Last year, when Viaje released the all-new Full Moon, it made it clear, the cigar would be back for 2014.

As the name and packaging would imply, Full Moon is a released tied in some way to the Halloween holiday, which explains why Viaje began shipping them in the middle of last month alongside the Viaje Skull and Bones M?stery. As it so often does, Viaje declined to discuss many of the details regarding the cigar, although the company confirmed it would feature the same Nicaraguan puro blend as last year and would be once again priced at $11.42 per cigar.

Like last year, the cigars were shipped in bundles with an empty circular dress box accompany each shipment. Two different bands were once again used for the released, one reading “Viaje” and the other reading, “Full Moon.” In fact, the only noticeable differences are that the dress boxes feature 2014 instead of 2013 and the cigars now have a covered foot.

Viaje Full Moon 2014 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Full Moon 2014
  • Country of Origin: n/a
  • Factory: n/a
  • Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 5 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 58
  • Vitola: Robusto Gordo
  • MSRP: $11.42 (Bundles of 24, $274)
  • Date Released: Oct. 15, 2014
  • Number of Cigars Released: n/a
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Thankfully, Viaje put a closed foot on the Full Moon, otherwise, there’s not much that is going to help you tell which release is which. Speaking of that closed foot, it provides an aroma that is sweet with leather, fruits and unfrosted coffee beans. As for the wrapper, it’s nowhere near as sweet with cumin, damp earth and leather. The cold draw is sweet, albeit completely different with chocolate chip cookie dough, fruitiness, white pepper and some bread.

Full Moon 2014 begins with some white pepper, toasty bread notes, semisweet earth and saltiness. There’s no indicate that chocolate and fruits and at no point during the next two inches do either flavor make an appearance. Instead, there’s earthy cedar, black pepper, gingerbread and sunflower seeds. The burn is great with zero need for a lighter it touch-up any of the three samples I smoked. While the draw is slightly open, the smoke production is simply average. I would peg the strength as medium-plus.

Viaje Full Moon 2014 2

Sweetness creeps into the second third, but the core is cedar surrounded by some earthy notes. It’s a somewhat of an incredible turn with the cigar becoming rather one dimensional. There are some pepper notes through the nose, but it fails to provide much contrast to the overall profile. There is some new life on the finish with bourbon flavors, a semi-harsh pepper, grossness and a generic sweetness. There is an uptick in strength, with the Viaje now medium-full.

Viaje Full Moon 2014 3

Up until the final inch, there’s not a ton of change for the Full Moon. What change takes place is not for the better, with vegetal and grassy notes taking over a cigar that probably needs to be put down. That being said, for the previous inch there’s a familiar earth and cedar core with occasional touches of pepper and coffee notes. For those wondering, all three samples make it down to the last inch without any need for a touch-up, something I’m happy to report about.

Viaje Full Moon 2014 4

Final Notes

  • There’s somewhat of a controversy regarding the display boxes, but Viaje’s explanation is pretty good. The company ships and invoices the display boxes separately so that they are not subject to certain OTP taxes. That being said, $35 for the wooden box is still quite high.
  • From what I recall last year, there were certain retailer who reported being told to hold onto the dress boxes for some specific use. Whatever that might have been, I cannot tell.
  • If I had to guess, the cigar was probably made at Raíces Cubanas, although the company would not confirm that to us.
  • I would put the strength at medium-plus, although it gets medium-full at times. It was definitely the full-bodied cigar the company billed it as last year.
  • This is one of the least exciting Viajes I’ve smoked in some time. I’m not sure if that’s because the favor only really changed once or the lack of burn issues. While it might have been boring, it was enjoyable.
  • Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • Final smoking time was one hour and 50 minutes.
83 Overall Score

This was a rather odd Viaje for me. It lacked the raw strength that sometimes dominates the cigar, it had relatively flawless construction and Full Moon did not seem like it needed any sort of further rest. As for the inevitable, which year of Full Moon is better? I thoroughly enjoyed the three 2014 versions more than the 2013 I smoked, but that was one year ago.

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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.