#10 – Arcana CAO Mortal Coil

The CAO Arcana Mortal Coil was certainly an enjoyable cigar, but that didn’t come without it’s issues. The draw on 3 of the cigars I smoked were all a bit on the tight side. Not anything that killed the experience but it did require some extra effort. Outside of that, I enjoyed the flavor profile, and the pricing seems perfect if the cigar performed without the issues. The flavor profile was particularly exceptional. I have a handful more of these that I will probably let rest a while and see how they perform in a few months but it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a CAO as much as I have this year.

Read the Review here

#9 Drew Estate Liga Privada Undercrown 10

There is so much hype around each one of Drew Estate’s releases, and in most cases, they deliver which is the case for the Undercrown 10. This cigar has all the flavors from the classic Undercrown maduro line that I love, with added body and a ton of new flavors. The cigar reminded me so much of Abuelita hot chocolate for those familiar. The cigar is balanced, complex, and nailed my personal profile for what I look for in a cigar. The burn performance was great, and the cigar as a whole offered a fantastic experience. These are a bit pricy as they are almost pushing the bounds for the normal Liga Privada lines, but the cigar does deliver.

Read the Review here

#8 Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2021

hen Davidoff hits it out of the park, its all the way out of the park and the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2021 landed in a different time zone. The big, bold and unique flavors kept me on my toes from start to finish. The construction is flawless, and this cigar is astonishingly still available. The price tag probably has a lot to do with it, and is my only gripe here. But you get what you pay for and in this case, you get a hell of an experience.

Read the Review here

#7 Tatuaje The Frank Redux 1

While the original Frank is so far in my rear view mirror that I can’t remember much of that experience outside of my written words, I do remember how special of a cigar that was. The Frank Redux 1 delivered the same experience. It’s just an all around fantastic cigar. The flavor profile is incredible and really marries up well with my I personally look for in a cigar. The blend is complex, yet balanced, the price is perfect, and the fact that it’s much easier to find this time around is just awesome. I’ve always been a huge fan of the monster series and I for one am more than happy with it’s resurrection.

Read the Review here

#6 Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Paladin de Saka

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Paladin de Saka is an exceptional cigar. The profile is incredibly nuanced and complex. Anyone who knows Saka knows just how picky he is when it comes to his blends and I can’t imagine the work that was involved getting this one right where it is. Outside of the flavors the experience as a whole were flawless. No burn issues, no heat or sap. Just all around a great experience. While this cigar was excellent, the cost still feels a little steep for me. I know you can’t achieve the same experience without the high-level of production and selectivity, something that Steve Saka is known for, I just don’t know if I’d grab a full box of these. This is something I’d probably keep a few around for though when I am craving such a complex experience. Now if you’re a big Sin Compromiso fan and don’t mind paying a bit of extra coin for a next level version of the cigar I think you’ll be all over this one!

Read the Review here

#5 Black Label Trading Co. Last Rites Viaticum

Giving credit where credit is due, this is easily one of the best cigars I’ve smoked all year. The construction and burn were fantastic while the unique blend and flavor profile really appealed to my personal palate. And when I say it “really appealed”, I meant that I loved it. There are few drawbacks, but most are expected. It’s a bit pricey, however I feel the price is justified as I don’t mind paying $15 for the experience it delivered. It’s very limited. Well, that’s a given. And it burns very quickly. None were big enough miffs to keep me from purchasing quite a few more.

Read the Review here

#4 Tatuaje T110 2021

That Tatuaje 110 is everything I remember it being. A complex cigar that will kick your butt if you aren’t ready for it. The flavor profile was great, the burn was awesome after the slight stumble at the start, and the price is on point. If only these weren’t so limited. If for some reason you happen to stumble across any, buy them. All of them. You won’t regret it.

Read the Review here

#3 Black Works Studio Hyena

The Black Works Studio line is unique, and the Hyena is a perfect example of that. Cameroon is a tobacco that I don’t often smoke, and every time I do I wonder why I don’t smoke more of it. The tobacco is just so flavorful which is on full display in this African version, which is the first time I have ever tried. The cigar is packed with very deep, rich, and complex flavors that will keep you on your toes but more importantly, are all extremely pleasant and appealing. This was probably one of the better cigars I’ve smoked all year and something that I will definitely keep on hand going forward.

