Growing up in NY, we had plenty of local bakeries that made some of the best donuts, pastries, bread, and cookies I have ever had. When it came to cookies, one stands out famously, the Black and White. It was large cookie that had one half iced with chocolate and the other half with vanilla.
My older brother liked the chocolate and I liked the vanilla, so that made it easy for my mom, she just bought one and broke it in half and we each enjoyed the cookie.
I would suppose, Andre Farkas from Viaje Cigars liked this cookie also, because this year, Viaje released the result of a project called the Black and White. Two different cigars, one a maduro and the other a Connecticut. The project was inspired by the famous Black and White cookie, or at least that is the word. Wait, did I say Viaje has released a Connecticut? Yes I did. But we will get into that in a follow up review. As for this review, I want to focus on the Maduro variety of the Viaje Black and White. Or is it just called the Viaje Black? I don’t know, it is never easy to get much info out of Viaje. What I do know is that the maduro has a blend described as:
- Wrapper – San Andres
- Binder/Filler – Leaf from AGANORSA Farms in Nicaragua
I also know these are available in a single size, a (6 3/4 x 52) figurado and they are packaged in 24-count canisters. MSRP has been set at $14.00/cigar.
For this review, I purchased three of these as part of the Stogie Press Mission to Keep The Lights On with brick and mortars around the country.
Pre-Light Examination
The Viaje Black & White Maduro is a very dark brown cigar neatly pressed and rolled into a well constructed figurado vitola. The wrapper has a decent amount of marbling, a few noticeable veins, and an oily sheen. The cigar feels tightly packed and solid in the hand.
A single black on black band adorns the cigar with the Viaje name embossed in the middle.
Running the Viaje Black along the nose I detected a deeply pungent note along the barrel while the foot had a slight curing barn aroma.
I slice the cap straight with my double blade cutter about a 1/4 inch down and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. With the tapered foot, the draw was a little tight but that is expected. I picked up notes of butter and gentle spice.
I used my double flame torch to start the journey and was greeted with notes of wood and cocoa notes. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- The journey started with a woody note and hints of cocoa
- Once the burn got past the tapered foot the smoke volume opened up
- A white ash forms on a medium and wavy char line
- Ash dropped early revealing a flat burn cone
- Ash gets flaky
- Natural sweetness notes start to take control of the profile
- Dry fruit notes blend in nicely with the sweetness
- Medium volume of smoke
- Slight wave in the burn
- The sweetness is quite pleasant moving into the second third
- Enticing cocoa aroma is filling the air around me
- Earthy notes join the mix followed with a light spice
- Espresso notes add to the pleasure
- Off burn deep in second third
- Spice increases through the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Overall, the Viaje Black & White Maduro had a delicious flavor profile that had a pleasant sweetness running through most of the journey. With the cocoa notes and aromas I can appreciate the branding of this with the Black and White cookie. I look forward to sampling the white label next. It did have some burn issues but nothing that required a touchup. I would recommend picking up a fiver of these if you find them. I rate this a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Off Burn; (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Flaky Ash
