiness, sourness, etc. Like before, the finish is more enjoyable, this time with earthiness leading cedar, black pepper and minor amounts of creaminess. Retrohales show that there’s plenty of complexity to be had, I just have to blow smoke out through the nose. A more generic nuttiness leads popcorn, leather, sugar sweetness and white pepper. On the first two cigars, the finish gets a lot spicier thanks to green pepper, though it’s the opposite for the third cigar, which has a finish that is dominated by creaminess. Flavor is more or less full, body remains full and strength is surprisingly medium-plus. Unfortunately, my issues with construction overwhelm the positives I have to say about the flavor. The first cigar is fine with a loose draw and an even, albeit flaky, ash formation. The second cigar’s draw is getting much tighter, which requires some work with the lighter to help with combustion. While I avoid any need to touch up the final cigar’s burn, the draw is the worst of the bunch, just shy of plugged. Fortunately, the cigar doesn’t seem too impacted by needing to take repetitive, quick puffs, as the smoke stays pretty cool. That said, the draw cannot be good for the flavor.

It’s difficult to think that the first cigar’s final third was far and away the best of the trio, but it clearly is. Draw-wise, the second and third cigars are closer to being plugged than acceptable. Furthermore, both cigars need multiple relights. At best, the flavor is a harsher version of the middle parts, with lots of dried cloves joining earthiness and a restrained pepper. While the pepper is reduced, the harshness has increased exponentially. Despite the final third of those two cigars seeming mostly like an exercise of futility, the retrohales provide some complex mixtures of floral flavors over white pepper and cloves. The metallic aspects get added during the finish, though I’m more interested in the sourdough bread flavor that returns out of nowhere. Unfortunately, given the draws, it’s just tough to physically smoke the cigars. Flavor and body are both full, strength is medium-plus.

Final Notes

• While Viaje’s general lack of disclosure about basic things seems like an unnecessary annoyance, the company has been one of the best when it comes to not raising prices. The only information that Viaje will often confirm is that a particular cigar is the same price as when it was last released. Given that most of the industry is doing annual price increases, it’s not lost on me that Viaje is one of the few brand that might charge the same price for a cigar in 2024 as it did in 2016.
• The birthday paper is in English. I wonder if Viaje or the factory had to order this birthday paper or if that was something that could be purchased in whichever country these cigars were rolled.
• When removing the wrapping paper from one cigar, there was an audible pop. I don’t remember which cigar that was. I suspect that was related to the air pocket that was created when the cigar was being pulled out of the paper.

• These cigars have unique-looking torpedo tips. Most torpedos tend to be rolled with a pretty even cone-like shape that comes to a relatively centered point. These cigars had an extended tip that was quite bumpy.
• There was a single puff of the first cigar’s first third that tasted like I had bubble gum in my mouth. It came out of nowhere and was not present during any other moment of the three cigars, but it was incredibly distinct and rich, a great reprieve from the tobacco-centric flavor profile.
• None of these cigars had what I’d consider an ideal draw. The first cigar was somewhat loose for my liking, the second cigar was somewhat tight for the first half but got to be plugged in the final third, and the third cigar was very tight from the start.
• I ended up making additional cuts to all three cigars. For the first two, that was because I didn’t cut off enough of the very weird tips. After making cuts on those cigars, I saw the filler that was way looser than what I’d consider a cut cap to look like. Making the second cut fixed the visual issue, though the draw on the second cigar got very tight in the final third.

• Pictured above is what was revealed after the third cut of the third cigar. While I have smoked cigars that look similar and have great draws, this was not one of them.

• These cigars are listed at 6 1/4 x 54. There were two reasons why I advocated for us to start weighing and measuring cigars.
  • One was that I was curious about how close cigars were to the dimensions that cigar companies provide.
  • The second reason was for instances like the third cigar, when one cigar has draw issues that aren’t present in the other two cigars. Weighing the cigars gives a data point that might provide some explanation as to what caused the issue. While I don’t think we should use the weights as a rule, in this instance the third cigar weighed nearly 1.5 grams more than the second-heaviest cigar. There are other things beyond having more tobacco that could cause this difference, most notably the moisture content, but this seems like a good example where the issue is likely related to too much tobacco.
• Site sponsor Smokingpipes carries the Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition Maduro but is already sold out.