Video review HERE.
(Description tak en from Cigar-Coop.com website)
For the past three years, Viaje has produced a small batch release called the Viaje Birthday Blend to pay tribute to company founder Andre Farkas‘ birthday. These releases have been a part of Viaje’s White Label Project (WLP). For 2019, the Birthday Blend returns, but this time it has graduated out of the WLP series into its own line.
The Viaje Birthday Blend 2019 release keeps the 6 x 52 Belicoso format seen the previous three years. The Birthday Blend 2019 will be packaged in 38-count boxes.
The Birthday Blend draws its inspiration from Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon, which is an annual release to commemorate Old Forester founder George Garvin Brown’s birthday. Since 2002, it has been an annual limited release by the bourbon company. Viaje Cigars’ founder Andree Farkas decided to come up with a similar concept to commemorate his own birthday and thus the Viaje Birthday Blend was born.
Blend:
Wrapper: Nicaraguan criollo '98
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitolas available:
6 x 52 Torpedo
The cigar is very well made and has an oily wrapper. It has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the minimum from the pointed cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were a cedar with hints of citrus, a nice amount of cinnamon with a little brown sugar, quite a bit of nutmeg and leather, and a black coffee base. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2.
About 1 inch in (12 minutes) the flavors have settled down a bit. Now you have that baby aspirin citrus flavor with a nice amount of brown sugar and cinnamon, caramel, a lot of nutmeg and leather, and the black coffee base. 
At the first third (30 minutes) the flavors remain the same but the leather and nutmeg are creeping up. The baby aspirin orange flavor is slightly decreased. The cigar still has nice sweetness due to the caramel notes. The cigar is nice and sweet with a lot of darker notes to counteract them. The finish has some aspect of citrus but more aspect of caramel and a touch of nutmeg. There was average to below average lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied. I rated the first third at 92.
At the second third (53 minutes) the flavors are the same but the percentages of each have changed. The leather notes have greatly increased causing the sweeter flavors to decrease. The nutmeg and black coffee were close behind the leather notes. The cigar is about 60/40; leather/nutmeg/black coffee to sweeter notes. The cigar is close to medium to full bodied. The finish has more nutmeg on it with the same basic flavors. The lingering black pepper has increased. I rated the second third at 91.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 13 minutes. The flavors continued to stay on the same track. The darker notes continued to increase. The flavors at the end: baby aspirin orange in a small amount, quite a bit of cinnamon, brown sugar and caramel to help with the sweetness, quite a bit of black coffee, nutmeg, and decreased leather. There was almost a sweet dark chocolate flavor that popped up in the final stages. The black pepper was good throughout and the lingering black pepper continued to improve. The finish is unchanged. The cigar is medium to full bodied. With the cigar losing more sweetness I lowered the final third score to 90.
Overall Score: 91
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