Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo Toro

These days, it seems there are cigar releases to celebrate just about any occasion, from anniversaries to weddings to birthdays.

Earlier this year, Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. released a new cigar in the same vein, this time to commemorate the anniversary of what has become an extremely popular line since it was introduced 10 years ago: the Leaf by Oscar. Joining the company’s existing Connecticut, Corojo, Maduro and Sumatra options, the Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo is a Honduran puro made with a criollo-seed wrapper that is grown on the Oscar Valladares’ La Florida Jamastran farm.

In addition to the new dressed-up boxes, the bands on the Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo line are made of plantain leaves that have been processed by local artisans in Honduras into usable paper.

The line was created by “Island” Jim Robinson and Oscar Valladares in 2013 as a house blend for Robinson’s Leaf & Bean stores in Pittsburgh, Pa. However, those cigars quickly gained a national following, not only due to the line’s distinctive packaging that uses a tobacco leaf to cover each finished cigar but also because of the affordable price point.

The Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo line debuted with two vitolas, both of which are packaged in 20-count boxes:

• Cigar Reviewed: Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo Toro
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co.
• Wrapper: Honduras (La Florida Jamastran)
• Binder: Honduras
• Filler: Honduras
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $11.50 (Box of 20, $230)
• Release Date: July 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The combination of a cinnamon brown wrapper and rough, natural-looking band on the Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo Toro makes for an interesting-looking presentation, even for those who—like me—have seen it before. There is a bit of oil and quite a bit of tooth present on the wrappers of all three cigars, and two of the three have a small soft spot, each close to the foot. Aromas from the wrappers include strong earthiness and cedar, along with barnyard, straw, coffee beans and milk chocolate sweetness. The strongest scent emanating from the foot is cedar, along with toasted bread, peanuts, earth, leather tack and more milk sweetness. After a straight cut, the cold draw brings somewhat muted flavors of sweet cloves, powdery cocoa nibs, gritty earth, nutmeg, leather tack and light anise.

The cigar starts out both sweet and spicy, with the latter note very obvious on my tongue and sweet cedar present on the palate. After a short time, flavors of coffee beans and earth take over as the main flavors, followed by dark chocolate, mustard seeds, toasted bread, nutmeg, peanuts and a generic vegetal note. In addition, there is a very nice combination of red pepper and raisin sweetness present on the retrohale, with the latter note increasing as the first third burns down. Flavor ends the first third at solid medium, while the body and strength both lag a bit behind at a point just under the medium mark. There is not one aspect of the construction that comes close to being an issue, as all three cigars feature excellent draws, razor-sharp burn lines and copious amounts of thick, gray smoke.

There are some significant changes in the profile of the cigar during the second third, as a distinct flavor combination of charred meat and sweet barbecue sauce replaces the coffee beans and earth notes to top of the profile. Additional flavors of generic nuttiness, nutmeg, hay, ground coffee beans and cocoa nibs flit in and out at various points and while the amount of black pepper on the retrohale remains the same, the raisin sweetness has increased. Flavor increases to medium-plus, strength increases a bit to land at a solid medium and the body increases to a point just under medium. Unfortunately, two of the three cigars have burn issues that I am forced to correct with my lighter, but there continue to be no problems at all with either the smoke production or draws.

As the burn line enters the final third, I pick up some mineral saltiness on my lips for two of the three cigars, although it is not overly strong at any point. The main flavors in the profile have morphed into a combination of cocoa nibs and hay, followed by secondary flavors of charred meat, generic nuttiness, coffee grounds, barnyard, leather and sourdough bread. In addition, the retrohale features no major changes compared to the second third, with virtually the same amount of red pepper and raisin sweetness. The strength ends the cigars firmly at medium, while the flavor and body hit the medium-full and medium marks, respectively. Finally, the burn improves quite a bit for the two cigars that had issues in the previous third, while the draws and smoke production remain excellent until I put the nubs down with less than an inch left.

Final Notes

• Interestingly, the company first indicated it would not be releasing images of the cigar, choosing to save its first look for the trade show. The company then changed course and sent out a photograph of the cigars in a box that you can see in this updated news story.

• While it is obviously quite unusual to have bands that are made of plantain leaves, Leaf by Oscar does some thing similar with some of the company’s releases—like the Leaf by Oscar Maduro—where the bands are made up of the stems from tobacco leaves which are processed into a paper-like material by a company in Danlí, Honduras before being printed on with a dot matrix printer.
• The construction on all three cigars I smoked for this review was quite good overall: only two cigars needed burn corrections while the draws and smoke production were excellent.
• Having said the above, the ash on these cigars is annoyingly flaky, with small chunks falling almost continuously throughout the entire time I was smoking them.
• As part of his IPCPR Convention & Trade Show booth in 2017, Robinson handed out samples of “Island Jim” BBQ Pineapple Pork Sticks made with a recipe he developed. Those sticks were really, really good, and I have asked Robinson to bring them back every year since, sadly to no avail.
• I photographed a portrait of Robinson during a 10-hour delay while both of us were stuck waiting for a plane in the cigar lounge of the José Martí airport in Havana, Cuba.

• Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. has recently started adding a date on the UPC sticker used to close the end of the cellophane on its cigars; specifically, the date those cigars are packed in either boxes or bundles.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged one hour and 37 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo cigars, site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co., and JR Cigar all have them in stock.