The Good Stuff:

The Black Label Trading Co. Super Deluxe was originally released in three sizes back in 2020. This limited edition run sold out quickly and instantly became Black Label’s most requested cigar in history states Jame Brown the brand’s co-owner. Fast forward to 2025 and the Super Deluxe is poised to make its triumphant return. Produced at the company’s Fabrica Oveja Negra factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, the blend features the same blend: A Mexican San Andres Maduro Wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano binder and filters from Nicaragua. The new release features one of the original formats (Petite Corona: 4 1/2 x 48) as well as two new formats (Robusto: 5 x 50 and Toro: 6 x 50). Each cigar comes in a soft-box press format packaged in boxes of 20 which range between $11 and $13 per cigar with only 750 boxes of each format being released. Huge thanks to the Black Label team for sending some of these our way for review.

• Size: 4 1/2 x 48
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
• Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $11

Prelight:

The Black Label Super Deluxe starts out with a very, very dark brown, almost black wrapper that’s perfectly consistent in color from top to bottom. The wrapper’s texture if slightly toothy and very oily. The wrapper is very thick and very dense while the cigar as a whole is packed tightly and has a bit more weight than you’d expect for such a small cigar. There is only one minor vein running through the cigar’s tiny, box pressed body leading up to its round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a black and silver band with the Super Deluxe logo embossed in the front.

The wrapper on the Super Deluxe gives off bold tobacco and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar screams tobacco musk and oak. The cold draw produces notes of sweet wood, musk, and earthiness.

First Half:

Because of the cigar’s smaller stature I will be reviewing this in to parts instead of my normal three. The Super Deluxe starts out with a blast of sweet oak backed by raisin/plum, musk, cinnamon and some underlying spice and pepper. There is also a little taste under there that I can only describe as “root beer”. It’s a fantastic flavor profile right off the bat. The draw is absolutely perfect! Each tiny puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, gray smoke which really sticks around for a a good amount of time while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor sharp and dead even leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of white ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Half:

The further I get through the Super Deluxe the more the blackberry and raisin flavors come out along with loads of bold, sweet woodsy flavors over lighter notes of spice and musk. This is a killer profile. The retrohale brings forward some really sharp spice and I honestly like how subtle the spice is so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The cigar burned flawlessly from start to finish. I did have to smoke at a bit higher pace as the cigar wanted to go out at the start, but the change in pace smoothed things out. It took me a little over an hour to smoke the Super Deluxe down to the nub and Ioved every second of it. No sap, no harshness and no extended heat. I close out the cigar with nothing other than a min or nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Black Label Super Deluxe was in high demand, and for good reason. This has been one of my more favorite releases from the company and I am happy that it’s back even in its limited capacity. The flavor profile is just….welll.. perfect and really fits my personal taste. The format is also incredible. I love petite corona and soft boxpress cigars. It’s very affordable and let’s face it, the only drawback is that these will insta-sellout. So grab them while you can!

The post Black Label Trading Co. Super Deluxe 2025 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Killer Bee line has evolved quite a bit over time. At this year’s PCA show James Brown, owner of Black Label Trading Co./Black Works Studio released the Shaolin, an extensively modified version of the Killer Bee. Created at the Fabrica Oveja Negra in Esteli, Nicaragua the blend features all Nicaraguan fillers, Honduran Habano binder and a mixture of Mexican San Andrés Maduro and Connecticut Shade wrappers with Candela accents. The cigar comes in a single 5 1/2 x 46 belicoso format. The Killer Bee Shaolin comes packaged in boxes of 24 and runs $13.50 a stick with only 950 boxes released. I purchased a few over from Atlantic Cigar and my body JG hooked it up with the one I am reviewing today.

• Size: 5 1/2 x 46
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés, Connecticut Shade, and Candela
• Binder: Honduran Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $13.50
• Pairing: The Bruery Sundae Sunday (Imperial Stout – 17.8% ABV)

Prelight:

The Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin starts out with the crazy looking wrappers we’ve come to expect from the brand. In the case of the Shaolin the tapered belicoso cap stars with a very deep, dark brown tightly spiraled around a lighter consistent orangish-brown leaf which widens out once you past the cap. The barber-pole style spiral continues through the cigar’s body down to the sealed, green, candela wrapper foot. Even with the complexities of the wrapper, it’s constructed perfectly as each leaf is seamless laid over another. There are almost no veins in any of the wrapper leaf. The texture is pretty toothy and gritty in the darker brown areas and silky smooth where the Connecticut shade is laid. The cigar is packed very tightly and is pretty damn heavy. The cigar is polished off with a black and gold band with the Killer Bee crest and artwork.

The wrapper on the Killer Bee Shaolin gives off a lot of sweet honey over some lighter spice notes while the foot of the cigar is mostly the same with a bit of earthiness from the candela. covering. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of honey, earthy grain, and soft spice.

First Third:

The Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin leads with some soft black pepper over rich dark chocolate, honey, and musk with light notes of caramel, black cherry and a nice tartness left on my lips. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs out for a while even in the breeze before dissipating. The burn line is razor thin and mostly even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for about 3/4 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin and the chocolate is just pouring on. Underneath are great tart cherry notes, musk, and honey with lighter notes of caramel, vanilla, spice and earthiness. The retrohale really piles on the spice and considering how sweet the flavors are in the standard smoking experience I don’t find find myself doing it too often. I close out the second third with a minor nicotine kick, but it’s noticeable.

Note: Into the second third a pretty big tunnel opened up. Luckily, this didn’t impact the experience too much and I was able to smoke through it pretty easily. I smoked 3 of these cigars total and it only happened to one. I add this as a note that these things happen since these are handmade items and even then, sometimes you’re able to smoke right through them.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin and the flavors are mostly the same, and there are no complaints here. The cigar carries bold notes of dark chocolate, black cherry, and honey over lighter notes of musk, caramel, vanilla and spice. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke the Shaolin down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat. I had to relight the cigar once, which is no big deal, and despite the tunnel it burned great from start to finish.

Overview:

The Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin is easily one of the better cigars I smoked all year. The flavor profile is absolutely beautiful, and matches exactly what I look for in a cigar. The complexity was great. The burn was flawless from start to finish even considering the tunnel that popped up about halfway through. It always surprised me how complex the manufacturing of a lot of Black Label cigars are, and how well put together the final product is. My only gripe, as you can guess, is that these are pretty much sold out absolutely everywhere. Happy Hunting.

Pairing:

The Bruery’s Sundae Sunday features Black Tuesday as a base, aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans and boysenberries. The 17.7% ABV beer leads with loads of tartness, black cherry/berry, dark chocolate, caramel, malt, and a heavy and very noticeable dose of vanilla with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more tart berry, dark chocolate, and vanilla. This is a big beer, that’s scarily easy to drink. The dark chocolate, caramel, and berry married up perfectly with the flavors found in the Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin while the cigar added a nice bit of earthiness to the overall experience.

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