JC Newman

January 30, 2018

Viaje Jalapeno 2018 (4 7/8 x 50)







Video review HERE.


(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
After a one year hiatus, the Viaje Jalapeño is returning for 2018.

The Viaje Jalapeño, a cigar project that pays homage to the spicy pepper.  The cigar was first introduced in 2015, and made a return in 2016. Last year, the company opted to release two other “pepper” projects – namely the Viaje Ghost Pepper and Viaje GP 10.31.

Like the previous Viaje Jalapeño releases, details of the blend have not been disclosed. In the past, the cigar was produced at the Raices Cubanas factory in Danlí, Honduras, but no details on where  the 2018 edition has been produced. As with the other Viaje Jalapeño, the 2018 edition is a 4 7/8 x 50 figurado.


As you may remember I reviewed the Ghost Pepper last year. Just for fun here are the Ghost Pepper and Jalapeno side by side.





Once you remove the foil cap the cigar is beautiful and very well made. Here is a shot of the foot.





After taking the minimum from the cap the test draw was very firm but that could have been due to the narrow foot. Once I lit the cigar is was still very firm so I used the PerfecDraw tool to open the airway. The initial flavors were a very sweet chocolate, candy-like orange citrus, black coffee, and tons of black pepper which I rated at an 8 1/2. The finish initially was cocoa with lots of lingering black pepper. This was a very good start.




About an inch in (24 minutes) the pepper toned down just a bit. It's still around a 7 1/2 so it's still very good. You still have the massive amount of sweet chocolate, candy-like citrus, loads of black coffee, and loads of black pepper. The lingering black pepper is amazing. The finish is still one of cocoa. The cigar is very close to full bodied. Intermingled in all the front end flavors is a very small amount of nutmeg, not very much but it's detectable. The first third rating is a 93.




At the midpoint (50 minutes) you still have the nice chocolate notes, candy-like orange citrus, black coffee, and lots of black pepper but now there are also caramel notes, which add more sweetness. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is now one of cocoa and caramel notes with lots of lingering black pepper. The midpoint rating is also a 93.




The cigar lasted 1 hour 11 minutes. The flavor notes at the midpoint continued right to the end. The chocolate/candy-like citrus notes work very well together. The black coffee adds quite a bit of depth and the black pepper is amazing. The finish continued the same, also. The lingering black pepper is one of the high points of the cigar. The cigar ended very full bodied. This has been an excellent cigar and if you can find the buy as many as you can. They went fast initially and hopefully your local shop will have some on hand. The final third rating is also a 93. This was a great cigar. 


Overall score: 93

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