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| Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo – 10 Gauge |
At the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show, Viaje Cigars’ president Andre Farkas told us that the Viaje Super Shot would be making a return in 2013. Last month Farkas made the announcement on this year’s Super Shot. The difference would be in addition to the Super Shot returning in a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper blend, Farkas said that there also would be a Nicaraguan Corojo blend. The announcement on facebook indicated “A Corojo version of SuperShot will accompany SuperShot Criollo this year. This comes after many requests for a slightly tamed version of the original release.” With the new Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo now arriving at Viaje authorized retailers, we had a chance to smoke the the “10 Gauge” size of this blend. Overall, this provided a solid smoking experience – and one that can appeal to those who enjoy Corojo cigars.
In early 2012, Viaje launched its Super Shot series with the Criollo wrapper. The name for the Super Shot comes from brand founder, Andre Farkas and his interest in clay shooting. Farkas was hoping to create a short smoke while taking a break in between shooting. The cigars are shaped and sized similar to a shotgun shell – and are named 10 Gauge and 12 Gauge to represent the shotgun size. Unlike last year where the 10 Gauge and 12 Gauge were shipped in separate batches, both vitolas in both blends were shipped at once.
Let’s break down the Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo 10 Gauge and see what this cigar delivers.
Blend Profile
Both the Corojo and Criollo versions of the Super Shot are Nicaraguan puros.
Super Shot 2013 Corojo
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
For informational purposes, we include the Criollo blend architecture.
Super Shot 2013 Criollo
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitolas Available
Both the Corojo and Criollo blends come in the same sizes. These repeat the sizes from the Super Shot 2012.
10 Gauge: 3 1/2 x 54
12 Gauge: 3 1/4 x 52
The Super Shot 2013 is packaged in boxes of 25. The packaging is identical from 2012 as the box looks like a box of shotgun shells.
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| Packaging of Viaje Super Shot 2013 (Thanks to Outland Cigars for photo opportunity) |
Appearance
The Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo features a somewhat oily wrapper. The wrapper is a cross between coffee bean brown and colorado red. There are some veins and some wrapper seams that are visible. The cigar itself has is slightly toothy in terms of the visible veins. Like last year, the Super Shot features a covered foot. Also like last year, the Super Shot 2013 series is unbanded.
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| Covered foot of the Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo – 10 Gauge |
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my smoke of the Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo 10 Gauge, I opted to go with a straight cut to remove the cap. After the cap was clipped, it was time for the pre-light draw experience. There was a nice sweet spice on the dry draw as I detected notes of natural tobacco and cedar. I also detected some cocoa notes on the dry draw. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light smoke. At this time, it was time to light the foot and see what the Viaje Super Shot 2013 Corojo would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The original Viaje Super Shot 2012 in the criollo wrapper did not deliver a lot of flavor transitions, but it did deliver quite a bit of flavor. There is no doubt the Super Shot 2013 Corojo also brings a nice dose of flavor. Much of the flavors of the Super Shot are ones I find common to corojo wrapped cigars – and I see this as appealing to those fans of that wrapper.
The start of the Super Shot 2013 Corojo yielded notes of pepper and wood. The pepper was very prominent in the nasal passages and this would be a theme throughout the smoking experience. This was soon followed up by some corojo sweetness as a secondary note. The best way as describing this sweetness is a cross between natural tobcco and sugar cane.
In the second third, it are natural tobacco notes that take center stage with the pepper. The pepper was also still present on the retro-hale. The corojo sweetness diminishes to a secondary note. In the last third, the natural tobacco also diminished and the pepper became the main flavor. This is the way the flavor profile held until the end. The end of the cigar did have a little bit of harshness to it. The resulting nub was lukewarm, but firm when touched.
Burn and Draw
I found that the Super Shot 2013 Corojo had a good burn. At times I did think the corojo wrapper burned a little easy, but this seemed more aesthetic than anything. The burn remained relatively straight from start to finish. The resulting ash was a salt and pepper color. The ash was not as dark as some other Viaje ashes. The ash was neither loose nor tight, but somewhere in the middle. The burn rate was ideal. As for the burn temperature, I did find it ideal, but toward the very end, it did get a little warm. That might have resulted in some of the harshness I found at the end.
The draw to the Super Shot 2013 Corojo was excellent. Last year, one issue I had with the Super Shot 2012 Criollo is that the draw was a little tight. It did take a few initial puffs to open the draw, but once it did, I found the Super Shot 2013 Corojo had an ideal draw. It still had a touch of resistance to the draw – and that is something I consider a positive.
Strength and Body
At the beginning, we mentioned how Farkas positioned the Super Shot 2013 Corojo as a “slighty tamer version of the original release“. We assessed the Super Shot 2012 Criollo as a full strength cigar. With the Super Shot 2013 Corojo, it backs up how it was positioned. I found the strength to be mellower, but it still emits enough strength to be categorized as a medium to full strength smoke. As for the depth of the flavor notes, the Super Shot 2013 Corojo is bold. Like the Super Shot 2012 Criollo, I found the Super Shot 2013 Corojo to be a full-bodied smoke. When balancing both the strength and body attributes, I gave a slight edge to the body here.
Final Thoughts
I don’t really have a preference for corojo versus criollo wrapped cigars. In the case of the Viaje Super Shot, I do think the original 2012 Criollo blend would be my smoke of choice in this series. I liked the notes of espresso that I got from the original Criollo. I do think this might be a matter of personal preference. In the case of the Super Shot 2013 Corojo, I do think this is a cigar that can appeal to corojo wrapper fans. Overall, it’s a good smoke by Viaje. It’s still strong enough where I probably would recommend this to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. While I said I prefer the Super Shot 2012 Criollo, the Super Shot 2013 Corojo is a nice change of pace cigar – and one that I would smoke again.
Summary
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 88
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Outland Cigars in Charlotte, North Carolina.