Read the Review here

#2 Illusione Jeremy Piven Collection PIV Robusto

I’d be curious to know just who Jeremy Piven met with before ultimately deciding to do this collaboration with Illusione. Why he chose Illusione, well that’s pretty obvious. As my boy Drew would say, “Cause he is the king of Corojo!”. The PIV Robusto carries some great, deep, yet very balanced flavors. While a few of the cigars we reviewed recently by Illusione tend to be a bit of a departure from his normal style, the PIV Robusto is a great representation on just how well Dion knows his way around Corojo. This is a perfect afternoon smoke when you are craving something with a good amount of flavor that won’t overwhelm your palate yet still deliver.

Read the Review here

#1 Black Label Trading Co. Bishop’s Blend 2021

The team over at Oveja Negra is making it really hard for me not to include every one of their releases in my top 10 cigars for 2021. I always thought the bishop’s blend releases were special cigars, but this year there was something extra special with the blend or tobacco. The flavor profile is absolutely incredible from start to finish. The cigar burned perfectly, and the price is actually lower than I’d expect for a cigar like this. The limited production is a bit daunting, but they have released a new run each year which evens it out. The only complaint here is the amount of sap this cigar produces. There is quite a bit and while slowing down my smoking pace greatly reduces it, I was unable to make it through any of the cigars I smoked without some slipping out. I’m sure some more rest would easily clean that up.

Read the Review here

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The Good Stuff:

Easily one of the most anticipated releases year after year is the Monster Series from Tatuaje. Released on Halloween each year since 2008. This cigar is released around Halloween every year in very limited quantities. 13 “Unlucky” retailers across the nation each year receive 13 count dress boxes which are heavily designed and themed versions of the packaging while other retailers receive the standard 10 count brown boxes. I’ve been lucky enough to smoke each one, and review almost all of them to date:

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde
• 2016 – Krueger
• 2017 – The Michael
• 2018 – The Bride
• 2019 – Chuck and Tiff

As the 13 Monsters came to a close it left a lot of cigar enthusiasts wondering what would become of the series. Well, Pete Johnson wasn’t ready to give up on it yet expanding the series to include actors as well. Enter, the Karloff. The Karloff is the first cigar in the Actor series which pays homage to the actors who played the monsters from the iconic monster movies. This release is named after Boris Karloff who played Frankenstein, which is actually a slightly tweaked blend of the Boris, one of my favorite Tatuaje inventions to date. It is unclear if this will be an ongoing project or not at this point.

The blend features an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers while the Karloff is offered in a single 6 5/8 x 49 size. Foregoing the traditional dress boxes the original monster series came in, the Karloff are all packaged in boxes of 13 running $13 per stick with only 4,000 boxes being produced. I got mine over from our great friends at Fox Cigar Bar.

• Size: 6 5/8 x 49
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Snickerdoodle Vanilla Noir (Imperial Stout 14.4% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Karloff starts out with a very, very dark brown wrapper. The wrapper is pretty consistent color with only a few lighter, orangish areas scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture is very dense and hard with a good amount of gritty tooth and a whole mess of oils coating it. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself as the cigar showcases a good amount of soft veining and webbing leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapper cap. The Karloff is then polished off with the simple, elegant white and back Tatuaje band a design similar to that of the Boris.

The wrapper on the Karloff gives off a great oak and rich chocolate aroma while the foot is much of the same with a small amount of spice and natural tobacco making its way through the covered foot. The cold draw produces a whole mess of dark chocolate over oak, and natural tobacco flavors as well matching up pretty when with the raw aromas.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Karloff starts with a good amount of black pepper which really hangs around for a while leaving my tongue and lips tingling. Once the pepper fades I am left with a heap of dark chocolate and coffee notes over pecan, cinnamon, plum, and musk. This cigar starts out with a bang. The draw is beautiful as every little puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, gray smoke while the cigar releases a good amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit wide, and slightly wavy, but nothing too concerning and I am sure the breezy weather has a lot to do with that. The ash left behind is dark gray and black and very tightly compacted as it drops in my ashtray at around the 1 inch mark.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Karloff and the cigar is really pumping out a ton of flavor. The dark chocolate and coffee still lead the way backed by a good amount of sweetness, pecan, and cinnamon over light musk and a great dark berry/plum mixture. The retrohale brings back a lot of the pepper that has been completely taken out of the mix after the first few draws so I don’t really find myself going back to it very often. The cigar is still burning like a champ and I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine hit.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje Karloff and the flavors are still kicking it off. Chocolate and coffee are still the dominant ones backed by musk, pecan, sweetness, and cinnamon over light dark berry and plum. The flavors really haven’t changed up a whole lot since the start, and that’s ok cause I am loving them just the way they are. It took me two hours to take this cigar down the nub, and I never wanted it to end. There was no harshness, nor extended heat and the cigar only left me with a very minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Boris was one of my absolute favorite Tatuaje cigars released to date. While the memory is distant, reviewing my notes and what still exists up in my brain this cigar feels very similar, only with a bit more body to it. Taking the Boris out of the equation, the Karloff is an incredible experience. The flavors are incredible, well balanced, and just complex enough to keep me on my toes. On the subjective side those flavors really appeased my personal palate, especially the sweetness the cigar offered. The experience was perfect with not snags at all, and the price is well worth it. The only gripe, as you’d guess it, is the availability. That just means I gotta throw in a little more effort to pick up more of these before they are gone.

