Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Camo Blue

For the vast majority of new cigars that come to market, there is some sort of formal announcement about them before they hit store shelves. This usually means a press release that is sent to media outlets with the essential details and then some backstory about what makes this particular cigar unique.

Then, there are a handful of cigars that show up without announcement, even without a social media post. While I don’t know just how many of these there are, it seems a lot of them come from Viaje, and one of the more recent ones was the Skull & Bones Tsar Bomba, which began arriving at a handful of stores in mid-December 2023.

Viaje did not provide any information about the cigars, leaving it to the small group of retailers who received the cigars to provide information. What is known is that all three versions—the Camo Red, Camo Blue and Camo Grey—are all 6 x 56 toro gordos, all three come in 25-count boxes, and all three have MSRPs of $16.24.

As for the name, it comes from a Soviet-made thermonuclear aerial bomb, also known as AN602, that is regarded as the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. It was first tested on Oct. 30, 1961 and at first measure produced 58 megatons, though in 1991 that was revised to 50 megatons due to better instruments used to measure the test site.

It’s the latest addition for one of Viaje’s more notable lines, which dates back to 2010 and a cigar that helped put Viaje on the map, the Skull and Bones Daisy Cutter. Since that debut cigar, more than 50 cigars have come out with the skull and crossbones on their band, representing a handful of offshoot lines named for various types of high-powered bombs and fictional characters.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Camo Blue
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 56
• Vitola: Toro Gordo
• MSRP: $16.24 (Box of 25, $406)
• Release Date: December 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Camo Blue is a fairly beefy cigar in the hand, as the cigar feels every bit of its 56 ring gauge. One cigar looks like it has just the slightest bit of a press, whereas the other cigars appear to be nearly perfectly round. The wrapper leaves are all evenly colored with varying amounts of oiliness, as two cigars didn’t strike me as particularly oily, while one caught my attention for how oily the lower inch or so felt when I was taking it out of the cellophane. All three cigars look good with small veins, flat seams, and well-constructed heads, while a slight squeeze reveals a firm density. The foot has varying amounts of coverage from the wrapper, one gets a generous amount, one gets a little more than the minimum to qualify it as being covered, the third leaves just a tiny spot uncovered. What seems like a fairly sweet and soft aroma of orange-soaked cedar starts things off, but then the final intake of air and aroma reveals some crisp pepper and spice. Air moves well on the cold draw, while the flavor profile is fairly tame, with some bread or pizza dough, maybe a bit of paper, and a bit of creaminess.

It comes as little surprise that the Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Camo Blue has some vibrant pepper right out of the gate, especially given the covered foot. What I’m a bit surprised by is how my eyes react to the smoke, as they quickly get irritated and start watering. But I’m also surprised that this isn’t a heavier, earth-laden profile that I tend to think of from Viaje. Rather; the profile is lighter and more middle of the spectrum, giving it an impressive and fresh vibrance through the first inch. After that first inch, a bit of ligero strength emerges and adds some black pepper as well as a richness to the profile. This addition also manifests in the retrohales, which have become fuller in near lockstep with the flavor. After starting around medium-plus, the flavor and strength reach medium-full, while the body of the smoke has stayed around medium. The ash is a little flakier than I expected in the first third, but otherwise, the cigar burns very well.

The second third starts with a change to the aroma, picking up the slightest bit of smoked chocolate, almost reminiscent of a s’more but without the marshmallow. While the pepper has dialed down just a touch, the ligero strength picks up and gives the cigar some weight on the taste buds. To balance that change, the retrohales lighten up just a touch, remaining peppery but not with the increased gravitas of the profile. There are not a lot of changes in this section until the final few puffs, when the ligero returns and with it, some strength, pepper and richness in the flavor. Retrohales at the end of this section are darn near perfect, delivering a mix of black pepper and cereal grain that does a great job tingling my nostrils without completely lighting them up. Flavor is back to medium-full if not full in certain puffs, body is a steady medium-plus, and strength is slowly creeping up once again to the medium-full mark. Construction is very good, with no touch-ups or relights, good smoke production and a fairly even burn line.

As the Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Camo Blue, I find myself battling some eye irritation caused by the smoke, rubbing them in a futile attempt to rid myself of the irritation and then wiping away the tears resulting from that irritation. Meanwhile, some creaminess and freshly cut wood begin to emerge in the flavor, the latter of which creates a distinct sensation on the sides of my tongue. As the burn line passes through the spot where the band would be, the smoke gets quite irritating to my eyes, though the flavor and retrohales both remain very enjoyable. The flavor shifts back towards fresh cut wood with a bit of Fritos edge and a touch of oiliness in the flavor and some pepper on the finish. Construction remains very good, while the flavor finishes at medium-plus, body is medium and the strength is medium-plus.

Final Notes:

• One retailer carrying the Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba line claimed that the cigars are made by the Aganorsa factory and use AGANORSA Leaf tobacco, though a representative from Viaje declined to address that claim.
• I have not yet smoked the Camo Grey or Camo Red versions, though I am rather curious to do so after being impressed by the Camo Blue version.
• In terms of what I would want from those other blends, I could certainly see one that gives a heavier overall profile for those who prefer truly full-bodied cigars, but I would just like to see the Camo Blue’s profile developed a bit more and maybe add some more defined transitions to really make the individual thirds shine.
• The Wikipedia page about the actual Tsar Bomba has a solid history of this weapon.
• The amount of eye irritation from this cigar, particularly in its final third, was noteworthy. There’s no place on our scoresheet to account for this kind of thing, so it’s not something that is going to cost the cigar points, but it is something that will stand out in my memories of it. This is, quite literally, a tear-inducing cigar.
• Only one of the three cigars I smoked for this review gave me a noticeable nicotine strength, so while I wouldn’t call this an inherently strong cigar, it could hit certain smokers with more of an effect than others.
• It’s an interesting statement to write given the name of the cigar and history of the bomb behind it; I found this far from a true bomb in terms of strength.
• Final smoking time was about three hours on average, but there was a spread of smoking times from about two-and-a-half hours to three-and-a-half hours.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co. was one of the select stores that received these cigars. As of early March 2024, it still has them in stock.