Six years ago, Atlantic Cigar Co. celebrate its 15th anniversary in style, offering releases from E.P. Carrillo, My Father, Oliva and Viaje.

Last year, as part of its 20th anniversary celebration, the Pennsylvania-based retailer once again commissioned exclusive cigars—though it certainly didn’t seem to make as big of a deal about them. There is at the very least this Viaje and an A.J. Fernandez exclusive that are both on sale. There seems to be some indication that there are also releases from My Father and Oliva.

Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro Box 1 Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro Box 2 Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro Box 3

Whatever the case, this cigar began appearing in October. It’s a Nicaraguan puro with a criollo wrapper and Cuban-seed fillers. Atlantic set pricing at $9 per cigar and production is limited to 400 boxes of 10 cigars.

It carries Viaje’s White Label Project branding and is part of the company’s group of releases that have been single store exclusives. As for the secondary band, it is also found on the A.J. Fernandez release as well.

Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro
  • Country of Origin: Honduras
  • Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
  • Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $9 (Boxes of 10, $90)
  • Release Date: November 2016
  • Number of Cigars Released: 400 Boxes of 10 Cigars (4,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The wrapper is pretty light for a Viaje and the cigar has a soft box-press that I find quite appealing. My samples were stored without cellophane for two months, so I don’t get a ton of aroma from the wrapper. From the foot there’s an enjoyable mixture of sweet chocolate, bubble gum and cedar—admittedly not something I’d probably want to experience in anything other than a cigar. The cold draw is sweeter thanks to some cola, bubble gum and a mild habanero-like pepper at the back. Despite that sharp pepper on the back, this doesn’t really remind me of Viaje.

It starts with a draw that is a bit open to my liking, but the flavor is good: toastiness, wet cedar and acorns. The open draw means there’s a ton of smoke production, something that continues even after the draw tightens ten minutes in. Flavor-wise, it’s not as sweet as the cold draw, but there’s some more appetizing flavors than the start: walnut, grapefruit and black pepper. The acorn and toastiness still remain, though they are secondary flavors. Body and strength are both medium, though the flavor is medium-full.

Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro 2

The second third takes a pretty dramatic turn flavor-wise thanks to the introduction of lemon soda in the Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro’s profile. It’s surrounded by some dates, wet leaves and a weird vodka-like note. The flavors are incredibly smooth, though the lemon soda flavor provides just a touch of tartness to a relatively sweet profile. Construction remains great and things are much the same elsewhere: body and strength are both medium, flavor is medium-full.

Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro 3

There’s another change as the final third begins, notably the profile is much toastier. There’s some crushed cashews and anise which join the generic toastiness. The lemon soda note is now relegated to the nose and a bit sweeter, at times more orange than lemon. A watered down hoisin sauce joins the finish, which is even toastier than the upfront flavor. While the flavors change, the rest of the cigar is quite similar: medium-full flavor, medium bodied and great construction.

Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro 4

Final Notes

  • There’s now two White Label Project series. One is the national version and the other is a series of single store exclusives, of which this falls into.
  • These second bar bands leave a lot to be desired. Once again, that’s on Atlantic, not Viaje.
  • Strength is medium, quite a bit milder than almost every other Viaje ever released.
  • The complexity of this release, along with the reduced strength, reminded me of the Viaje 50/50 Red, one of my favorite Viajes of all time.
  • Construction was fantastic on all three cigars with just one cigar receiving a single touch-up. The draw did start a bit loose on two samples, but it closed up to a good level about 10 minutes after lighting.
  • Cigars for this review were sent to halfwheel by Atlantic Cigar Co., which advertises on the site.
  • Final smoking time was just a hair over two hours.
  • Atlantic Cigar Co. has the Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro in stock.
91 Overall Score

More than anything the Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro shines with how each flavor explodes into one another. It's sort of like watching a runner and seeing every step from start to impact to finish while the other leg is in a similar motion, yet offset time-wise. The individual flavors build upon one another at nearly every puff, transitioning at different paces, but always in a formulaic succession. I spent a while trying to think of something similar to compare this to from Viaje, but there really isn't anything. It's a much different, certainly much milder approach from Viaje, but with very positive results.

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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.