The Good Stuff:

It’s that time of the year folks! One of the most popular, sometimes elusive releases just hit shelves. I’m talking about the the Tatuaje Monster series. This ninth release in the Series is called the Krueger and is designed after none other than the man nightmares are made out of, Freddy Krueger himself. For those who have been living under a rock for the last 10 years, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars releases a Halloween specific blend each year just before the holiday hits. I have had the pleasure of smoking each and everyone, and plan on keeping that tradition up as long as I can. Here is the rundown of the releases.

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde

Produced a the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua, this year’s format utilizes the Conjonu 2009 molds but were cut a bit longer. It closely resembles the format of the Wolfman coming in at a 7 1/4 x 48 box-press with a tapered torpedo style cap. The blend features a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan Binder and Nicaraguan Filler tobaccos. The Krueger comes packaged in Dress Boxes of 13, and standard non-Dress  Boxes of 10 running $13 a stick and won’t last long. I purchased a few of these over from our friends at 2 Guys Smoke Shop. At the time I am writing this it looks like they have already sold out.

Size: 7 1/4 x 48
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $13
Pairing: Goose Island Bourbon County 2015 (Imperial Stout 14.3%)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Krueger starts out with a very consistent, deep, dark brown wrapper. While the wrapper is already dark, you can still see many natural dark webs reaching through the cigar’s wrapper leaf. The texture of the cigar is incredibly toothy and firm. It feels like extra gritty sandpaper wrapped around a stack of popsicle sticks. The entire cigar is very solid and firm and feels incredibly tightly packed while the wrapper itself is very dense and very hard. The long, slender body carries a comfortable soft box-press which leads up to a very long, pointed, tapered cap. The cigar is polished off with the same Tatuaje and we see on just about all of their cigars with the standard monster twist, carrying a red, green, and black design which matches the clothing worn by Freddy.

The wrapper of the Tatuaje Krueger gives off a good amount of spice, cocoa, and cedar while the foot of the cigar carries more pepper than spice, natural tobacco aromas, and a good amount of earthiness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great tart, cocoa, spice, and rich tobacco flavors.

First Third:

Woah! I wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of bold cayenne pepper the Tatuaje Krueger was about to give off. After the first few puffs my lips and tongue were left burning for a few minutes. After about a quarter inch the pepper starts to give way and it opens the doors for the tartness, cocoa, spice, molasses, and rich oak that lies within the cigar. The draw is perfect, each tiny puffs releases a huge cloud of thick white smoke while the cigar gives off a decent amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a compacted trail of medium and dark gray striped ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

The Tatuaje Krueger is really coming to life in the second third. The flavors lead with a deep, rich oak, bold bittersweet chocolate, a nice natural tartness, a good amount of spice, and a bit of pepper that is still somehow lingering around. The retrohale is a great reminder of just how potent that pepper was to start off the cigar and I really doubt I’ll find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. The burnline is still dead even and very sharp, while I close out the second third already with a nice little nicotine kick.

Finish:

The Tatuaje Krueger finishes just as bold as it started with a ton of bittersweet chocolate, spice, tartness, cinnamon, and pepper with some soft notes of pine and clove. This is one of the better Monster Series releases in my recent memory. I smoked it down to the very nub which took just over two hours and I experienced no extra harshness or extra heat. In fact, I was able to take this cigar down much easier than most cigars with half the body and strength which is pretty surprising considering how full body and strength the Krueger is.

Overview:

As I stated, this was one of the better Tatuaje Monster Series I’ve had. Not that any of them are bad, or even close to it. But the Krueger seems to stand out amongst them. The cigar is very strong, and very bold, yet I never once felt overpowered by it which is great considering how long the smoking time was. I wouldn’t recommend this for those novice cigar smokers though. I just think its a bit much and if you aren’t used to smoking full-strength cigars it might do you in. I know its pricey, I know its hard to find, but in all honesty if you see them I recommend snatching up quite a few of them. I’m glad that I did.