Pairing:

I wanted to go with something pretty sweet on this pairing to match up with the holiday, as well as a lot of the sweetness packed into the Karloff. My poison, Prairie Artisan Ales Snickerdoodle Vanilla Noir. Coming in at 14.4% this offering is a spin off of one of my favor Prairie beers, the Vanilla Noir. Aged in bourbon barrels this imperial stout is brewed with Snickerdoodle Chia cookies and vanilla. The beer leads with heavy amounts of vanilla, malt, milk chocolate, coconut, and just the right amount of sweet cinnamon. The mouthfeel is extremely heavy and stick before finishing with more vanilla and cinnamon over chocolate, toffee, and light plum. It easy to see why I paired this cigar with the Karloff as it shares so many of the same flavors. While the beer’s sweetness may overpower many cigar, the Karloff carries enough sweetness to hold it’s own with out muddying up the flavors.

The post Tatuaje Karloff appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Every year since 2008 Pete Johnson of Tatuaje has released the Monster Series cigar. A cigar released around halloween which takes its characteristics from some of the most famous monster ever known. I have been lucky enough to smoke quite a few of each release since then:

2008 – The Frank
2009 – The Drac
2010 – The Face
2011 – The Wolfman
2012 – The Mummy
2013 – The JV13
2014 – The Jekyll
2015 – The Hyde
2016 – Krueger
2017 – The Michael

This year we focus on none other than Haloween’s infamous killer Michael Myers. Hand crafted at the My Father factory in Nicaraguan the Michael starts out with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/2 x 52 toro size which comes in limited edition dress boxes of 13 and standard boxes of 10 running $13 a stick. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Fox Cigar Bar who actually still have some in stock last time I checked. I suggest you head over there, email them, or call them and buy them now if you are interested in this cigar cause these sell out extremely fast year after year. Let them know we sent ya.

Size: 6 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $13
Pairing: Brouwerij Het Anker Cuvee Van De Keizer Rood 2013 (Belgian Strong Ale 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Micheal starts out with a rustic, meaty, dark brown wrapper thats covered in splotches of darker brown, and reddish-tinted spots. The wrapper’s texture is decently toothy and gritty with a good amount of oils, as well as some really prominent natural webbing scattered throughout the cigar’s body. There are some mild veining as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, triple wrapped cap. The Michael is then polished off with the standard black Tatuaje band we all love, with the words “Halloween” and “Monster” across the sides.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Michael gives off a very peppery, spicy aroma while the foot of the cigar is a bit more subtle with notes of cocoa, natural tobacco, and cedar. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw really hits you in the face with pepper and spice along with some subtle cocoa and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Michael starts out with a massive cayenne pepper burst that kept my tongue and lips tingling for quite sometime even though the flavor faded after the first few draws. Once the pepper fades the Michael showcases some great, complex flavors of deep oak, cocoa, cranberry, spice, and a molasses style sweetness. The draw is perfect as each puff kicks out just there right amount of thick white smoke which really hangs around for a while before dissipating. The burn line is pretty wild and a bit wide, but I haven’t had to touch it up so no marks taken there. The ash left behind is medium and dark gray and pretty flaky. It only held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Michael and while the body is still well in the full-bodied arena the flavors have really started to come together. The cigar leads with spice, sweetness, and deep cedar backed by some great cranberry, molasses, pecan, and musk. The retrohale really brings the pepper back into the mix sod I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still slightly wild but I haven’t had to touch up the cigar so I’m not messing with it. I close out the second third with a mild little nicotine kick.

