(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
Viaje has released their newest Honey & Hand Grenades vitola.
The cigar is called The Katana, and it is a 7 x 48 double corona-esque vitola. It will use the same all-Nicaraguan blend as the other sizes in the Honey & Hand Grenades line, which is highlighted by a criollo wrapper. Production numbers have not been disclosed, but the boxes come with the Edición Limitada secondary band, which has been used to indicate that a particular vitola is getting a small production. In a Facebook post, Farkas called it a “micro production.”
The Honey & Hand Grenades line debuted in 2012 and has previously been offered in three sizes, all of which feature a rounded cap but with a tapered foot reminiscent of a salomon, a vitola known as a diadema. The majority of the cigar is covered in a red foil paper that is designed to evoke the image of blood, as each of the vitolas is named for a bladed weapon, such as a knife or sword.
Personally, I like this long, slender version. Most of the cigar is covered by the red foil. The cigar has an average feel in the hand. It is necessary to cut both the cap and foot of the cigar in order to give it a proper light.
The test draw after cutting the cap and foot was firm but I expect it to improve as the cigar burns. The initial flavors at light up were a citrus/cedar, brown sugar, a lot of dry nutmeg, and leather. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2. There is some nice sweetness but there's a lot of nutmeg.
At the first third (31 minutes) the nutmeg was still at a high level. I get some light citrus/cedar/brown sugar notes but they're not at the level of the dry nutmeg. And there's still leather at the base. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish has a hint of citrus and leather with good lingering black pepper. The nutmeg is out of scale. It's a little too much. I rated the first third 89.
Moving through the second third (1 hour 10 minutes) the nutmeg actually increased. There are faint hints of any citrus/cedar/brown sugar. And now there's also earthiness to go along with the massive amount of nutmeg and leather. The cigar is medium bodied and the finish is leather with good lingering black pepper. The cigar is moving in the wrong direction. I rated the second third 86.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 36 minutes. That's a 12 minute longer burn time than the maduro. Not sure why. But, the "good news" is the cigar leveled out. Not much changed in the final third. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. This cigar is not at the level of the maduro. You'd think they would be close but they're not. I held the score of 86 for the final third. Of the two, I prefer the maduro by a wide margin.
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