As is so often the case, my favorite blends in my favorite sizes don’t always work out well. And in fitting irony, some times, blends I don’t like as much in formats I normally wouldn’t gravitate to surprise me. Case-and-point was the Viaje Platino Five Fifty Eight, a release made a few times for The Humidor.

I summed it up in my review last year:

Not my favorite VIaje line, not my favorite vitola. Still, this was a good Viaje. With a bit of time in the humidor and perhaps a less-complicated size, the cigar performs well. Tighten the draw a bit, which I unsuccessfully attempted via dry-boxing, and a bit straighter burn and there’s really not much to complain about. I’d still take the Platino Lancero over this, largely because of the fullness and format, but the Five Fifty Eight might just have more complexity.

I was digging around my redux drawer and saw the Five Fifty Eight and actually wondered if it had changed any since the last time I smoked it, so here we are.

  • Name: Viaje Platino Five Fifty Eight
  • Country of Origin: Honduras
  • Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L. (Raíces Cubanas)
  • Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo 99
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 5 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 58
  • Vitola: Robusto Gordo
  • MSRP: $9.95 (Boxes of 25, $248.75)
  • Date Released: 2010
  • Number of Cigars Released: 50 Boxes of 25 Cigars & 49 Boxes of 25 Cigars (2,475 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Redux: 1

This is a wrapper that looks good. It also feels great. I love the oils and the Rosado color, but it’s when you pick it up that you take appreciation for whatever vintage of AGANORSA leaf this is. As was the case a year ago, there’s little in the aroma department and the closed foot makes it harder to get anything at all from the Five Fifty Eight, but the cold draw provides a mixture of cocoa and a charred cedar that says there’s plenty of life left in the cigar.

I found the cigars themselves to have a bit more moisture in them than I would have liked, but featuring somewhat of a dry profile when smoking, both issues have been resolved after a year in the humidor. The cold draw returns with some pepper towards the back and touches of bread through the nose. Then there’s a nuttiness, something that I don’t find much in Viajes, it’s dark and influenced heavily by the cedar note, but it’s a great flavor. The second third sees a bit more sweetness, along with a grape like sensation from the retrohale, but the final third has little in terms of development.

Viaje Platino Five Fifty Eight

Two plus inches of ash, great smoke production, a solid burn line and a cigar that would take a few minutes of rest—this is one of the better-constructed cigars out of Raíces Cubanas. Draw was slightly more open than I prefer, but probably still on the tighter end of the ring gauge spectrum. Of note, even with the thick wrapper, the covered foot still lit with ease.

89 Overall Score

Oro and Platino have taken a status of probably the least cared about Viaje lines of late, helped largely by their respective absence last year. While it's not my favorite line Andre Farkas puts his company's name on, the Five Fifty Eight is smoking really well. 

Original Score (April 2012)
88
Redux Score (July 2013)
89
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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.