Viaje Skull and Bones M?stery (2022)

When I think of Viaje’s expansive Skull and Bones series, I tend to associate the brand most with the variations that are sold with a question mark. In 2010, Viaje released the first two Skull and Bones: the first was the Daisy Cutter and the second was “?” Yes, a question mark.

Since then, the question mark has evolved into the name of M?stery, but the concept remains the same: a cigar shrouded in mystery. While Viaje isn’t always the most forthcoming with details of its new product launches, the company has pretty consistently declined to talk about the M?stery releases. This year’s release is a box-pressed 5 x 56 robusto gordo vitola that uses a black M?stery band, which has a skull and bones logo printed on it, albeit, also in black.

Viaje declined to discuss details about the cigar such as its blend or where it’s being made.

There have been 54 Skull and Bones releases to date.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Skull and Bones M?stery (2022)
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 56
• Vitola: Robusto Gordo
• MSRP: $11.52 (Box of 25, $288)
• Release Date: Oct. 17, 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

When I think of Skull and Bones, I think of dark wrappers and certainly ones that are darker than this. That said, this could be a bit of an optical illusion due to the contrast between the wrapper and the all-black band. There are some slight color discolorations on what’s still a pretty dark wrapper—even if it’s lighter than other Skull and Bones cigars—along with obvious veins. The aroma from the wrapper is medium-full with manure, some sugar sweetness and a bit of something that reminds me of freshly-rained on mud. The foot is completely covered by the wrapper and it more or less smells like the wrapper, though there’s some added cedar. Given that the foot is covered, I’m not surprised by a somewhat tight cold draw. I am, however, surprised by how sweet the cold draw tastes: a very sweet pineapple flavor—similar to what I would expect from a Hi-C or Capri Sun “juice” drink—over woody flavors.

The first puff of the Viaje Skull and Bones M?stery has a mushy, nutty flavor and earthiness over some orange peel. It’s very smooth, medium-plus and a bit more pedestrian than the aggressive appearance would suggest. On one cigar, I get a vibrant mixture of nuttiness and earthiness over freshly cracked black pepper, citrus and woody flavors. Unfortunately, that cigar is an outlier compared to the other two. Those cigars seem to be affected by tar—something I can taste but not see—which relegates the flavor to a more earthy and toasty mixture. That continues into the finish where one cigar presents flavors almost as if I’m biting down into something, as flavors of nuttiness, pepper, citrus and terroir explode in the mouth. But in the other two cigars, the limited amount of tar seems to mute the complexity and I end up with a soggy, earthy flavor over white pepper and herbs. For whatever reason, the retrohales are less affected by the tar flavors and I get a vibrant mixture of nuttiness and plain bagel over creaminess and floral flavors. During the finish, the bagel flavor becomes even more prevalent, joined by white pepper and some herbal flavors. Flavor is full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium-plus. I glance down at the head of two cigars more than I normally do, curious to see if I can find any visible signs of tar, which I can’t. That said I see a filler that seems very tightly rolled, something that confirms what I’m feeling when I take each puff.

Unfortunately, two of the cigars still have some of the tar flavors throughout most of the second third; fortunately, it’s quite reduced compared to the first third. That means the profiles of two cigars are closer to the first cigar I smoke. Oak and nuttiness lead the dance, followed by floral flavors and something that reminds me a bit of Cap’n Crunch cereal. Unfortunately, when the tar flavors are present, it saps a lot of the complexity away. While I can still find small amounts of it on some puffs, the tar is reduced during the finish. Generally-speaking, peanut butter is the lead flavor of the finish, beating out paprika, leather, a vibrant sourdough and earthiness. The differences between the first cigar and the other two are that the flavors during the first cigar are much more vibrant—for example, the sourdough tastes much more like actual bread—and I’m able to taste more individual flavors during the first cigar. Retrohales have mustard powder over sourdough bread, creaminess, a mild fruity sweetness—not quite cantaloupe, but similar—and some starchy pasta. Unfortunately, the tar is most prevalent during second third when the finish of the retrohale begins. It drowns out what could be a great pasta flavor and instead renders it as more of a toasty and peppery mixture. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium or medium-plus. On one hand, the tight draw is likely to blame for the tar flavors that I’ve spent so many words writing about, on the other hand, I don’t really have an issue with the draw’s resistance. One cigar needs a touch up to help with smoke production, but the other two cigars remain burning incredibly well.