Pairing:

Good Island’s Bourbon County Stout is another beer that isn’t a stranger to Casas Fumando. As the released of the 2016 version grows near I dipped into my stash to put a few of the 2015 on ice. Brewed at the Goose Island brewery in Chicago this Bourbon Barrel Aged stout comes in at a whopping 14.3%. At least in these parts, in other parts of the country a less potent version is found on shelves. The Bourbon County Stout leads with a ton of sweetness, rich bittersweet chocolate, cinnimon, spice, a bit of clove, lots of roasted malt, and even a bit of raisin with a very, very mouthfeel before finishing very sweet with a good amount of bourbon and booze over more chocolate, roasted malt, spice, and raisin with a very boozy aftertaste. I love this beer, and knew right away it would have to go down as the pairing with this cigar since the flavors were so compatible.

The post Tatuaje Monster Series #9 Krueger appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Casas Fumando is no stranger to Caldwell cigars. I have been on a mission to review as many of them as I possibly can and this week the Blind Man’s Bluff is at the plate. Caldwell hit the market last year and focuses on creating blends using rare, vintage, and limited tobaccos. The Blind Man’s Bluff is composed of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Honduran Criollo binder and San Vincent Viso (Dominican), Honduran Criollo “Generoso” Ligero  fillers. The Blind Man’s Bluff is the first of a few lines produced at Davidoff’s Agroindustrias Laepe S.A. in Danli, Honduras vs. the usual Tabacalera William Ventura. Cigar Aficionado had some more information about this:

Caldwell Cigar Co. is expanding operations. The cigar company, founded by Robert Caldwell in early 2014, is finishing construction on a new factory in the Dominican Republic that is opening this week and preparing to launch four new cigar lines. Three of the lines, Sevillana Reserva, Gibraltar Extra and Muricas Especial, will be rolled at the new factory, appropriately named the Caldwell Cigar Factory. The fourth line is called Blind Man’s Bluff, and is made at Agroindustrias Laepe S.A. in Honduras, the same factory where Camachos are produced. The new cigars will debut at the 2015 International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show in July.

“It’s been a crazy year so far,” Caldwell told Cigar Aficionado. “We’re excited about our new brands—and the cigar factory is in its final stages of construction. It will begin production this week.”

The core lines in Caldwell’s cigar portfolio are currently made at Tabacalera William Ventura, a small cigar factory in Tamboril, Dominican Republic. This week, those brands move to their new home at the Caldwell Cigar Factory, about a mile away from Tabacalera William Ventura. The Ventura family will still play a major role in Caldwell’s cigar production process.

The Caldwell Blind Man’s Bluff comes in four sizes: The Robusto (5 x 52), the Toro (6 x 52) and the Magnum (6 x 60) which all run for the modest (in Caldwell terms) price of $7.50 – $9.50 a stick. I picked up a few of these from the Caldwell team themselves at Fox Cigar Bar’s Foxtoberfest in Gilbert, Arizona a few months ago.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Honduran Criollo
Filler: San Vincent Viso (Dominican), Honduran Criollo “Generoso” Ligero
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.50
Pairing: 2015 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (Imperial Stout 14.3% ABV)

Prelight:

The Blind Man’s Bluff starts out with a very rugged, rustic looking wrapper. The wrapper is medium brown in color with lots of darker, and orange splotched areas scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture is very, very toothy as it feels like sandpaper with a decent amount of oil splashed over it. There are a few medium sized veins running their course through the cigar’s body as it leads up to a beautiful, round, triple cap. The cigar is finished off with a classic, brown, Caldwell band featuring a thug looking character with his eyes scratched out, and the words “Blind Man’s Bluff” and “We Own the Night” embossed in gold ink. The cigar is very firm, and very tightly packed while the wrapper is extremely dense and hard. There are no soft spots to be found through the cigar’s body.

The wrapper on the Blind Man’s Bluff gives off some very subtle cedar, molasses, and sweetness while the foot of the cigar is very spicy with some strong pepper, and bold tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The molasses and sweetness carried over to the cold draw with the same bold amounts of spice and pepper.

