For those of you that don’t know…

About a month ago, Viaje’s Facebook page started posting various updates that were all in teh same vein…Terms like “BE WARNED!” and “Widespread destruction is now being reported across the U.S.”…Along with the updates was a red Skull and Crossbones on Black (a play on the Original Skull and Bones release last year, the logo of which was the standard White on Black)…

There have been 4 cigars (in 3 separate releases) in the Skull and Bones blend in the last 2 years…From Left to Right (in order of release), they are:

• “Daisy Cutter”
• “?” (yes, that is actually the name)
• WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction)
• MOAB (Mother of All Bombs)

It turns out that (as expected), the newest Viaje Release was a variation of the Original Skull and Bones blend…This the 3rd incarnation of the blend, and for the first time, there are two different vitolas released at the same time (the two on the right in the photo above). They are:

• MOAB (“Mother of all Bombs”)- 4.25″ x 54
• WMD (“Weapon of Mass Destruction”)- 3.75″ x 54

As with most of the recent Viaje releases, both sizes are quite limited in numbers, with only 250 boxes of 25 (6,224 total) of the WMD, and only 50 Cases of 100 (5,000 total) of the MOAB…Most Viaje retailers received between 5-10 boxes of the WMD and at least 1 Case of the MOAB…

As an aside, thanks to Saddam Hussein (among others) we all know that “WMD” means, but you may not have known that there is a town called “Moab” in Utah and is it is also the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan running along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea…And, although most people think that “MOAB” stands for “Mother of All Bombs”, the name actually stands for “Massive Ordnance Air Blast”… (interestingly, the bomb this cigar takes it’s namesake from is 30 feet, 1.75 inches long and uses 18,700 lb (8.5 tons) of high explosives). Lastly, the first release of the Viaje Skull and Bones was dubbed the “Daisy Cutter”, which is actually the nickname for another bomb which was developed and produced before the MOAB).

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Here are box photos of the WMD:

And here is what the box of MOAB looks like:

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But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Skull and Bones MOAB
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L. (Raíces Cubanas)
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Size: 4 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Petit Pirámides
• MSRP: $9.36 (Boxes of 100, $936.00)
• Release Date: March 2011
• Total Number of Cigars Released: 50 Cases of 100 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

The Cigar itself is a very interesting vitola, more like a Cross between a Nub and a torpedo then anything else…the Wrapper is a dark, reddish brown, with quite a bit of oil present, and smells like a combination of Espresso, Dark Chocolate, hay and wood…It is a bit spongy when squeezed, but not overly so…Predraw notes include Dark, bitter chocolate, leather, wood and pepper…

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The First Third has some spice and black pepper to start, but they exist in harmony with flavors of wood (oak), leather, espresso and just a little bit of cinnamon on the retrohale…It is a very woody profile to start, and I quite enjoyed it…

The Second Third has stronger cinnamon notes present then the First Third, but the spice and pepper are down…The profile is still woodish overall, and there is a rich tobacco note as well…I could tell the cigar was getting stronger by this point, but it was still on the medium side…

The Final Third REALLY took off, strength wise…It flew out of the gate, hitting me right between the eyes…It went from Medium to full in about 10 puffs, and really took me by surprise…Unfortunately, the strength (while a nice surprise) overwhelmed just about any nuances that the last third may have had, and all I could taste was the same woody profile with some espresso and leather…

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Final Notes:

• While I understand the need to differentiate the releases with the Red Skull and Bones logo (instead of the original White on Black), and you would think that the Red would look pretty kick ass, it honestly just looks a bit tacky to me…
• I REALLY do not like either vitola (VERY Nublike), and the price for each (almost $10) is almost (but not quite) as outrageous as the Exclusivo Short…
• I smoked both vitolas for this review, and honestly, I found very little difference between them in terms of flavor (which is not exactly surprising, since they are the same blend, and basically the same size), but interestingly, the MOAB seemed a bit stronger to me…
• There was quite a bit of smoke in each cigar I reviewed, and it was white and spicy…
• The Draw was just a bit loose on each of the MOABs and WMDs I smoked, and the burn was uneven, but both were not bad enough to be anything more then somewhat annoying…
• These are sold out just about everywhere, but I just saw about 3 boxes of the WMDs and about 40 Singles of the MOAB at my local B&M, Elite Cigar Cafe in Addison…Call them up at 972-661-9136, ask for Kent, and tell them we sent you, and he will take care of you…
• The Final Smoking Time was exactly 1 Hour.

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The Bottom Line: I went into smoking these cigars hoping they would be a better experience then the S&B “?”, (which to me was an almost comically awful release), and I must say, I was not disappointed…While not as complex as the OR Daisy Cutter, both the MOAB and the WMD both are quite a bit stronger (especially in the last third)…The major problem I have with this newest Skull and Bones release is the price, which for me is about $4 too high for the size you are getting…The flavors are good, and I think they will only get better with age, but honestly, I think I will be waiting for the Tower 45th Exclusivo to buy a box (although I will most likely pick up another 5 pack of each of these to age)…

Final Score: 89