While I was hoping that the reduction in tar would continue at a linear pace, eventually bottoming out so that it was no longer present, that’s not what happens. There are times in which it lets up, allowing me to taste some more unique secondary notes like green apple or sesame seed, but there are other puffs where the tar is unavoidable. For the most part, earthiness, black pepper and toastiness lead the profile, though the trio is not prevalent on every puff. Harshness picks up, which, when combined with the tar, can really put a damper on my enjoyment. The toastiness increases during the finish, both as a standalone sensation and also as an accent, particularly for the sesame seed flavors. Fortunately, some creaminess helps to cut through the toastiness and provides a nice contrast. Retrohales have flavors of sesame seed, potato roll, earthiness and leather. They finish with black pepper, creaminess, leather and some sweetness. Flavor, body and strength all end the cigar at the medium-full level. Like before, construction is pretty good with the only potential issue being a slightly tight draw, though my issue is with the tar flavors and not the actual tightness of the draw.

Final Notes

• The first cigar, the one without any signs of tar, was incredible. Not only were flavor and construction both excellent, but it was easy to understand why that cigar was so great, the flavors and construction were very obvious. It’s one of the best cigars I’ve smoked all year and one of my favorite Viajes of all time.
• While the other two cigars showed signs of that excellence, a tar taste really hampered the experience. The end result—as evidenced by the score below—shows that those two cigars weren’t “bad,” but they weren’t close to the excellence of the first cigar.

• If you are wondering what tar looks like, the above picture is of a different cigar with obvious, visible tar. The darker and shinier brown—nearly black—part of the head is what I associate with tar. I typically find it only on cigars with tight draws, though I only find it in a minority of cigars with tight draws. It has a very distinct bitter taste and the substance has an oily texture to it. If you were to brush it off with your finger, the sticky substance would smear on your finger a bit like wet pen ink, though the substance is thicker.
• Just because you don’t see tar, it doesn’t mean you aren’t tasting it. Oftentimes tar can be just below the visible part of the cap and I’ve seen it within the filler leaves further down the cylinder.
• We don’t evaluate tar in any unique manner, so I didn’t do much beyond the most basic checks to see if it was visible.
• One issue caused by using a black-on-black skull and bones logo that is largely invisible to the naked eye is that the logo is rarely centered on the cigar.
• Some Skull and Bones bands have been glow-in-the-dark, based on some limited testing, I don’t believe these are or if they are.
• I was surprised to measure this cigar at 56 ring gauge. The box press really helps to slim the cigar and I probably would have guessed this as a 54 ring gauge.
• Like most people, I’ve not smoked every single Skull and Bones release. I’m 99 percent sure I’ve yet to smoke every single M?stery, but I’ve smoked a number of them over the years. It seems like this cigar was blended to be milder than previous versions. It’s not a mild cigar, but it’s one of the mildest Skull and Bones cigars I’ve ever smoked.
• Viaje has a unique model; currently, it sells no regular production cigars and instead uses an allocated model similar to the alcohol industry. While Skull and Bones has typically been a strong seller for Viaje, I’ve noticed that most of the company’s releases seem to be selling quicker in the last year. I wrote that and then was surprised to find one of our sponsors still selling these cigars. That said, the retailers we buy most of our Viajes from seemed to sell out in a day or two.
• We are missing the trio of February 2016 Skull and Bones releases, if you’d like to trade/sell us some of those, please contact us.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 35 minutes.
• Site sponsor JR Cigar has the Skull and Bones M?stery in stock.