It takes a lot to stand out in today’s cigar market, where manufacturers play a seemingly friendly but relentless game of one-upmanship. Oscar Valladares manages to play that game well, offering a small but bold lineup of brands that really stand out on the shelf—though if you drop a box of the company’s camo-themed Wild Hunter smokes in the woods, you might never find it again:
Not so with the Super Fly box. Yeesh:
What any one brand has to do with the other is anyone’s guess…Wild Hunter lives alongside Altar Q and 2012 and for whatever reason, the subject of today’s review, Super Fly. Technically, this isn’t the bold, regular-production Super Fly but a new, special, one-size-only version called the Super Fly by Oscar Valladares Connecticut.
We approve, though, because it’s a corona (yay!) and also part of the new breed of light-wrapped cigars that are definitely not your grandfather’s idea of Connecticut Shade. The 5¼ inch by 45 ring gauge format is little plump for a corona, and only a digit away in girth from being technically a corona gorda. Yet here it is, and we’ll take it. In today’s working-from-home world, your former 45-minute commute can be reimagined as extra cigar time. While nine bucks is on the high side these days considering the economic fallout all around us, it’s hardly outrageous considering Davidoff still charges $13 for a 4½ x 41 petit corona. (You keep on being you, Davidoff…we’ll meet again someday when people have jobs.)
We approve, though, because it’s a corona (yay!) and also part of the new breed of light-wrapped cigars that are definitely not your grandfather’s idea of Connecticut Shade. The 5¼ inch by 45 ring gauge format is little plump for a corona, and only a digit away in girth from being technically a corona gorda. Yet here it is, and we’ll take it. In today’s working-from-home world, your former 45-minute commute can be reimagined as extra cigar time. While nine bucks is on the high side these days considering the economic fallout all around us, it’s hardly outrageous considering Davidoff still charges $13 for a 4½ x 41 petit corona. (You keep on being you, Davidoff…we’ll meet again someday when people have jobs.)
Go ahead and take off that ginormous (and slightly hideous) band if you want, because it’s only hiding an otherwise great looking smoke. That’s some seriously nice wrapper leaf, approaching Cuban tobacco in terms of being smooth and with barely perceptible veins. It’s a little darker than we’re used to, but perhaps only slightly, and it has an appealingly reddish tint under the right light. Maybe that’s because this isn’t USA Connecticut, or the far more common Ecuador Connecticut, but Honduran Connecticut. The binder is Honduran too, with a filler blend consisting of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican leaf. In fact, this is the first Oscar blend to include Dominican tobacco, perhaps in an old-school nod to traditional Connecticut cigars like Macanudo and Don Diego.
It resists being lit just a little, but once you get it going, the draw is very good and you’re immediately hit with Nicaraguan spice and Honduran earthiness smoothed out by that little hit of Dominican leaf and that mellow but flavorful-looking wrapper. It’s bready in texture, with a cake-like mouthfeel, a ginger-beer tingle on the tongue and hints of cocoa and leather. Grandpa might shit himself if you played the old switcheroo with one of these instead of his usual Ashton. It’s bold but still medium in strength, with a full-ish body and a long aftertaste. Trust us, if you’re hankering for a bite-sized chunk of new age Connecticut goodness, this is your idea of a good time. Fill your pimp cup to the brim with your favorite bev, don your finest animal print bathrobe and spark one of these beauties up during the time you’d normally spend fighting traffic. How’s that for a better start to your day—and a big bright spot during quarantine?
It resists being lit just a little, but once you get it going, the draw is very good and you’re immediately hit with Nicaraguan spice and Honduran earthiness smoothed out by that little hit of Dominican leaf and that mellow but flavorful-looking wrapper. It’s bready in texture, with a cake-like mouthfeel, a ginger-beer tingle on the tongue and hints of cocoa and leather. Grandpa might shit himself if you played the old switcheroo with one of these instead of his usual Ashton. It’s bold but still medium in strength, with a full-ish body and a long aftertaste. Trust us, if you’re hankering for a bite-sized chunk of new age Connecticut goodness, this is your idea of a good time. Fill your pimp cup to the brim with your favorite bev, don your finest animal print bathrobe and spark one of these beauties up during the time you’d normally spend fighting traffic. How’s that for a better start to your day—and a big bright spot during quarantine?
THE DETAILS5.25x45 Honduras W: Honduras B: Honduras F: Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras $9 | THE HIGHLIGHTSA quarantine treat all around. The beautiful Colorado-hued wrapper hugs a three-country blend that produces snappy, ginger like spice and a range of flavors from sweet to earth. | THE VERDICTCLASSIC EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD ---------------------- SMOKE/HOLD |
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