Finish:

One thing I noticed about the Tatuaje Michael is the cigar will go out on you if you leave it sitting for almost any period of time. Knowing this, just give the cigar the attention it deserves and you’ll be home free. The flavor profile in the final third is really ran by the spice and backed by the molasses, cedar, musk, and berry. It took me over 2 hours to take the Michael down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat all the way down tot the nub. I closed out the cigar with a decent little nicotine hit.

Overview:

The Michael has to be my favorite Monster releases since the JV13. The cigar is complex, bold, yet manageable and not too overpowering in the strength department. I actually smoked one of these with a buddy Andrew who works at Lucas Tobacco in Las Cruces, New Mexico who is a huge Tatuaje fan. He said the same. ITs nice to see after all these years Pete and his Monsters still haven’t lost their touch.

Pairing:

I went a bit off the grid here and decided to pair this Tatuaje Michael with a Cuvee Van De Keizer Rood from Brouwerij Het Anker in Belgium. This Belgian Strong Ale comes in at a whopping 10% ABV and you wouldn’t guess that it would be even close to that boozy. The beer leads with sweetness, coriander, spice, pear, and some light hop with a very juicy/light mouthfeel before finishing crisp with even more pear, spice, coriander and sweetness. In theory, the pairing didn’t have too much going for it outside of the spice and sweetness but the beer really helped pull out some of the cedar notes as well as add some great fruit to the mix. I think the Tatuaje Michael would also pair great with a Belgian Quad, spiced stout, or Tawny port.

Giveaway:

Want to know how to get your hands on a 3-pack of The Michael for yourself? Well, once again we teamed up with the amazing team at Fox Cigar Bar who threw in a couple of free cigars to hand out to one of our lucky readers! You know the drill, just follow the rules below to enter. The winner will be announced Monday, November 13th. Continental US only, 21 and over please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Monthly Recap – November

Number of Cigars Smoked: 24

Of those smoked:

• Purchased: 10 or 42%
• Gifted: 8 or 33%
• Samples Provided: 6 or 25%

Of those purchased:

• Brick & Mortar: 1 or 10%
• Online: 9 or 90%

Most Memorable Cigars Smoked

#1. Illusione – Fume D’ Amour:  As I write today, I could not detail any of the specific flavors I noted, but I can tell you that as soon as the smoke began to seep out of the lit foot of the Fume D’ Amour, I was taken from the snowy streets of Gladstone, Michigan to the sandy beaches of somewhere much warmer. This cigar was awarded the #3 spot on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2014 list for good reason. It does not only showcase a very well balanced blend, but it takes you on a memorable experience to much simpler (warmer) times. In my opinion, the Illusione Fume D’ Amour is everything I look for but do not find in Cuban cigars. You can check out Tony’s review of the Fume D’ Amour HERE.

#2. Emlio Cigars – La Musa Melete Lancero: Earlier this year, a good friend and Casas Fumando guest reviewer, Jeff Oda, bombed me with a handful of cigars that he thought I would enjoy . One of the sticks being the Emilio La Musa Melete Lancero. I sung high praises of the Melete toro when I reviewed it in a Quick Draw format back in May so I was anxious to light up the lancero. Restraining myself for six months, I finally broke down and fired up the Melete Lancero. The cigar delivered full flavors showcasing a ton of sweetness, along with rich notes of cedar, earth, and coffee. One thing I did not find in the lancero version was the citrus, orange peel flavor I picked up on in the toro size. I was blown away by the Melete Lancero and now I wish I would have grabbed a handful up while they were still available. But even if you cannot find the lancero, it is worth hunting down the other vitolas in the La Musa Melete line.

Cigar Reviews

PDR Cigars – Flores Y Rodriguez Habano Cabinet Seleccion

The more Flores Y Rodriguez Habano Cabinet Seleccions I smoke the more I am astonished that the cigar is a Dominican puro made out of one varietal of Cuban seed. The Habano Cabinet Seleccion delivers a complex experience that can be rare in puros. The play between the sweetness and citrus notes kept me engaged the entire smoke, while the core flavors of pepper, cedar, and leather were right in my comfort zone. I hope I can find another bargain on these sticks as this is a cigar I would love to maintain in my weekly rotation.

Kuuts, LLC – Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend

 For  a cigar coming in around $6, a very reasonably priced cigar in my book, Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is a solid offering. The profile was well balanced, rich, and sweet with a core of cedar and pepper. The cigar performed well with a perfect draw, satisfying amount of smoke, decent burn, and a fairly nice ash.

Ezra Zion Cigar Company – Tantrum P.A. 

