The origin of this cigar came about in 2019 while smoking a cigar with Andre Farkas at our retail store. We had been after him to design a blend for SBC for quite some time. The name came as an homage to Claude the Dog who just had major back surgery. I wanted to build off other releases that Andre and I put our heads together on, and Claudenstein had such a nice ring to it. Well, the first release came and went rather quickly, so in 2021, we went to work on the next release. We expanded on the original blend by tweaking it and giving it a new size. The one-off size is a trademark of Viaje limited releases. A customer at the lounge designed the secondary cigar band for us. The Rise of the Claudenstein was released on 7/22/2022, which means that our stock has nearly two years of box aging.
– KatMan via Andrew of Small Batch
Bought from –
Small Batch Cigar
Information:
Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano Claro)
Binder: (Nicaragua)
Filler: (Nicaragua)
Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Aganorsa
Aging (if any): 2 years post purchase
Single (MSRP): $16
Box (MSRP): $160
Availability: Limited Small Batch Cigar Release
Size:
6 x 52
Band/Packaging:
Simple with a fun design of Claudentein
Wrapper:
Brown and veiny
Construction:
Firm packed
Cold draw:
Slight pepper, creamy, Slight chocolate
THE REVIEW
First third:
Red pepper, chocolate, slight cedar, lemon citrus, vegetal notes, cinnamon, black pepper
Retro:
Pepper, sweet cedar, lemon
Second third:
Milk chocolate, nuts, cedar, dark fruit, black pepper (flavor no spice), slight citrus, caramel
Burn:
A few small touch ups, no major issues
Smoke:
Large clouds
Final third:
Caramel, chocolate, slight orange, nuts, oak
Retro:
Chocolate, red pepper, caramel, nuts
Duration:
1 hour 47 minutes
Conclusion:
This is the first Viaje I recall smoking. I may have smoked one previously before I started really paying attention to notes and specifics of cigars, but this is a great introduction to the brand for me. First third was interesting and not bad, but as the second third hit, man it got good. The chocolate caramel note really hit well, and the subtle fruit and nuts added a nice compliment. Would definitely get a box of these as SBC currently has them half off! (as of the time of this review). This one gets a 93 and box worthy dependent for me.
Result: 93
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