First Third:

Caldwell’s Blind Man’s Bluff starts out with a very potent black pepper blast which lasted through quite a few draws. After the pepper faded the cigar let loose some very strong oak, vanilla, espresso, sweetness, molasses and spice flavors. This cigar starts off full-bodied right out of the gate and I’m interested to see where it goes from here. The draw is flawless, each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick white smoke while the cigar burns like a while fire as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is a bit wild, and decently sharp leaving behind a very flaky trail of medium gray ash which held on for about 3/4 of a inch before falling into my lap. Gotta love when that happens.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Caldwell Blind Man’s Bluff and it’s still pouring on the flavor. The cigar leads with oak, vanilla, spice, and sweetness backed by espresso and molasses now. The flavor profile is incredible, the ash consistency is not. I ashed on my lap again… I won’t deduct from a review for that though unless its unescapable, which this is not. It’s just from my own laziness. The retrohale showcases the pepper that I picked up in the first third and it’s plentiful. I don’t find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. The burn line is still slightly wavy, but I haven’t had to reach for my torch yet as I close out the second third with a slight nicotine kick.

Finish:

The strength has been hovering around the medium region up into the final third of the Blind Man’s Bluff before it really ramps up into the upper medium/full range. The flavors are still holding their own too leading with oak, vanilla, sweetness and spice with some great chocolate and espresso on the back end. Despite the wild burn I never once had to touch up or relight the cigar. It took me almost 2 hours to take this slow-burning cigar down to the nub and I experience no harshness, extra heat, and a pretty decent little nicotine kick.

Overview:

Caldwell’s Blind Man’s Bluff is another great cigar from the company. They came flying out of the gate and haven’t slowed down. Add the price of this cigar in comparison to the other cigars in Caldwell’s portfolio into the equation and it’s easy to see why this cigar has been so popular amongst the cigar community. The flavors, full body, marketing, and price all lured me towards this cigar. Not to mention Caldwell’s track record, and it impressed me out of the gate. This may be a bit too full bodied for the novice cigar smoker, but it would fit in perfectly with one who wants to venture into full-bodied premium cigars without breaking the bank. On the flip side, and seasoned cigar smoker looking for a great, solid, reasonably priced cigar should be all over these. I plan on picking up a box as this is something I could easily see being a long-time contender in my daily rotation.

Pairing:

It’s a yearly thing for me. Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout needs no introduction. It’s a bold, rare, strong, bourbon barrel aged stout that is only available one day a year. People wait in line for it. People trade for it. People pay ridiculous prices for it. With good reason. The 14.3% stout leads with very bold chocolate, vanilla, coffee, bourbon, sticky sweetness, malt, and caramel with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing heavy with lots of spice, bourbon, booze, vanilla, and a whole ton of sweetness. This is one of my favorite releases of the year and it always lives up to expectations. The spice, sweetness, vanilla, oak, and coffee paired absolutely perfectly with the flavors in the Blind Man’s Bluff. One thing to keep in mind is that this beer can easily overpower most cigars so you need to pair it with something that can hold it’s own.

The post Caldwell Blind Man’s Bluff appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Norteno is the first release from Drew Estate since Willy Herrera was named the Master Blender earlier this year. Willy has been working hard on creating a maduro blend using a Mexican San Andreas wrapper for some time now. When I was down at the Drew Estate Factory a few years back Willy actually handed me a test sample of a box-pressed Maduro he then just called “The Square”. Thinking back to this smoke, I wonder if it was an early version of the Norteno. The word “Norteno” refers to people in the Northern regions of Nicaragua where Esteli is located while the band features the national bird of Nicaraguan the Guardabarranco. The Norteno by Willy Herrera features a bold Mexican San Andreas Maduro wrapper, Spicy Honduran binder, and extensively aged tobaccos from the Jalapa and Esteli regions of Nicaragua. The Norteno by Willy Herrera comes in six box-pressed sizes, all boxed in quantities of 10: Coronita (4 x 46), Corona Extra (4.75 x 48), Bellicoso Fino (5 x 50), Robusto Grande (5.5 x 54), Toro (6 x 50), and the Lonsdale Deluxe (6.5 x 44) and range from $10 to $12 a cigar.