The Ezra Zion Tantrum P.A. delivered full, balanced flavors, a good draw, satisfying amount of smoke, and a decent burn. This cigar fits right into my wheelhouse with it bold flavors and full strength, but the strength did not overwhelm me.

Tony’s Reviews

Tatuaje Jekyll Monster Series #7

The Jekyll is a solid cigar sporting some great flavors, creamy balance, and a great experience. It wasn’t one of my favorites in the Monster Series, but I still felt it was worthy of a box purchase even having purchased a handful before pulling the trigger on the box. One thing that did impress me about the Jekyll was the evident departure from the rest of the cigars in the Monster Series line.

La Palina Black Label

Needless to say I fell in love with the La Palina Black Label. I’ve been a long time fan of La Palina. While not all of their blends fit my profile, many of them find their way into my daily rotation. The La Palina Black offers a great, full bodied, full strength experience at a decent price point. While the strength was in the full area, never once did it muddy up the flavors as they were a bit complex, very pure, and extremely enjoyable.

Spirited Pairings – Episode 1

Spirited Pairings Episode 2

Fratello Cigars Corona

If it wasn’t already obvious i fell in love with the Fratello from the first time I smoked one. The bold experience, great construction, price and availably all hit a sweet spot with me. Without giving too much away, I’d be shocked if this didn’t make it in my top 10 list this year.

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The Good Stuff: The Mummy is the 5^th installment in Pete Johnson’s Monster Series. For those of you who live on another planet, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje has been releasing super-limited runs of Monster themed cigars each year on Halloween since 2008. I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on each one to date and have thoroughly enjoyed them. The first was the Frank, followed by the dual released Boris and the Drac, Then the Face, the Wolfman, the mini-monsters, and now the Mummy. The blend starts out with a Nicaraguan Sun Frown Criollo stuffed with Nicaraguan Filler and Binder. Pete Johnson made mention that the blend is basically a cleaner version of the Black Label, but that the size will alter the flavor slightly. The Cigar runs $13 a stick and comes in painted dress boxes of 13, or plain boxes of 10. While I was in Phoenix a few weekends ago I picked a few of these up at Fox Cigar Bar. (Don’t worry, I’ll have a post up from the event soon.).

Size: 7.75 x 47
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $13
Pairing: Unibroue  Grande Reserve 17 (Belgian style strong dark ale, 10% abv)

Prelight: The wrapper on the Mummy is a rough looking one. Again, I am a fan of rustic looking cigars as you can tell there hasn’t been much treatment done to them. The wrapper is very oily and toothy carrying lots of smaller veins and a messy, folded over foot. Once again, everything about this wrapper screams monster series. As you follow the thin, medium brown body up to the round triple cap you can see lots of areas around the veins where the wrapper is a much lighter shade of brown. The Tatuaje Mummy is polished off with the standard Tatuaje band, this time in white and gray keeping up with the mummy theme.

The wrapper on the Mummy gives off a very sweet tobacco and cashew aroma while the foot of the cigar lets loose a crazy strong spice and tobacco smell. The cold draw on the Mummy produces a really organic tobacco, soft spice, and subtle pepper flavor.

First Smoke: Once lit up the Mummy greeted me with a whole ton of up front spice. Not pepper, spice as in cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. There was a bit of pepper on the first few puffs, but not a whole ton. Just enough to tingle my lips a bit before fading off and leaving me with a nice sweet tobacco, cedar, spice and a neat black cherry after taste.  The draw on the Mummy is slightly tough, but not anything that one or two hard puffs doesn’t take care of. The burnline is razor sharp and dead solid leaving behind a flaky, white and dark grey ash. The ash only held on for about ¾ of an inch before giving way into my lap. I anticipated it this time as you can tell, I took the first picture early enough to catch it just before the first ash fell.

Halfway There: An interesting spearmint flavor snuck into the cigar in the second third. I’m not sure if I was really picking it up or if I smelled something in the air cause just as soon as I noticed it, it was gone. The cashew I picked up in the prelight has started to show in the experience while the black cherry, spice and cedar as still rocking hard over the sweet tobacco. The retrohale produces a really smooth, sweet, and mellow cedar priming. The burnline is still spot on and I am feeling only a slight nicotine kick after the second third.

Finish: As if I wasn’t already enjoying this Tatuaje Mummy, the final third of the experience really made the cigar shine. It started with similar flavors, black cherry, cedar, spice but then morphed into this really bold, pleasant, cashew and leather with this musky taste. I loved it. The cigar finished bold and smooth with no harshness at all. I smoked this cigar until I could no longer hold it in my hand. It took about an hour and a half and required no touch ups or relights. Despite feeling a bit of nicotine in the second third I felt absolutely nothing after I finished the cigar.

