Viaje Zombie Green

Last month we posted a news story about the upcoming yearly release of the Viaje Zombie series. This year, much like last year, there are two different Zombies being released, though instead of two different blends with the same wrapper we have the same blend with two separate wrappers.

Differentiated by color, the Zombie Red features a Nicaraguan maduro wrapper while the classic Green has a Nicaraguan criollo wrapper. 

First released in 2011, Andre Farkas stated, “the name comes from peoples transformation into Zombies after being exposed to radiation from the WMD release.”

He continued the Zombie line in 2012, keeping the same shape as the original though there was an addition of a pinhole at the foot to allow the cigar to breathe a little more. Last year saw the Zombie split into two blends, with the black box being the classic blend and then the natural boxes another Zombie blend that had been developed but not used up to that point. The shape also was modified a little into a more classic perfecto shape with an open foot, again said to allow the cigar to breathe more as the closed foot was causing issues in the original shape. The Zombie Super Shot was also released the same year, with the classic blend but in the Super Shot shape in continuation of the Zombie/WMD/apocalyptic theme.

With the same two-blend release this year along with the Zombie Super Shot and the upcoming Zombie Antidote release, that brings the total to six of the Zombie proper and nine cigars in the Zombie family.

• Viaje Zombie (4 3/4 x 52) — April 2011 — 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie (2012) (4 5/8 x 52) — May 2012 — 150 Boxes of 20 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Super Shot  (3 1/2 x 54) — May 2013 — 400 Boxes of 25 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Black Box (5 x 52) — May 2013 — 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Natural Box (5 x 52) — May 2013 — 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Green (5 x 52) — April 2014 — 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Red (5 x 52) — April 2014 — 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2014 — 400 Boxes of 25 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Viaje Zombie Antidote — Unreleased*

Atlantic Cigar Co. of Pennsylvania, its sister retail locations—Cigar Republic, and R. Field Wine Co. of Hawaii were selected as the two customers for the Red and Green releases. Both retailers received a limited amount of each. 

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Zombie Green
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Perfecto
• MSRP: $11.00 (Boxes of 20, $220.00)
• Date Released: April 25, 2014
• Number of Cigars Released: 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2

The Zombie Green has a beautiful dark brown wrapper that has a slightly rough and oily feel to it. It has a very firm feel to it without any soft spots. The foot of the cigar isn’t exactly what I’d call a covered foot, though the tobacco does extend down to create a bit of a shaggy foot on the perfecto shape. The aroma coming off the wrapper is a light barnyard and leather note while the cold draw is much more flavorful with notes of rich milk chocolate, light tobacco and a sweet spice.

The first third starts out with a very similar profile to the cold draw, with chocolate, leather and a sweet spicy bite. The draw is ideal and the cigar produces plenty of smoke. While the burn was a little sketchy at first, it evened out for the most part after the first inch. Despite the ash being a little flakey and only holding on a half an inch at first, it seems quite solid. A light spice note adds itself to the mix nicely, giving the cigar an overall flavorful profile.

The second third continues with the creamy chocolate, a bit of pepper, leather and spice, though a slight nuttiness has crept in as well. Construction is proving to be up to snuff, with the burn line and draw continuing to be very solid throughout the middle. The light spice note from earlier has really increased, giving the Zombie a very rich profile.

 

Moving into the final third the profile hasn’t changed much at all, with all the continuing flavors giving it a rich, creamy and slightly sweet profile. A relight was needed, and I don’t feel it was due to inattention or I wouldn’t mention it. Perhaps because of that there is a slight bitterness that is creeping in towards the final inch. Instead of letting that ruin what has otherwise been an enjoyable cigar, I go ahead and finish it there.

 

Final Notes

• I love the apocalyptic theme of these Viaje releases. I’ve always been a sucker for Zombie movies, and these play right into the theme perfectly.
• The Zombie Antidote will be released to accounts nationwide.
• Unlike Charlie Minato’s experience with the Red, the Green didn’t have any construction issues and only required a couple of minor touch ups between both samples.
• The label has the Viaje three tobacco leaf logo very faint at the end of the band. I almost missed it but it was a nice touch.
• Charlie Minato also mentioned he preferred the Red’s band. Though I think they both look great, the green definitely reminds me of a classic zombie movie title while the red looks more like something that would be featured on a vampire movie poster.
• Having smoked most of the Zombies up until this year’s releases, I think this is probably my favorite to date.
• The samples for this review were sent to halfwheel by site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co.
• Final smoking time averaged right around the two hour mark.