There's a good chance this is the first time you're reading about the Viaje cigar brand. It's a new and fairly unheralded brand, first made under contract at the Joya de Nicaragua factory but later moved to Honduras and the Raices Cubanas cigar factory, which is building a reputation as a maker of delicious, well-crafted cigars. (Last year, four of our Top 25 cigars were rolled at that factory.)

Viaje is a Spanish word that means "journey," and this Viaje Oro Reserva VOR No. 5 trekked through multiple tastings to reach the No. 2 position in our Top 25 tasting. Starting with the December issue of Cigar Aficionado, it scored 91 points, enough for it to merit consideration in the Top 25 contest. Then it delivered top performance after top performance to move up our rankings in subsequent Top 25 taste tests. The Viaje Oro Reserva VOR No. 5 is a limited-production smoke made for the brand owner Andre Farkas.

The flavorful cigar has notes of leather, sweet spices and a cocoa-powder finish that walks a perfectly fine line between bitter and sweet. Few things in life are as pleasant as finding an unexpected gem, and the Viaje Oro Reserva VOR No. 5 truly fits the bill.