The Oscar Connecticut Robusto

At the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. released a number of new cigars, including the 2012 by Oscar Sumatra, the Leaf by Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo, and The Oscar Connecticut, the third blend to join The Oscar family.

As the name suggests, the Oscar Connecticut’s blend features a Connecticut-seed wrapper, though it doesn’t come from the United States or Ecuador, rather, it is grown in Honduras, the country that is also home to Valladares, his cigar company and his tobacco farms. Underneath that wrapper is a Honduran binder of undisclosed varietal, with fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua completing the blend. It is offered in three vitolas.

All three sizes come in 11-count boxes that are designed to look like cigar molds, at least from the outside. The channels for individual cigars do not go all the way through the box, so the cigars sit side-by-side. The cigars themselves have their lower two-thirds covered in a candela leaf, a design and packaging aesthetic that has become a signature of Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co., which became well known for using an entire leaf of tobacco to cover the Leaf by Oscar line.

The Oscar line debuted at the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show with a blend that uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. That cigar came to be known as The Oscar Habano, as in 2017, the company added The Oscar Maduro, which swapped out the wrapper for a Mexican San Andrés maduro leaf while the binder still comes from Honduras and the filler uses a mix of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.

Oscar Valladres Tobacco & Co. produces its cigars at its own factory in Danlí, Honduras.

• Cigar Reviewed: The Oscar Connecticut Robusto
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Oscar Valladres Tobacco & Co.
• Wrapper: Honduras (Connecticut-seed)
• Binder: Honduras
• Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $11.80 (Box of 11, $129.80)
• Release Date: July 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Oscar Connecticut Robusto offers two visuals: the upper half looks like a normal, regular Connecticut-wrapped cigar, while the candela used to wrap the lower half is a contrast in color, texture, and visual smoothness. It’s also interesting because the SKU sticker is visible, giving another thing to look at. Taking the sticker off takes some of the candela leaf with it, which I was expecting. The candela leaf is dry and fairly brittle, as it flakes and breaks as I try and remove it, which necessitates doing it over the ashtray or garbage can. The wrapper looks good, with small veins that give a lot of texture, and an even color between the three cigars. I also have to compliment how well the colors of the wrapper, the band and the candela come together and complement each other well. All three cigars are rolled firmly with no soft spots or overt visual issues. There’s an aroma of light corn flakes off the foot, as well a bit of the empty box in which that cereal would have been packaged. The draw ranges from a bit tight one cigar to smooth and near ideal on the other two, while the flavor is very mild and reminds me of Cheerios or similar cereals, with a bit of very subtle creaminess mixed in as well.

The Oscar Connecticut Robusto starts off with a more developed cereal flavor than what the cigar offered before being lit, and adds in some pepper along with an underwhelming creaminess. Retrohales have a bit of pepper, while the cereal leads to some light earth and the occasional touch of heat. It’s a solid medium with some character out of the gate, on par with many of the modern Connecticut-wrapped cigars on the market. I’m surprised by how quickly the cigar burns in its first third, as it felt like it was already time to ash the first inch after just about 10 or 15 minutes. If I take a couple of back-to-back puffs, or even just a deep puff or two, I feel like I can watch the burn line progress. Creaminess enters to take the cigar into its next section, a familiar note for a cigar like this. Flavor is medium, body is medium and strength is mild. Construction is very good in all facets, but I’m amazed at just how quickly the cigar is burning.

Creaminess is the story as The Oscar Connecticut Robusto gets into its second third, while there is pepper in the nose that is quite enjoyable with a mild tingle. An interesting sweetness and almost pine-like fragrance with a bit of pepper emerging, a combination that for one second has me thinking about Christmas mints and spices before pulling me back to a more familiar pepper lead note. There are some flirtations with toast and damp lumber, though given the burn rate of the cigar they don’t stick around terribly long. The razor-sharp burn line is flying up the cigar, with a smooth draw driving it and good smoke production in its wake. Flavor is still medium, body is still medium and strength is still mild.

The final third brings about a bit of sharpness to the profile, seemingly the result of some heat joining the profile, but the core notes that have driven the profile continue to be part of this section. It’s a slightly fuller flavor as a bit of the creaminess has dropped off, leaving a dry cereal flavor, with bits of toast and wood as faint supporting notes. That is, until it returns with a bit more than an inch to go and really fills out the profile, carrying the cigar to the finish line without much further change. The burn rate seems to have slowed in this section, though it is still anything but slow. Beyond that, The Oscar Connecticut Robusto performs beautifully, with my only complaint being that the ash can get really flaky in this section. It’s not a consistent issue, but it was notable enough to make it into my notes. Flavor finishes medium-plus, body steps up to medium-full, and strength is mild by my standards.

Final Notes

• One of the candela leaves was really beaten up, ripped, chipping, and barely holding onto the cigar. If anything, it just wasn’t a great visual for a potential consumer.
• Only one cigar had a candela covering that I could slide off, though the sticker was attached in such a way that it could have become affixed to the wrapper, which would seem like a bad idea.
• On the whole, I like the candela leaf being used to cover the bottom half of the cigar, but it needs to be executed with care to look its best, and even then, it comes with some potential problems.
• I’d also encourage a consumer to handle that candela leaf with care, and if it’s largely intact, moisten it to make it more pliable, then unfold it to see what the leaf looks like.
• In mid-September, Brooks Whittington reviewed another new release from Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. the Leaf by Oscar 10th Anniversary Criollo Toro, and he certainly seemed to enjoy it.

• As Brooks noted in that review, Oscar Valladares has begun putting SKUs on their cigars, even ones without cellophane, such as The Oscar Connecticut Robusto and the Leaf By Oscar 10th Anniversary. The date indicates when they were packed into either boxes or bundles. You will note that the company uses the day/month/year format, instead of the month/day/year format that is more common in the U.S. So one top cigar was packaged on July 13, 2023, while the bottom cigar was packaged on June 9, 2023.
• While I don’t know how much attention it got, I found it rather notable that Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. was selected to produce E.P. Carrillo’s Short Run 2023. This is seemingly both an indication of Valladares’ talent being validated by another notable cigar maker, as well as an indication that E.P. Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. is likely operating at capacity.
• In mid-September, Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. announced that it had created a new European market exclusive called the Santiago Valladares, which it debuted at Intertabac 2023. The cigar is named for Valladares’ son.
• I didn’t find The Oscar Connecticut Robusto to offer any noticeable strength from any of the cigars.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 25 minutes on average, though I could see myself slow-smoking this to add another 20 minutes or so.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Cigars Direct carries The Oscar Connecticut Robusto.