Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon

Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. got its start at an interesting time in history, as it launched in 2012, the year that some people thought the world was destined to come to an end according to certain interpretations of the Mayan calendar. For his debut release, Valladares released a cigar called 2012, and it was notable not just for being the company’s first commercially released cigar but also because each box contained a cigar that was only to be smoked if the world didn’t come to an end.

This year, Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. celebrated its 10th anniversary, and as is only fitting, released a new cigar line in celebration of the milestone, one that not only draws on aged tobacco for the blend but is the company’s most premium offering yet.

The blend features a Mexican-grown wrapper with a foot wrap of Honduran-grown candela. Underneath those is a Honduran-grown binder and fillers from Nicaragua that have been aged for at least five years.

It will also be limited in how frequently it can be produced due to the blend requiring the fillers to be aged for five years. This will also be one of Valladares’ most premium offerings to date.

The Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary is available in three fairly beefy vitolas, which are produced at the company’s factory in Danlí, Honduras.

While it is a regular production cigar, it will be limited in how frequently it can be produced given the need to ensure that the filler tobaccos have met the five-year minimum of aging.

• Cigar Reviewed: Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co.
• Wrapper: Mexico & Honduras (Candela)
• Binder: Honduras
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60/52
• Vitola: Salomon
• MSRP: $23 (Box of 10, $230)
• Release Date: Sept. 19, 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Visually, the Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon pops with color due to the brightly colored bands. There are two separate bands for those wondering: the bottom one a familiar, straight-cut band with printing, while the top one is die-cut and bursting with bright colors. Those bands sit atop a robust-looking, dark brown wrapper that has a matte, earthy color to it. There are some points where the wrapper looks a bit muddy, but nothing that has me concerned or turned off. The foot gets finished off with a wrap of candela tobacco, also a matte shade—though in green—and one that reminds me of seeing freshly hung tobacco in the barn. If I wanted to pick the most visually interesting leaf, it’s the candela, as for me it shows a unique snapshot of tobacco as it goes through the curing process, one that is done uniquely and abruptly halted to lock in the color. The foot of the cigar offers a lighter aroma than I was expecting, mixing a dry earthiness with some graham cracker and animal crackers, accented by a touch of grassiness that seems to come from the candela leaf. If nothing less, the presence of candela primes my mind looking for the grassy, vegetal aromas that are commonly associated with candela leaves. As with all salomones and pointed-head figurados, I err on the side of clipping off too little of the head, eventually selecting a spot a couple of millimeters from the tip and cutting through a well-packed amount of tobacco.  Air moves well on the cold draw, and it seems that I can feel the air moving through the tapered head. The flavor is subtle and hints at traces of cola or root beer, though it’s by no means a sweet flavor due to another hint that suggests some earthiness.

Given its size and shape, I find myself more focused on the cigar’s physical balance than the initial flavors. That’s also partly due to the fact that those first puffs are fairly mellow with a bit of warm creaminess and peanut as the most recognizable, followed by a bit of gritty earth, suggestions of milk chocolate or a fairly low percentage dark chocolate. There’s little in the way of pepper, spice or anything like a grassy or vegetal accent that I would attribute to the candela, though given the ratio of the tobaccos at the foot, I’m not terribly surprised. I’m also wondering if I should cut a bit more off the head, though more on that in the final notes. While there is a good amount of smoke coming off the foot, it takes a few more puffs to get that smoke into my mouth in the quantity needed to deliver a good impression of the profile, something that also has me thinking of taking another cut off the head. I’m a bit surprised that the cigar is on the mild side in the first third, led by a creamy body and flavor from which a bit of earthiness eventually emerges, but there’s not a lot of peppery vibrance on the palate, with the overall profile being quite coy. One cigar seems to be incorporating the candela better than the other two, as while I don’t get a grassy or vegetal flavor, I do get something that reminds me a bit of a Sprite or other lemon-lime soda. The final puffs of this section introduce a bit of a hot cocoa flavor, which immediately adds a richness to the profile that is very enjoyable. On the whole, the first third is very approachable, with flavor intensity medium-minus, body feels just shy of medium, and strength is mild. Construction is very good thus far, though it is worth noting that the draw can be significantly affected by how much of the cigar’s head is cut off, and thus that can affect the cigar’s enjoyment. I found that a firmer draw resulting from a very conservative clipping of the head to not be as enjoyable as a more open draw achieved from cutting a bit further down.

