Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua

Nearly a decade ago, a new black and silver banded cigar from Viaje made its debut, one said to be the personal blend of company founder Andre Farkas, made its debut on the market: the Viaje Exclusivo.

Initially released in a small figuardo vitola known as the Chiquito and in a small quantity—just 2,500 cigars—the line quickly captured the attention of a good number of cigar smokers as the then two-year-old company continued to build and develop its portfolio. An all-Nicaraguan cigar using AGANORSA tobacco, the cigar was produced at the Raíces Cubanas factory in Danlí, Honduras.

The Exclusivo line would steadily grow in the decade since its release, with more than a dozen releases that spanned a range of sizes. Then, in February 2014 the line got its first extension, the Viaje Exclusivo Leaded, a modified blend that added medio tiempo tobacco to the blend, using the highest priming of a tobacco plant to add strength and additional flavor. To differentiate the two lines, the bands would change to make the Viaje word mark red, a seeming indicator that the new line was stronger than its predecessor.

The line would grow once again, adding a new extension in October 2016 with the release of the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua, which used a new, all-Nicaragua blend that would be made at the TABSA factory in Nicaragua, owned by AGANORSA Leaf. It would debut in three sizes, Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 50) and Double R (5 1/2 x 54), which were the same three sizes that the original Exclusivo line came in when the company moved it to regular production status in 2015. It would be differentiated this time by the leaves on the band going to a blue and white color scheme, a nod to the colors of the Nicaraguan flag.

When announced, Farkas was certain to note that the new Exclusivo was not replacing the original one, saying it is intended to complement the original.

Then in November 2018, the company announced that it was bringing the two offshoot lines of Exclusivo lines together by way of the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded. Once again, medio tiempo was added to the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua’s blend for additional strength, and once again it would debut in the robusto, toro and double robusto sizes in which the other two variants debuted. But they wouldn’t be the only three releases in the line’s debut, as the company added a fourth cigar, the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded Corona Gorda Edición Limitada. Like its predece,ssors it would get a unique band, with the black and silver base of the original Exclusivo, the red wordmark of the Exclusivo Leaded and the blue and white leaves of the Exclusivo Nicaragua.

• Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded Corona Gorda Edición Limitada (6 x 46) — December 2018 — n/a
• Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded Robusto (5 x 52) — December 2018 — n/a
• Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded Double R (5 1/2 x 54) — December 2018 — n/a
• Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Leaded Toro (6 x 50) — December 2018 — n/a