Viaje Gojira

In September, Viaje announced that it would be shipping a brand new line to its retailers, saying very little about the cigar other than that it was a 6 x 54 “behemoth (that) will attack your palate in the best of ways.”

The cigar is called Gojira, and while Viaje has not confirmed the origin of the cigar’s name, but it appears to come from the Hepburn romanization of the Japanese version of Godzilla, the famous movie monster that made its debut in 1954 and has gone onto become a global sensation and one of the most iconic movie characters ever created.

Among the things not disclosed by Viaje was the factory where the cigar was made or how many cigars were produced. The company didn’t announce pricing, but retailers’ listings indicated that it has an MSRP of $306 for a box of 26 cigars, which works out to about $11.77 per cigar.

The cigars come with some unique packaging, as inside each box are 13 coffins, each with two cigars inside, one placed on top of the other one.

The cigars shipped to stores in late September alongside the 2024 edition of the Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter, a line with one of the most extensive numbers of releases, offshoots and extensions in Viaje’s portfolio or, quite possibly, any cigar company’s.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Gojira
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $11.77 (Box of 26, $306)
• Release Date: September 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

At first glance, there are no identifying marks on the cigar other than what I presume is Gojira in Kanji characters, and after a Google Images search, I feel pretty confident saying that’s what it is. There is no SKU on the cellophane, and it’s not until I turn the cigar around that I notice the Viaje wordmark printed in black on one end of the label. The wrapper has a slightly waxy finish that my fingers glide over, while there is some mottling in the coloration. The veins are small and the seams are nearly invisible, giving the cigar a pretty clean visual presentation. The three cigars are all rolled firmly with just a small amount of give and consistency across the trio. The foot has a rather enjoyable prelight aroma, soft in my nostrils with packaged chocolate milk, some light soil and a gentle tingling of pepper. One cigar also has a cool peanut butter smell that enhances the experience. The cold draw is a bit firmer than I would like, but the flavor makes up for it. Like there is in the aroma, there is a chocolate milk sensation that leads things off. The earth is replaced by a woodiness that is quite vibrant and tingles the sides of my tongue, while the finish doesn’t have quite as much pepper, and what is there is overshadowed. My lips also get a pretty solid tingle from the wrapper

I’m not quite sure what to make from the claim that the Viaje Gojira will attack my palate in the best of ways, but the first puffs are just a little nibble from some black pepper. There’s still the chocolate milk creaminess, with retrohales adding a whiff of chocolate syrup. On the other end of the spectrum is a dry wheat flavor, reminding me of a handful of wheat Chex cereal. While the aroma from the first two cigars didn’t catch my attention, the third cigar does, thanks to the smell of warm prosciutto. It’s not too long into all three cigars that a small bit of red chili pepper latches onto one taste bud in the middle of my tongue, providing a focused but not overpowering heat sensation. A more familiar and traditional black pepper comes out at the one-inch mark. Retrohales follow the same changes in pepper and match up well with what I’m tasting, serving as an accent when I want one. While the individual flavors don’t change much past the first inch, the first third has some range in its flavor intensity. Much of this section is vibrant, but there are also a number of spots where the flavor is on the mellower side, delivering what I’d call a mild, familiar cigar flavor. That said, there can be some spots where the flavor is a bit too bright, almost like an over-sharpened image. As for the retrohales, they are still peppery but aren’t overpowering in any sense. Flavor is medium-plus, body is medium and strength is medium-minus. The construction thus far is very good, with the cigar performing well in the draw, smoke production and burn line categories.

After a fairly dry profile in the first third, the second third of the Viaje Gojira adds just a touch of creaminess, softening the smoke while still leaving the core sensations intact. Retrohales steadily increase how much of a tingling sensation they impart on my nostrils, even though it doesn’t feel like they’ve become more peppery. For the taste buds, however, there is also an intensifying of the flavor, though by way of more pepper and a new dry earth sensation. Just ahead of the middle of the cigar, it feels like the combustion is slowing just a touch, as puffs produce less smoke and have me looking for my lighter in case a touch-up seems warranted. By the midway point, the creaminess is a more noticeable contributor, but now the flavor seems to come in two waves. The first is the creaminess that lightly coats the tongue, the second is the drier, peppery expression of the profile. There’s not as much of the wheat cereal in the profile, and I can’t quite place what I’m tasting but it has an earthy flavor with some dried mud. The flavor takes small steps towards becoming drier as the second third progresses, which elicits a bit more reaction throughout my mouth. Flavor dials back towards medium intensity for much of this section before some intensifying gets it to medium-plus, while body is still medium and strength is now medium-minus. The combustion rate slows a bit and one cigar needs a touch-up to try and get smoke production to pick up, but none of the three cigars match what was offered in the first third. The draw and burn line remain good.

The final third holds course as it gets underway, though I can tell the flavor is still trending toward a drier sensation. It’s not quite the wheat Chex sensation that I got in the first third, but it’s not far off. Earthiness is making its way back to the forefront of the profile, less muddy and more just dry earth with a bit of a mineral component. Pepper is still a component as well, though it’s not driving the direction. Strength really picks up as this section progresses, and I can feel some nicotine settling into my system, which becomes a bit of a distraction from what the flavor is offering. Some heat joins the profile at the very end of the cigar, but it seems to bring out just a touch of mint to finish off the cigar. Flavor finishes full, body is still medium and strength is noticeable enough that I’ll call it full. Combustion sputters a bit and I need to either touch up or relight the cigar, and smoke production doesn’t return to its solid first third levels. The burn line and draw remain very good.

Final Notes

• It’s not often that the cellophane offers a hint as to where a cigar was made, but in this case, the crinkly, more plastic feel of the cellophane reminds me of a number of recent cigars from the Aganorsa factory.

• Seemingly because the cigars are stacked on one another in a single coffin, the excess cellophane covering the cigars is folded to the front side of each cigar to allow them to be removed from the coffin more easily. Typically, most cigars in a box will have the cellophane folded back except for one cigar in each row of the box, which has the cellophane folded to the front to make it easier to remove the cigar from the box.
• None of the bands were particularly easy to remove; I had to tear through two of them, while the other cigar came off a bit easier but took some of the wrapper with it.
• The Viaje Gojira definitely has some strength to it, steadily building until it reaches a tipping point in the final third where I can feel it in my system.
• I don’t know if this should be a surprise to readers or not, but I’ve never seen any of the movies featuring Godzilla.
• Incidentally, 2024 marks 70 years since the debut of the first Godzilla movie, which came out in 1954.
• Godzilla has its own website, in case you’re looking to learn more or pick up some merchandise.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• The company lists these as a 6 x 54 toro. The numbers above are the measurements we found for the three cigars used for this review.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 40 minutes on average.
• Site sponsor Smokingpipes carries the Viaje Gojira, though was out of stock as of publication.