TX Duo Review - Viaje TNT c(2010-2012)

[Çnote]

@Capn_Jackson, more ghosts!

Lots of anticipation here. I was told there were OR 2010, but who knows? Maybe some pics from Jackson will help narrow it down, I neglected to research deeply before lighting this pretty on the fly.

Starts immediately with dark cocoa chocolate ice cream & cognac-soaked currants. A touch of lip tingling peppercorn. After an inch, into some ancho, chile tamarind carnitas, but also some minor construction issues. Gently burning past those into mellow rich forest floor fading into rich mocha and trailing into bitter coffee.

Pretty incredible overall. Totally unlike more recent TNT.

[Capn_Jackson]

Viaje TnT. Let’s see if this one has any :::BOOM::: left. I think it’s at least a decade old, but can’t remember.

Wrapper’s sitting somewhere on the darker end of maduro. Deep brown, almost getting into that oily espresso look in spots. Not glossy. Forgot to take a picture of this one.

Feels firm, a little tooth here and there, nothing wild. Off the wrapper I am getting a deep, earthy sweetness… a little cocoa and damp wood thing going on.

Straight cut today. Cold draw is easy, actually looser than I expected for how the pack felt. Got a mix of dry cocoa, faint molasses, and nutty pepper at the light-up puff, which fades after a few minutes. Quick flash of charred wood after a couple of puffs.

Settling into the first third, cocoa and earth are leading, with this darker sweetness underneath, more like unsweetened chocolate than anything sugary. Every now and then a little cedar drifts in, but it stays in the background. Strength is still pretty high for what I think is at least a ten-year-old stick. Med-full to full still! Smoke output is solid. Texture is powdery, a little like cocoa powder in the mouth.

Somewhere moving into the second third it starts to round off a bit. Elbows  soften, and that cocoa note deepens… less sharp, more integrated. At one moment I catch glimpses of an older Cuban profile, roasted pecans and some mushroom cream. Pepper comes back around the midpoint, in a surprising return. Not so dark as at the beginning, more crushed red pepper. Still lots of wood notes.

Strength kicks up past the midpoint, and earth gets a little heavier. Might just be me today, but I felt like the sweetness is pulled back just a touch here, letting the darker, more grounded notes take over. Pumpernickel toast.

Heading into the last act,, things turn to dark baker’s chocolate, earthy spices, and mesquite smoke. Great burn line the whole way up until this point, and then what started as a little uneven turns into a diagonal burn the rest of the way. Nothing worth fixing, here at the end. I don’t feel this is a nubber.

Appreciate @Çnote giving me this one, but not quite my cup ‘o tea. A little heavy-handed still, after however many years. Not quite like the few more recent TnT I’ve had … think that’s only one or two. Nothing bad to say about it, just on the higher-end of strength where I don’t like to sit too often, and very dark flavors. Good washes of earth, coffee, cocoa, bread, but not a lot of sweetness. Flashes here and there, not a lot.

Still, I gave this one an 88. Really a change of pace for me, and good quality tobacco and construction for sure, Not one I’d likely dig for too often, though.

[Çnote]

On 3/15/2026 at 4:49 PM, Çnote said:

Maybe some pics from Jackson will help narrow it down, I neglected to research deeply before lighting this pretty on the fly.

No pics at all @Capn_Jackson?