Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robusto

The original Los Statos de Luxe brand traces its history back to the early 20th century and Cuba, established around 1940 and discontinued by Habanos S.A. in 2005. In the U.S., meanwhile, General Cigar Co. owns the rights to the brand, though for much of the modern era of cigars, you likely wouldn’t know that, as Los Statos was buried deep in the General catalog. Quite frankly, I’m not even sure that I was aware that this existed.

In 2022, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, General’s parent company, acquired Room101 and made Matt Booth, Room101’s founder, the company’s creative director. Seemingly one of his first tasks was spearheading the efforts to revive Los Statos de Luxe, albeit changing the last words in the name from de Luxe to Deluxe. It started with an eponymous regular production line made at STG Danlí, while a Maduro version—also made at STG Danlí—was added a year later, and earlier this year, a limited edition cigar, made by El Maestro in the Dominican Republic, was released.

The fourth and most recent Los Statos Deluxe was released this summer. It’s the Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut, which uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed wrapper over a Nicaraguan habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua’s Estelí and Jalapa regions, as well as broadleaf from Pennsylvania. It was blended by Booth and Justin Andrews, with production handled by Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.

There are four sizes:

• Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robusto (5 x 50) — $8.79 (Box of 20, $175.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Toro (6 x 52) — $9.49 (Box of 20, $189.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Churchill (7 x 48) — $9.99 Box of 20, $199.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Gigante (6 x 60) — $9.99 Box of 20, $199.80)

“When we started developing Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut, we wanted it to be a ‘smoker’s Connecticut’ in that it is a milder cigar compared to the rest of the Los Statos Deluxe portfolio, yet it has plenty of dimension, depth and nuance,” said Matt Wilson, senior brand manager of Los Statos Deluxe, in a press release. “This is why we wanted to work with our friends at Joya de Nicaragua to deliver on this smoking experience that cigar smokers, newer and experienced alike, can truly enjoy.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robusto
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seed)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Habano)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí & Jalapa) & U.S.A. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf)
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $8.79 (Box of 20, $175.80)
• Release Date: July 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While there’s plenty of sheen visible, the Connecticut shade wrappers don’t feel oily, nor are they soft to the touch. They are fairly clean, though don’t do a great job of hiding the veins. There are some minor imperfections with some random nicks on the wrappers, though nothing large enough to warrant a patch job. The cigars are impressively cylindrical, perhaps a benefit of the paper packaging. The aromas from the wrapper are very mild; the first cigar smells like nail polish remover, the second cigar smells a bit like a sugar cookie, and I can’t distinguish anything from the third cigar. The feet of the first two cigars have more of the nail polish smell—around medium—with some milder woodiness. The second cigar has some very mild woodiness, but I’m unable to pick up anything else. Cold draws are remarkably consistent: medium-plus with a milky creaminess tying some sweet cereal and granola flavors together. Tertiary notes include some floral sweetness and a touch of cinnamon, but it’s hard to pick them up compared to the other three flavors.

The first two Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robustos start pretty similarly, with a deep woodiness on top of a fruity coffee flavor, pear, peanuts and a stale bitterness, around medium-full. The third cigar lacks the smoke production of the other two and instead has a much more generic profile with a mixture of earthiness, nuttiness, creaminess and white pepper. Fortunately, the smoke production of the third cigar quickly gets to an adequate level, but unfortunately, something seems off flavor-wise. Whereas the first two cigars have creaminess leading nuttiness, graham crackers, minerals and some bitterness, the latter is the defining trait of the third. It’s much drier and much more bitter, with a stale earthiness that overwhelms the rest of the flavor profile. None of the cigars change greatly during the finish; the pepper tends to get stronger, and the bitterness recedes slightly, though the creaminess never goes away. Retrohales can produce puffs with interesting flavors like a sweet barbecue sauce or salted sunflower seeds, while flavors like black pepper and coffee also appear. The finish is similar, though I notice it gets sour on the side of the tongue. Flavor is medium-full to medium-full, body is mild-medium to medium and strength is mild or mild-medium. I generally find the first cigar to be on the milder side of those ranges, whereas the other two are on the upper ranges. Construction is great on all three cigars, though they appear to be burning at a quicker pace than the average cigar.

