It’s Thanksgiving time and once again Viaje has a seasonal release for the 2020 holiday. This year Viaje announced the return of three of its Thanksgiving theme cigars: the Viaje Stuffed Turkey White Meat, the Viaje Stuffed Turkey Dark Meat, and the Viaje Farmer Bill Hatchet. As with each of these releases in the past, they are small batch releases being released only once in 2020.
The Viaje Stuffed Turkey White Meat is a Nicaraguan puro highlighted by a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper. The Viaje Stuffed Turkey Dark Meat features a San Andres wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos. Both cigars measure 5 x 58. It’s the first time since 2018 the Stuffed Turkey line has been released.
Meanwhile Viaje Farmer Bill Hatchet returns for the first time since 2015. This is a 7 x 52 Nicaraguan puro featuring a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper.
The Viaje Stuffed Turkey made its debut in 2011 as a Nicaraguan puro. Measuring 5 x 60, it also marked the company’s first 60 ring gauge cigar. It was originally released as a part of the “White Label Project” line. This line is a mechanism for Viaje to release experimental blends and sizes, factory errors, etc. In 2012, the Stuffed Turkey was expanded to two blends. The original 2011 blend was rebranded as the Stuffed Turkey White Meat, and a San Andres Maduro wrapped version was added and dubbed the Stuffed Turkey Dark Meat.
The Stuffed Turkey White Meat and Dark Meat versions returned in 2013. For 2014, the sizes were changed to 5 x 58 cigars. In addition, the Stuffed Turkey White Meat and Dark Meat versions were moved out of the White Label Project series and received their own banding and packaging. These have remained annual releases with three exceptions: in 2016 the line was given the year off, in 2017 box-pressed editions of the Stuffed Turkey were released and dubbed as “Edicion Limitada” releases, and in 2019 the line took another year off.
Farmer Bill Hatchet was first introduced in 2014 – after returning in 2015 it has not been seen in its original form. In 2016, Farmer Bill Hatchet was replaced with Zombie Farmer Bill Hatchet. Zombie Farmer Bill Hatchet returned in 2017 and 2018. 2019 saw another release called Farmhand Andre, another 7 x 52 box-pressed vitola. In addition, there was an off-thanksgiving release called Zombie Farmhand Andre.
John Gemmellaro
They all sound good. Might have to try all, if I can find them.