(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
Last year marked the first time since the Viaje Holiday Blend debuted in 2009 that the company did not release a Holiday Blend to stores. This year, Holiday Blend is returning in two different formats and most notably with a new wrapper.
Viaje has announced that the Holiday Blend (5 x 54) and Holiday Blend Christmas Tree (4 x 60) REVIEWED TODAY has shipped to stores. Both cigars use a Nicaraguan corojo 99 maduro wrapper, replacing the Nicaraguan criollo wrapper that has historically been used for the Holiday Blend. The binder and fillers are also from Nicaragua. The Holiday Blend 2022 has an MSRP of $10.66 per cigar while the Christmas Tree 2022 has an MSRP of $10 per cigar.
Viaje did not answer a question about where the cigars are made, but the corojo 99 maduro wrapper has been a popular choice of late for new blends coming from AGANORSA, a company Viaje has worked with in the past.
This year marks the first time since 2017 that there has been a Christmas Tree release. For those wondering, the company said on Instagram that it would not be releasing a Holiday Blend Candy Cane release, a baberpole version of Holiday Blend.
The cigar is short and fat. It has a nice feel (dense) in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were a citrus/cedar, brown sugar, citrus peel, nutmeg, and leather. There was black pepper rated at 7. Not a bad start.
At the first third (33 minutes) I had light citrus, citrus peel, brown sugar, creamy nutmeg, and leather. The black pepper has increased to 7 1/2. The finish is leather with average lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied. The cigar isn't great but it's not bad. I rated the first third 91.
Moving through the second third (57 minutes) the cigar developed a lot more nutmeg and it's now a dry nutmeg. There are lighter amounts of citrus, citrus peel, and brown sugar with the increased nutmeg. And there's still leather at the base. The lingering black pepper has improved a lot. The finish is still leather but with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied. Nutmeg isn't a great flavor. I rated the second third 89.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 29 minutes. The nutmeg pulled back a little but the sweetness didn't rise a lot. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is leather with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar made a modest improvement. I rated the final third 90. Not a great cigar but good enough to have again.
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