Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Exodus (Torpedo), 6.25” x 52 ring gauge / MSRP ~$8.50
Viva Republica was created by Jason Holly, according to the website, because “The cigar industry needs a revolution. We got tired of waiting.” He teamed up with Guillermo Leon of La Aurora to create this new brand in the Dominican Republic. It uses Nicaraguan, Brazilian, and Dominican fillers, a Dominican Corojo binder, and an Ecuadorian Havana Vuelta Abajo wrapper. I got this single sample from the cigars sent for the 2013 Chattanooga Tweet-Up.
This initial release by Viva Republica is called the Rapture. From a purely artistic standpoint, I like the band. I believe they used black foil for the type, which has a nice shine to it. From a marketing standpoint, the band is a little frustrating because there’s no way to see the entire name of the cigar from any one side. In a box they would end up looking like “RAP” or “URE,” although probably the best view to put facing up when a box is opened is the Viva Republica logo in gold foil on black (is this how they are presented? I don’t know because I haven’t seen them in a store). The wrapper is a earthy, dark tan variation of an Ecuadorian Habano leaf, not completely unlike what was used on the Guillermo Leon Signature. The Guillermo Leon is listed as a Vuelta Arriba while this is a Vuelta Abajo…so, maybe a slightly different hybridization? Different priming? Different farm? The wrapper had a rich earthy smell to it, along with a hay note. I got more hay and a milder earthiness, along with a bit of a vegetal note, on the foot. I cut the tip off and got a good draw that tasted mostly of hay, but there were some herbal, vegetal notes as well and just a touch of pepper spice.
I lit up the Rapture and got a nice mix of cedar, hay, molasses sweetness, some mild earthiness and just a touch of pepper spice, the last of which came through mostly on the retrohale. The body seemed straight up medium at the beginning and the flavor was nice and fairly complex. As I went along in the first third, it seemed the body lessened a bit, although the flavor was still nice. Mostly I got notes of molasses and hay as it slowly turned to ash.
As the second third of the Rapture got under way in earnest, the flavor started ramping up quite a bit. The sweetness got more intense and a fuller earthy flavor came through, along with a nice red pepper burn. After the body dipped a little in the first third, it now rose back to medium and slightly beyond in fairly short order. Construction was excellent, as is to be expected from La Aurora products. The draw was good, the burn line was very even and the ash was rock solid for up to an inch.
In the last third I got plenty more pepper from the Rapture as well as more earthy and sweet flavors. The body did get up to the medium-to-full range, which was a surprise since it had started to peter out a bit in the early going. After a nice start, I was disappointed with most of the first third, but the second and final third of this cigar definitely redeemed it, delivering a very pleasant pepper burn combined with a good balance of earth and molasses. I found it a definite departure from most of La Aurora’s production in terms of flavor profile, too.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
