Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge (2023)

For more than a decade, Viaje has offered a cigar named after shotgun shells, aptly called Super Shot.

I remember when I first saw an image of the box and how impressed I was with the clever concept: cigars barely more than three inches long and packaged without bands—i.e., to look like a shotgun shell—sold in boxes that looked like vintage shotgun shell packaging and called “Super Shot.” Of course, there was a 10 gauge and a 12 gauge offering; keeping with the theme, the 10 gauge is larger than 12 gauge.

In January 2020, Viaje added Buckshot, a spinoff of sorts to Super Shot. Again, it leans into the shotgun theme as it is named for buckshot, a type of shotgun ammunition that is generally made in larger sizes so as to be used in hunting bigger game. As far as the cigar is concerned, it’s a different blend as the wrapper is Mexican San Andrés instead of the Super Shots’ normal Nicaraguan criollo wrapper. There have also been releases of Super Shot that have used Nicaraguan corojo wrappers.

Buckshot is priced 40 cents per cigar higher than Super Shot and is offered in the 10 Gauge (3 1/2 x 54) and 12 Gauge (3 1/4 x 52) vitolas, both of which have a covered foot.

• Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge (2023)
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 3 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Petit Robusto
• MSRP: $7.60 (Box of 25, $190)
• Release Date: Jan. 23, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Like every other Viaje Super Shot release I’ve seen, the Buckshot 12 Gauge has a dark wrapper but it’s lacking oils and some richer colors like the criollo wrapper. As with some Mexican San Andrés wrappers, the wrapper ends up with a matte appearance and seems to lack some of the richness within the color. The aroma is extremely mild with some sweeter barnyard flavors and ammonia breaking through, though it’s quite mild. The covered foot smells a tad sweeter, but it’s difficult for me to pick up many distinct flavors. Cold draws have semi-sweet brown sugar, Cap’n Crunch cereal-like flavors, brown rice, earthiness and a touch of cinnamon candy. I can also smell a lot of the acidity from the wrapper and an occasional cold draw or two delivers a very sharp flavor.

Before I get to the first puff, I spend an extended amount of time making sure that the covered foot is fully ignited. The first puff delivers earthiness before the Cap’n Crunch flavors begin to break through. Eventually, the finish develops a real sharp pepper that overtakes acidity and a multidimensional earthiness. A semi-sweet and layered earthiness edges out some semisweet cocoa and honey flavors. From there it’s onto toastiness, pepper-infused earthiness and leather. The star of the show is the earthiness, which can be a more generic earthiness, or sometimes more mineral-like and other times showing more terroir. The Buckshot finishes with earthiness over some muted burnt toast flavors. Leather and toastiness lead to a saltiness that seems to only interact with the center of the tongue, while there’s some of the honey towards the side of my tongue and some vanilla elsewhere. The sweeter flavors are not strong enough to balance with the earthiness and muted black pepper, though they provide some contrast. Retrohales are even toastier with black pepper and some bourbon-like flavors coming through. I don’t find much sweetness until the finish, which is a lot more fragrant than the regular retrohale. Some puffs with retrohales eventually end in bread, leather, nuttiness and sweetness but it’s not a consistent occurrence. Flavor is close to full, body is full and strength is medium-plus. Construction is great, though the burn is incredibly slow. On one cigar, I’ve barely smoked through half an inch in 30 minutes.

The transition between the first and second thirds is a problematic spot for two cigars and requires at least one touch-up. On the third cigar, which has a looser draw, construction remains great, though I’d be remiss if I don’t point out that one cigar takes an hour and 15 minutes to get to the halfway mark. There’s a divergence in flavor between the cigars as well. Two cigars are toasty with toasted bread flavors, nuttiness and some pretzel flavors emerging. The sweetness and black pepper are both reduced. Once the finish starts, there are a lot of hard pretzel flavors along with toastiness, leather, some nuttiness and a mild fruity flavor. That third cigar is quite different with oatmeal, a distinct heavily-buttered chocolate chip flavor and some red pepper. In addition, there’s leather, salty bread, bittersweet cocoa and mild black pepper. Retrohales have floral flavors—which seems odd given the other flavors in the profile—and which get overwhelmed by nuttiness and wood flavors. Buttered toast leads fragrant nuttiness, white pepper and herbal flavors for the rertrohale’s finish. Flavor is full, body is full and strength is medium-full though getting stronger.

With the two cigars with more normal draws, there’s a balancing act between getting the Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge too warm and therefore harsh, while also keeping the cigar at optimal combustion levels. While quicker puff rates produce more flavors, it also makes those flavors more bitter. I try to find a happy medium, which results in hickory and dry oregano leading meatiness, earthiness and leather. The finish sees the secondary flavors—meatiness, earthiness and roasted flavors—take over, followed by some great French bread flavors underneath all of that. At times though, it gets too sharp and red pepper overwhelms a lot of what else is going on. The cigar with the open draw avoids those problems and toasty bread is quickly replaced by nuttiness and some honey. There are fewer flavors, but they are incredibly smooth. Retrohales on all three cigars see that French bread flavor come in for a second or two followed by toasted flavors, saltiness and some red pepper. It’s difficult for me to delineate the difference in flavors between the retrohale and what’s left once the smoke has left my nostrils. The finish has more starchy flavors, but beyond that, I’m not sure how to describe the difference. Flavor is full, body is full and strength is medium-full. The cigar with the looser draw is able to make it start to finish without any burn issues, though the other two cigars need at least one more touch-up in the final third.

Final Notes

• From the first Super Shot release to now, this remains one of my favorite packaging designs for a modern cigar. Everything here is well done in the name of the theme.
• Some people believe that the “blend” only refers to the filler and/or binder combination and not the wrapper. Regardless, I think the packaging for Buckshot might need a slight adjustment as it does say “100% NICARAGUAN LONG LEAF” which is not the case for this particular cigar.
• After smoking the first two cigars, I felt like I had a decent idea of what the Buckshot 12 Gauge was. Then I smoked the cigar with an open draw, and it was similar, yet very different. That third cigar was much better than the first two in every way: flavor, construction and overall enjoyment. It’s yet another great reminder that how a cigar is bunched affects not just whether it has a good or bad draw but will directly impact the flavor.
• It is also a reminder about why we smoke three cigars. It’s neither a perfect nor complete sample size, but it is better than one cigar.
• This is a great candidate if you ever need a cigar to wake you up. It’s strong, bold and to the point. The cigar with the loose draw smoked even stronger than the other two cigars, venturing solidly into the full-strength category.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time ranged from an hour and 25 minutes on the cigar with an open to draw while the other two averaged an epically long hour and 45 minutes.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and JR Cigars carried the Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge (2023), but both are sold out.