Viaje Platino Reserva Double Torpedo (Prerelease)

Today we will be taking a look at the Viaje Platino Reserva Double Torpedo 2011, a very special cigar indeed that consists of aged tobacco and is only rolled twice a year. The V.O.R. stands for Viaje Oro Reserva and the V.P.R. stands for Viaje Platino Reserva. A lot of you may be familiar with Viaje’s core lines, the Oro and the Platino, each containing all Nicaraguan tobacco with corojo 99 wrappers, both are very good cigars so you can imagine that the Reserva’s will be at least on par.

Last year’s Cigar Aficionado tasting panel found the Viaje V.O.R #5 to be the second best cigar of the year. Since then Viaje has been thrown into the mainstream and has definitely been a contender.

This year’s V.O.R. and V.P.R. will be slightly different than 2010, Last year’s release featured two vitolas, the V.O.R. #5 was a box-pressed Robusto and the V.P.R. #6 was a box-pressed Toro. This year’s releases will feature the same vitola for both, a box-pressed perfecto very reminiscent of last year’s Double Edge Sword, my favorite Viaje release to date. It will be interesting to see how these stand up to last year’s given the vitola change.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Platino Reserva Double Torpedo (2011)
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L. (Raíces Cubanas)
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo 99
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 3/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Double Torpedo
• MSRP: $11.50 (Boxes of 25, $287.50)
• Release Date: May 2011
• Number of Cigars Released: 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

The appearance of the cigar is quite extraordinary, it has a pretty extreme box-press and the Double Torpedo shape is quite unique to see. A lot of people are comparing it to the Padrón 80th, but it’s different in the fact that it’s closed on both ends, which is I assume why they call it a Double Torpedo and not a perfecto. It has minimal veins, a wonderful oily, milk chocolate wrapper with a tight noticeable seam. The cigar is packed well but is very soft and spongy to the touch. The pre-light aroma is wonderful with notes of cedar, coffee, leather and raisin. The pre-light draw is woody, with notes of coffee and leather.

Starting off in the first third, I get a nice spice and pepper kick, especially through the nose. Initial flavors are woody, toasty tobacco, coffee and leather. The cigar is medium to full to start and quite complex. The finish is oily and smooth with notes of cocoa, coffee and leather.

Coming into the second third the cigar really picks up; I get a really nice rich woody profile with lashings of creamy coffee, chocolate and leather. The flavors are very refined and easy to experience, extremely smooth, long finish full of roasted coffee bean and leather.

Finishing up in the final third the cigar doesn’t loose any steam. The profile is rich, complex and smooth. Wood, coffee, chocolate, leather, and now a sweetness that is just amazing. It’s a caramel like flavor with a sugary finish. The cigar stays smooth the entire way down to the nub.

Final Notes

• On two of the samples I smoked there were fairly large stems when I cut the foot, I ended up having to cut more off the foot than I usually would to get past the stems. It certainly didn’t affect the smoking experience at all but something I felt I needed to note.
• One thing that bothered me about this release is the fact that it has 3 bands on it, I feel that it’s definitely overkill and that third Edición Limitada band is virtually pointless. It would look much better with just the Reserva band in my opinion
• Final Smoking time was one hour 15 minutes.

Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.