The total amount of Viaje Super Shot releases now stands at nine, a large part of that was due to six different releases last year. Returning were the original Super Shot 10 and 12 Gauge, now labeled as Criollo, along with the same vitolas with a Nicaraguan corojo wrapper.
Note: The following shows the various Viaje Super Shot vitolas. Some of these cigars may have been released after this post was originally published. The list was last updated on May 11, 2023.
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2012 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (3 1/4 x 52) — March 2012 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge Criollo (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2013 — 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge Criollo (3 1/4 x 52) — February 2013 — 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge Corojo (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2013 — 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge Corojo (3 1/4 x 52) — February 2013 — 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje White Label Project Super Shot 12 Gauge (3 1/2 x 52) — May 2013 — 300 Bundles of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — May 2013 — 400 Boxes of 25 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2014 — 400 Boxes of 25 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge Criollo (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2015 — n/a
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge Criollo (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2015 — n/a
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2015 — n/a
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — March 2016 — n/a
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2017 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (3 1/4 x 52) — February 2017 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2017 — n/a
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2018 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (3 1/4 x 52) — February 2018 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (3 1/2 x 54) — February 2019 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (3 1/4 x 52) — February 2019 — 300 Boxes of 25 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (2019) (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2019 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (2020) (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2020 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (2020) (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2020 —Undisclosed
- Viaje Buckshot 10 Gauge (2020) (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2020 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge (2020) (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2020 —Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (2021) (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2021 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (2021) (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2021 —Undisclosed
- Viaje Zombie Super Shot (2022) (3 1/2 x 54) — April 2022 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge (2023) (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2023 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Super Shot 12 Gauge (2023) (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2023 —Undisclosed
- Viaje Buckshot 10 Gauge (2023) (3 1/2 x 54) — January 2023 — Undisclosed
- Viaje Buckshot 12 Gauge (2023) (3 1/4 x 52) — January 2023 —Undisclosed
86
Overall Score
Many—including Viaje owner Andre Farkas himself—have suggested that Viajes get better with a bit of rest. I reviewed the Super Shot 10 Gauge when it debuted, so perhaps there’s room to test that theory. What I got was not so much a maturation, but two very different cigars. I’ve had most of the Super Shots at this point and am completely baffled as to which one I like the most. This is probably the most unique, yet, I’m not convinced it’s the best representation of the blend.
It is extremely challenging to tell the cigars apart, something that has gotten as harder as more releases have emerged. Pricing between the two wrappers was identical: $150 per box for the smaller Super Shot 12 Gauge and $160 for the larger 10 Gauge. Each size was limited to 200 boxes of 25 cigars.
- Cigar Reviewed: Viaje Super Shot 10 Gauge Criollo
- Country of Origin: Honduras
- Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
- Wrapper: Nicaragua
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 3 1/2 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 54
- Vitola: NUb
- MSRP: $6.40 (Boxes of 25, $160.00)
- Date Released: February 6, 2013
- Number of Cigars Released: 200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2
I found the color of the Criollo samples to differ fairly dramatically, particularly when it comes to the amount of reds. It’s a faded leather like color with a fair bit of black specks and an inconsistent amount of oils. Aroma-wise, it’s leather, salty, nutty, sunflower seeds and somewhat sweet. The cold draw delivers warm bourbon, leather, cooke dough underneath and a very harsh green pepper on the back of the throw.
The Super Shot 10 Gauge Criollo starts with soft leather, a creamy toastiness, oatmeal cookies, sawdust and creaminess. A dozen minutes in and the pepper is fully engaged in the nose, there’s sweet lemons—almost lemonade—grass and oatmeal cookies. Smoke production is good, not great, and the burn requires some touching-up. Strength is medium-plus, but building.
Warm oatmeal, pepper and creaminess remain through the nose; on the tongue there’s toastiness and cedar. In the mouth is a mixture of toastiness and cedar. The real change of the Super Shot is the strength, which is now full. After the halfway mark, the cigar is getting warm, which adds to the annoyances of the uneven burn.
Things don’t change much in the final third, the cigar gets much toastier while the pepper reduces itself. With under an inch left—so essentially the entire final third—the smoke production dies down noticeably, increasing the puff rate, reducing the detail of the flavor and increasing the temperature of the smoke.
Final Notes
- If there was ever a cigar that probably needed to be divided in halves, as opposed to thirds, it would be this cigar.
- History can tell us a lot of things. On one hand, it would seem like we are too late in the year for the Super Shot in its regular form to appear this year. On the other hand, it’s Viaje—so who knows.
- I absolutely love the Super Shot packaging. It actually “won” the halfwheel packaging top 10 of 2012, despite not having any bands.
- Strength is full, although it takes about an inch before it really begins to kick in.
- Two years ago I wrote:
In the same Cigar Insider story, Farkas said, “The sizes are virtually identical to the actual shotgun shells.” While the halfwheel editorial staff is not made up of firearms experts, it would seem an actual 10 gauge shotgun shell would have a 49.92 ring gauge and a 12 gauge shell would be equivalent to a 46.528 ring gauge cigar. In addition, while shotgun shells don’t have a uniform length, they on average a bit shorter than the length of the Viaje cigars. But then again, a 2 1/2 cigar is probably a bad idea.
- Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
- Final smoking time was 40 minutes.
86
Overall Score
Many—including Viaje owner Andre Farkas himself—have suggested that Viajes get better with a bit of rest. I reviewed the Super Shot 10 Gauge when it debuted, so perhaps there’s room to test that theory. What I got was not so much a maturation, but two very different cigars. I’ve had most of the Super Shots at this point and am completely baffled as to which one I like the most. This is probably the most unique, yet, I’m not convinced it’s the best representation of the blend.
I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.