Size: 6.5 x 44
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Aged Esteli and Jalapa Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $11
Pairing: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (Imperial Stout 13.8% ABV)

Prelight

The Norteno by Willy Herrera is a toothy little creature. The wrapper is very hard, and very thick featuring a sandpaper-like texture throughout the entire body. The wrapper’s color is a deep, dark, consistent brown with only a few darker areas in the webbing of the tobacco leaf. The wrapper is laid seamlessly throughout the body of the cigar all the way up to the round, triple cap. As with all of the formats in the Norteno line, the Lonsdale Deluxe features a beautiful soft-box-pressed structure which I have always preferred due to a very comfortable mouth and hold feel. The Norteno is polished off with a deep mossy greet and ivory band featuring the national bird of Nicaragua as well as the word “Norteno” on the front, and “Herrera Esteli by Drew Estate” as well as a bit of information about the tobaccos use in the blend. The cigar itself is very firm and very tough. It gives almost nothing as I squeeze it between my fingers.

The wrapper on the Norteno gives off a bit of sweetness, coffee, and syrup while the foot of the cigar is very spicy with lots of pepper and natural tobacco aromas. The cap was incredibly easy to clip using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw is pretty potent posting flavor notes of syrup, chocolate, coffee, and a ton of spice.

First Third:

The Norteno by Willy Herrera starts out with a bang leading in with a whole mess of black pepper and spice. After a few puffs the pepper begins to subside and you can pick up great sweetness, spice, oak, berry, and a bit of tartness. Ever since Jeremy and I have had a conversation about the tartness found in most Mexican San Andreas wrapped cigars it’s always one of the first things I notice. The draw is remarkable and another reason why I love the soft box press. It takes no effort to get a huge mouthful of thick, white smoke. The burn line is slightly wavy leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of white and medium gray ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Norteno by Willy Herrera and the pepper has found it’s way out of the flavor profile. While the body is still in the medium/full range all the flavors have taken a step back as a creamed coffee has taken main stage. Backing the coffee is soft sweetness and cedar with a good amount of spice and chocolate with an oaky finish. The retrohale is awesome as it coats my nasal passage with lots of oak, spice, and sweetness. The burn line is still a bit wavy but I haven’t had to reach for my lighter yet. I am feeling zero in the nicotine department as I close out the second third of the Norteno by Willy Herrera.

Final Third:

Into the final third of Drew Estate’s Norteno by Willy Herrera and the flavor profile is much of the same as the second third. Lots of spice, creamed coffee, and oak with a bit of sweetness, syrup, and tart. There is also a bit of pine sneaking itself into the mix but it comes and goes. The burn is now burning perfectly and never once did I have to reach for my lighter for any touch ups or relights. The strength has remained medium the whole way through and I feel almost no nicotine as I close out the cigar. It took me a total of an hour and forty five minutes to take the Norteno down to the nub and I experience no harshness all the way through.

Overview:

The Drew Estate Norteno by Willy Herrera was one of this year’s most anticipated releases and with good reason. I honestly think that almost anything Drew Estate kicks out instantly becomes sought after, but it’s justified as they put a lot of time and effort into great blends and the Norteno is just another notch in the belt. Willy is kind of a badass and I’ve always been a big fan of his work. The Norteno is probably one of the more unique blends in his portfolio. The Norteno is complex, yet super balanced which is something Willy is known for. The flavors are very complimentary and enjoyable yet very bold in this blend. The price may be a bit steep but I personally wouldn’t mind paying the coin to include the Norteno in my daily rotation especially with the box count of 10 which makes it much easily to pull the trigger on. In comparison, the Norteno and Herrera Esteli are mountains apart. Each deliver a totally different experience so comparing the two would be an injustice.

Pairing:

One of the nations, possibly one of the word most sought after beers. I was lucky enough to grab quite a few boxes this black Friday of the 2014 release of Goose Island’s Bourbon County and I’m glad I got as much as I did. This is a beer I never see in our parts. I’ve had a few of the different varieties of this release over the last few years but 100% of those were acquired in trades so I was happy to see these on shelves locally for the first time. It’s with good reason that this limited release sells out so quickly. Aged in Bourbon Barrels this Imperial stout clocks in at a whopping 13.8% ABV. The beer is thick, almost syrupish and the mouthfeel is similar. Right away you’re hit with the bourbon and the booze as it starts to smooth out the spice, vanilla, sweetness and chocolate begin to creep in while it finishes boozy, and creamy with lots of bourbon and spice notes. The spice, chocolate, and syrup paired in beautiful with the Norteno by Willy Herrera while the bourbon and vanilla added a bit more dimension to a great flavor experience.

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