Viaje Platino Lancero

Today’s review is one that I picked out of a twitter-based cigar pass that we just finished up a few weeks ago. When asked if I was looking for my first response was “Viaje”, since I CANNOT get them here. The great BOTL’s that were involved in this pass delivered. This one comes thanks to our good friend Ben over at Nice Tight Ash. Thanks bro! Today’s review is Viaje’s Platino Lancero.

The Good Stuff: I really couldn’t find much information at all concerning this cigar. Basically, Viaje’s founder, Andre Farkas, is known for creating very small-batch, hard to find cigars. Even the more mass-produced lines such as the Platino are hard as hell to get a hold of. This is a Nicaraguan Puro that I have been DYING to get my hands on. Let’s see if the hype is worth it.

Size: 7.5 x 38  –  Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Full

Prelight: Viaje’s Platino Lancero starts off with a very uniform, dark chocolate, rustic looking brown wrapper. The long body carries quite a few larger veins that I hope won’t cause any burn issues as I smoke the cigar. The slender body leads up to a nice, round, triple pig tail cap. The smoker is greeted with a small silver ribbon on the foot, and the classic almost mystic looking Viaje logo embossed in green and silver on a very light yellow band. I REALLY like Viaje’s logo. It’s very different, and stands apart. For the most part the Platino Lancero is very firm, with only one soft, concerning spot about a inch big, and inch into the cigar. I don’t think this will cause any issues outside of maybe some flaky ash. Lanceros always seem prone to soft spots in my opinion, and as long they don’t really mess up the experience, I could really care less. A touch up, or relight isn’t going to really change my view of this cigar, but multiple relights really get on my nerves.

Anyhow, the body of the cigar gives off a very slight tobacco, woodsy, and chocolate aroma. Where all I could get of the foot was a very oaty aroma with a ton of spice and pepper. The Platino cut clean using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw gives out this really unique, oats and grain taste with tobacco and cinnamon. It almost tastes like some sort of cereal.

First Smoke: Right out of the gate this platino is a smoke bomb. The draw is just way easy (in a good way) producing tons upon tons of thick smoke. Usually I will hit a cigar two to three times for each draw but there is no need to do it more than once in this case. And the stationary smoke is just nuts. Almost to the point where it’s annoying… Almost. The flavors are very smooth starting out with just a really nice tobacco taste, with a bit of honey, coffee cedar, and spice. This cigar starts off very full, but well balanced. The burnline on this Platino Lancero is thick, but dead even. The ash is slightly flaky, and a medium grey with darker spots. It only held on for about ¾ of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The flavors began to smooth out even more into the second third of this Viaje Platino Lancero. The dominant flavor is this just smooth coffee backed by hints of honey and cinnamon. It’s strange, and welcoming that a cigar this full in body has such a smooth flavor profile and overall experience. The retrohale is pretty robust, coating my nasal passage with a very bitter chocolate and cedar. I am already getting a slight nicotine kick off this Lancero and I am barely halfway though it. I’m sure the beer I am pairing it with is a contributing factor to this as well. Burnline has been dead even the entire time and hasn’t required any touch ups at all.

Finish: Just as I was boasting about the burn not needing any attention, the cigar completely went out. Such as life. After a quick relight we were back in business. The final end finished off just as smooth, and just as strong as the first and second. That says a lot for this cigar. Tons of strength and tons of flavor with no harshness at all. It did however leave me with a nice little nicotine buzz. The Final flavors finished off with a light coffee, TONS of oats and grains, tobacco, and cedar with just a dash of sweetness. All in all this cigar took me a little over an hour to take down and smoked pretty fast for a lancero.

Overview: I actually sent a DM to Ben over at Nice Tight Ash (he actually threw this in a cigar pass we did for me) about how much I absolutely enjoyed this cigar. I haven’t had a cigar for a while where I walked away with such a feel-good feeling. The Platino Lancero really knocked it out of the park for me. Full body, smooth experience, tons of smooth flavors? What more can your ask for? Easier access to these cigar I guess as I CANNOT, for the life of me, EVER get them locally. If anyone has a few Viaje’s they don’t mind parting with, let me know and we will set up a trade! Anyways, this is all that I could ask for in a cigar. I should be tearing through a few more Viaje’s in the VERY near future (Thanks again Big Ben!) and just about everyone I had (minus the skull and bones #2 which I review here) have been dynamite. I would buy these again, by the box for sure. I wouldn’t really recommend these for the novice smoker strictly cause of the body, but I think any seasoned smoker will really appreciate all the Viaje has to offer with the Platino line.

Pairing: This Viaje Platino Lancero was paired with a bottle of Sierra Nevada Voilà. Ovila is a 7.5% ABV dubbel, Trappist monk style ale. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these beers will go toward the restoration of the historic Ovila chapter house building on the grounds of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California, just a few miles north of Sierra Nevada’s home in Chico. This beer had been on my radar since our good friend Bryan from 13th Floor cigars boasted about it over twitter to me a while back. All in all the match was dead on. The fruity, smooth, caramel flavors mashed perfectly with what the cigar had to offer. My only hesitation with picking up another one of these beers is for the same price you can go straight with a Chimay, Orval, or Westmorel.

Also, if you haven’t already entered our contest to win one of 10 2packs we are giving away of La Aurora’s new Para Japon cigar, head over to this post and do so. The contest ends tomorrow!!