Again, the first two cigars are pretty similar. Nuttiness, creaminess and some sort of unsalted potato chip flavor lead atop earthiness, some mild black pepper and plain popcorn. The first cigar has some bitter cardboard flavors, the second cigar tastes a bit like Jack Daniel’s towards the final third, and while the sweetness levels vary between the cigars, they are similar. The third cigar continues to be the worst example due to fewer flavors but mainly a lot of bitterness. There’s earthiness, a muted creaminess, and cinnamon, but the flavor tastes stale. Even the nuttiness is off, reminding me of the pre-chopped nuts you might find in a McDonald’s sundae, lacking the detail and adding to the muted feeling. The finish of the first two cigars adds bitterness, but it’s still not near the levels of the third cigar. There’s black pepper, cinnamon, earthiness, caramel and creaminess, whereas the third cigar has bitter earth, some barbecue sauce, nuttiness and an increasing amount of metallic flavors. Retrohales see the popcorn and creaminess lead over some starchiness and vinegar. As for the third cigar, it’s a more pedestrian bitter earthiness with a nice cantaloupe sweetness that helps to break up the dryness before minor amounts of pepper emerge. Flavor is full, body is medium and strength is mild to mild-medium. Two of the three cigars need a touch-up, one of which is the final cigar which also has a draw that all of a sudden feels tighter than I’d like it to be.

While all three cigars have nuttiness as a main flavor during the final third, the cigars are not the same. The first two have it over some pretzel, earthiness, leather, creaminess and restrained pepper, the third cigar has it over some earthiness and dry fall leaves. If that were all I had to say about the third cigar, it would be fine, but those flavors are bitter and getting more bitter. It’s a problem that only gets worse during the finish when a distinct metallic aspect takes over from the earthiness. The other two Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robustos get sharper, but not metallic. There’s a salted bread flavor competing with white pepper for the top and secondary notes of leather, caramel and creaminess. Retrohales for all three tend to just be a rearranging of the existing flavors, usually with the creaminess coming out on top, though at times, the third cigar’s metallic aspects—now on the sides of the tongue—are too much for that. Even the creaminess on the other two cigars seems a bit stale, never having the depth that I can find in other cigars. Flavor is full, body is medium and strength is mild-medium. After the combustion issues during the second third, I’m happy to report that all three cigars have great construction in the final section.

Final Notes

• If I were evaluating a cigar based on its cylindrical shape, these cigars would get high marks; they are very well done in that aspect.
• I’d imagine that 15 years ago, it would have been laughable to blend a cigar like this. A Connecticut shade wrapper with Nicaraguan habano binder would have been controversial enough. Finding a way to put Pennsylvania broadleaf and Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler would have been too much for most. I’m glad we’ve gotten to a point where the artificial limits have been removed, and we see combinations like this put into the market.
• We are at the point where an $8.79 robusto that is packaged in boxes is at least somewhat marketed based on its affordability. I still think a value robusto packaged in boxes remains closer to the $6 mark, but part of the appeal here is that it’s not $10.
• I smoked all three cigars before looking up any of the background information about them. I was surprised to learn these were made by Joya de Nicaragua, as they don’t taste like a Joya de Nicaragua or even some of the cigars that Joya makes for companies like Fratello.
• The way these cigars are packaged is very cool-looking, but it does feel pretty wasteful in terms of the amount of paper. From an environmental standpoint, I imagine the use of paper is probably better than plastic cellophane. I find it interesting that despite the excessive paper, it didn’t seem to do a great job of locking in the aromas of the cigar.
• More than any other company, General Cigar Co. oftentimes seems to be throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I don’t think it’s a poor strategic choice, rather, this is the reality of the company’s massive portfolio, one that includes some lines that are as successful as just about any in the cigar industry.
• Another way of looking at this strategy is that General, more than most, seems willing to pull the plug on newer lines that don’t sell. While I have no idea what the sales numbers are like, it seems like Los Statos Deluxe is having some success. I say this because General has tried similar brand revivals like Bolivar, El Rey del Mundo and Toraño but stopped investing in them before the 24-month mark.
• The main reason for our process of having one person smoke three cigars for a single review was proven in the third cigar: sometimes, what is put together on the rolling table isn’t what was intended. The third cigar was off. Either the tobacco for that particular cigar wasn’t great or the recipe got messed up. Whatever the case, it was a shell of the first two cigars.
• General Cigar Co. advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• The cigars are listed at 5 x 50, the above is what. found when weighing and measuring the three cigars I smoked. While the third cigar smoked like an outlier, this data doesn’t do much in my mind to explain why.
• Final smoking time was around one hour and 45 minutes.