The Connecticut Cigar Sampler: Six Cigars That Prove Connecticut Isn't Boring

Connecticut gets called boring a lot. I don't buy it. I put together the Connecticut Cigar Sampler to show how much a golden wrapper can do across six very different cigars, and here's the story behind each one.

A lot of smokers write off Connecticut as the "mild" wrapper and move on. That's a mistake. When it's grown well and blended with intention, Connecticut can be creamy, sweet, nutty and a lot more interesting than people expect. At Creekside, we think it's one of the most underrated wrappers in the humidor. The Connecticut Cigar Sampler is six of my favorites, all in one box.

What is a Connecticut wrapper?

Connecticut Shade is named for the Connecticut River Valley, where growers have raised wrapper leaf under tents since the first one went up in 1900. The netting filters the sun so the leaves stay thin, delicate and golden instead of getting thick, dark and heavy. It's slow, expensive, labor-intensive work, and very little true Connecticut Shade is still grown in the valley today.

That's why most Connecticut wrappers you'll find now are grown from Connecticut seed in Ecuador. Ecuador doesn't need the tents. The natural cloud cover does the same job, filtering the sun over volcanic soil. Every cigar in this sampler uses an Ecuador-grown Connecticut wrapper, and what makes the lineup fun is how differently each maker handles it: aged four years, aged five years, aged twice as long as usual, laid over Pennsylvania Broadleaf, or grown desflorado. Desflorado means the plant's flower is topped off in the field, so more of its energy goes into the leaves.

What's in the Connecticut Cigar Sampler

Rodriguez Cigars Reserva Privada Robusto (5 x 50)

Rodriguez Cigars comes from the Rodriguez family of Key West, a name that goes back to the island's cigar-making days. The Reserva Privada uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper aged four years, over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler. It's mild to medium, smooth and easy. This is where I'd start.
Shop Rodriguez Cigars Reserva Privada Robusto

Principle Cigars Accomplice Connecticut Robusto (5 x 50)

The Connecticut version of Principle's Accomplice is built on a five-year-old Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. Under it you get a Dominican binder from Monte Plata and a filler of Dominican, American and Mexican tobacco. That mix gives it a little more going on than you'd expect from a Connecticut.
Shop Principle Cigars Accomplice Connecticut Robusto

Avowed New Dawn Corona Gorda (6 x 46)

New Dawn is Avowed's take on Connecticut, and it doesn't look like most of them. The wrapper is a darker Ecuadorian Connecticut from A.S.P., aged twice as long as normal. It sits over an Ecuadorian Habano binder, with Dominican filler of Piloto Cubano, Criollo 98 and San Vicente. It's made at Kelner Cigars in the Dominican Republic. Mild to medium, with more depth than the color suggests.
Shop Avowed New Dawn Corona Gorda

Powstanie Connecticut Robusto (5 x 50)

Powstanie means "uprising" in Polish, and this one breaks a few Connecticut rules. An Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper covers a Pennsylvania Broadleaf binder, with aged Nicaraguan filler. That Broadleaf binder adds a richer backbone without losing the smoothness of the wrapper. It's made at Nica Sueño in Estelí and lands mellow to medium.
Shop Powstanie Connecticut Robusto

Gellis Family Saunter (5 1/4 x 48)

Saunter comes from Kyle Gellis of Warped, under the Gellis Family name. It uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut Desflorada wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder, with Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. The cigars are aged a full year in Spanish cedar before release. It's made at Tabacalera La iSLA and smokes medium bodied. Cigar Aficionado rated it 95 points and named it the No. 16 Cigar of the Year, which tells you how good a Connecticut can get.
Shop Gellis Family Saunter

Warped Isla del Cocodrilo Blanco Limited Edition Perfecto (6 1/2 x 55)

Isla del Cocodrilo is named for the crocodile-like shape of Cuba, and Blanco is its lighter, limited-edition offshoot. It's Warped's first perfecto, a double-tapered 6 1/2 x 55. The Ecuador Habano wrapper from the core line is swapped for a desflorado Ecuador Connecticut, over the same dual binder of Brazilian Arapiraca and Ecuador Habano 2000 and Nicaraguan filler. It's rolled at Tabacalera La iSLA in the Dominican Republic, and only 1,500 boxes of 15 were made. Kyle calls it medium bodied, with an intense creaminess from the Connecticut wrapper. It's the richest of the six, so I'd save it for last.
Shop Warped Isla del Cocodrilo Blanco

How to smoke the sampler

• Go in order. Start with the Reserva Privada and the Accomplice, move through the New Dawn and the Powstanie, then finish with the Saunter and the Cocodrilo Blanco.
• Pay attention to the treatment. Every wrapper is Ecuador-grown Connecticut seed. The difference is aging, desflorado growing, and what's underneath it.
• Try two side by side. Smoke the Saunter and the Cocodrilo Blanco on the same day. Both use a desflorado Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and both come from La iSLA, and they still taste completely different.

Get the Connecticut Cigar Sampler

The Connecticut Cigar Sampler is available now at Creekside. Grab one online, or stop by the shop and tell the crew which one changed your mind about Connecticut.

Dave Imber
Creekside Cigar Co.