Building off the hot cocoa flavor, the Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon now has a bit of a chocolate mousse flavor to it, though without the coolness of how that dish is generally served. The profile continues to warm up in how it hits the palate, creating a notable sensation on the taste buds. Eventually, the creaminess begins to dissipate and the flavor explores the earthiness more, and in particular a lighter expression that has just a bit of chalk to it. While I’m not crazy about some of the transitional puffs in this section, the destination proves to be pretty enjoyable, as when the chalk disappears the earthiness becomes richer and more palate-engaging. This middle section sees some variance in the flavor across the three cigars, as one doesn’t undergo the chalky transition and instead picks up Ritz crackers. What is consistent is that this section has a number of transitions and changes in the profile, certainly more than the first third offered, and for the most part they are enjoyable, chalky flavors notwithstanding. One aspect that I haven’t yet found particularly notable is the retrohales, which are fairly pedestrian in what they offer. The pepper is very mild but noticeable, and other than a bit of dry earth, I’m not picking up much from the smoke as I pass it through my nose. Construction remains very good, with abundant smoke, an easy draw and generally even burn line. The second third can see a more intense flavor profile than the first third, topping out at medium-plus but also spending a decent amount of this section closer to medium-minus. Body is more consistently around the medium mark, while strength is still mild by my metrics.

While the earthy aspect of the second third carries over into a good portion of the final third, eventually it yields to a bit of funky chalk and sour mineral flavor, a change that immediately grabs my attention and forces me to jot down some notes. It’s not a completely unexpected transition for what the Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon has offered thus far, though I wish it had been one that brought about more of the cigar’s better characteristics. As I noted in the second third, each cigar seems to have its own flavor profile and progression, none of which are drastically different from the others, but different enough that I find myself trying to make note of and synthesize where things are and aren’t consistent. One aspect of all three cigars that has changed in the final third is the retrohale, which now has a bit more of a pronounced and focused black pepper. It’s not a big sensation in that it doesn’t fill the nostrils or leave them tingling for an extended period of time, but it does hit them with a bit more impact than earlier. The final inches do try and attempt to do just that, thankfully, returning to the better expressions of earthiness with a baked brownie crust providing another layer of flavor, while a retrohale packing a bit of black pepper makes for an enjoyable accent. Flavor stays around the medium mark in the final third, body is medium, and strength still feels medium-minus at most. Construction is very good and problem-free.

Final Notes

• There is something that feels different about the cellophane that the Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon uses; it feels a bit thicker but not necessarily stiffer.
• This is the second cigar to have a candela-wrapped foot that I have reviewed recently, the first was the Black Works Killer Bee Shaolin.
• As mentioned above, I am of the mindset to cut as little off the cap or head of a cigar as needed; one, it prevents unraveling; two, you can always take more off if needed.
• In the case of this cigar, I didn’t have to cut much of the head off to get a very good draw, but I did wonder if opening it up a bit might have helped with smoking time, as this cigar can go on for quite a while.
• I have not yet smoked the other sizes in the line for comparison to the Salomon.
• The Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary shipped in mid-September 2022 alongside the Raw Dog, a fairly interesting cigar that doesn’t use a wrapper leaf and is offered in a 5 x 60 short gordo vitola.
• I’m a bit surprised that the blend wasn’t a Honduran puro with aged tobacco, given Valladares’ noted pride in his Honduran roots.
• None of the three cigars smoked for this review gave me a nicotine buzz, which I am pleasantly surprised by given how big the cigar is.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 30 minutes on average. The longest was almost three-and-a-half hours, while the shortest was two hours, and the third was about two hours and 20 minutes. The range was seemingly driven by how open the draw was and how much of the head of the cigar I clipped, though one cigar burned notably faster than the others.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carries the Oscar Valladares 10th Anniversary Salomon.