Viaje Releasing Private Bale Bird on a Branch and Furiosa Imperator Next Week (Update)

Viaje has announced that it will be shipping a pair of cigars next week, one of which is a new line, while the other is the second planned new size for a line that has not been released since 2016.

Bird on a Branch is the first in Viaje’s new Private Bale line, a series based on aged tobacco. A social media post described Private Bale Bird on a Branch as being an eight-year journey from start to finish. The blend uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, two Nicaraguan corojo 99 binders from the Jalapa region, and a filler that contains tobacco from Nicaragua’s Estelí and Jalapa regions. The company describes the fillers as being aged but did not specify their specific age. It is produced at the Aganorsa factory in Estelí.

“The tobacco selection process is different for this project,” the company wrote in social media posts. “First, only the oldest tobaccos are chosen, but bales aren’t simply selected. Each bale is pulled apart and inspected for quality. Leaves that don’t meet the criteria for Private Bale are set aside. This is a rigorous process, but necessary to produce a blend of superior quality.”

Once the cigars are produced, Viaje says they undergo a nine-month rest and review process before packaging begins.

Viaje Private Bale Bird on a Branch is being released in two sizes: the 6 x 50 Pajaro and 5 x 52 Pajarito. The company says the pricing is $12 per cigar and each cigar comes in boxes of 34.

The other cigar is the Furiosa Imperator, the second of two new sizes for the Furio line that the company is releasing this summer. In June, the company released the Furiosa Fury, a 5 x 52 robusto, while Imperator is listed as a 6 x 50 toro vitola.

Furiosa debuted in 2016 as a White Label Project release but has graduated from that collection and now gets its own packaging. When Furiosa debuted, the company said that it released it without finalized packaging out of a need to meet a then-relevant deadline of Aug. 8, 2016. The cigar industry has mounted a successful court challenge, which has rendered the Aug. 8 deadline irrelevant for most premium cigars.

The line is based on the character Imperator Furiosa from the Mad Max film series. While the company has not yet disclosed details about the blend for these two new sizes, the original Furiosa was a Nicaraguan puro that used a mix of corojo and criollo tobaccos and was produced by Raíces Cubanas in Honduras. It came in a 5 3/4 x 52 vitola with a nipple-style cap and was offered in 51-count boxes. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that it is coming in boxes of 51, though declined to disclose the price or most other details about the cigar.

The Furiosa Imperator is priced at $10.04 per cigar and $512 for a box of 51 cigars.

Both cigars are scheduled to begin shipping on July 29.

Update — Added info from a Viaje spokesperson.

Update (July 30, 2024) — Added pricing and box count details for the Furiosa Imperator.