Overview: As much as I enjoyed the mini mum, I have to say this format suits the cigar so much more. It’s the final third experience in which I didn’t see from the mummy in the smaller format. This is probably one of my favorite monster series to date. If I had to rank it I would put it in second place just slightly below the boris. The price point is a bit steep as is for all the full size monster series, but you get a lot of bang for you buck. I would highly recommend any one interested to pick these up while you still have a chance. There aren’t man left!

Pairing: I picked a winner with this pairing. Unibroue’s Grande Reserve 17 is a 10% abv Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed by the Unibroue brewery in Quebec, Canada. Unibroue, in my opinion, is one of the few non-Belgian brewery who have successfully nailed down the Belgian style of brewing. This limited edition brew is only brewed once, then oak aged and bottle fermented producing a bold, yet smooth experience. This beer carries lots of spice, clove, ginger, cinnamon over a malty and sweet palate. That being said it’s obvious that the beer and it’s flavors were a match made in heaven (or hell?) for this year’s Monster Series, the Mummy.

The post Tatuaje – Mummy – Monster Series #5 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Little Monster Series is basically I re-release in mini-format of all the monster series cigar from Tatuaje to date, with the exception of the Little Boris (this was actually released as a region release, shop specific) and the new blend to look for this Halloweeen, the Mummy. What these cigars lack in size they make up for in flavor. The box of 10 include 2 of each: The Mini-Mum, The Frank Jr, The Lil’ Drac, Baby Face, and the Wolfie. Along with the cigars some of the boxes (from my understanding they actually ran out of these at some point) contain a fun little random collectors card. Each collectors card had one of the 5 cigar’s character drawing and information on it. Even further stretching “limited edition” a few of the “Baby Face” cards actually had Pete Johnson in the place of baby face. These cards aren’t really worth anything, but they were a fun edition to the box. Anyways, these limited edition cigars will run you $75 a box with only 10,000 boxes made.

Tatuaje Little Monster Series Frank Jr. (Tony)

Ever since the let down that was the “Tatuaje Frank” I have been incredibly eager to try this blend. the Frank was coined by many as Pete’s finest cigar ever made. I only had the pleasure of smoking one, not long ago, that had aged way past it’s prime. It was just kind of boring. You can check the Quick Draw I did on that one here.

How did the Frank Jr. Stand up? For lack of better words, it was awesome. I’ll start with the format. I liked this size so much more than the huge, bulky frank. The best part was the elongated box-press. I love those. Perfect draw every time while it sits perfectly and comfortably in your hand. I said it before and I will say it again, I am a sucker for Connecticut Broadleaf and the Frank Jr. is the epitome of how beautiful that wrapper can look. Cutting and lighting the Frank Jr. was cake. The flavors were just intense, much unlike the Frank that fell flat the Frank Jr. delivered with some powerful cocoa, vanilla, cherry, cinnamon and black pepper right off the bat. As expected, the pepper faded pretty quickly and the sweetness began to set in. The flavors remained very bold witth little change up until an all around creaminess took over toward the end of the smoke. The burn line was perfect the entire time with no-touch up or relights. This is a cigar that I really wish would find it’s way to full release. This size too, not the bigger brother. I’d eat through boxes of these if I had the chance and I am sure I can speak for some of you in saying you would too.

Tatuaje Little Monster Series Mini-Mum (Tony)

Next one the chopping block is the mini-mum. I was a bit skeptical on this release due to hearing both good and bad things about it. One of my good friend’s Dan Reeve over at CigarExplorer.com hyped this cigar up to me. I know Dan well, and I know that we both know each other’s pallets well enough to speak for each other and he kept boasting about this cigar to me. Needless to say, it was the first one that I smoked as soon as I got the box.

First off, this is a pretty cigar. Not in terms of “perfect” cause let’s face it, the wrapper is ugly. But you know what? That’s what I look for in a cigar. I don’t want a pretty, consistently dyed wrapper. I want something firm, well constructed, and natural. That’s exactly what you get in the case of the mini-mum. The Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo is a beautiful splotchy light/dark brown with orange mixed in. It gives off a TON of strong, sweet tobacco and cedar aroma. But enough about the wrapper let’s get into the flavor. This cigar was another flavor powerhouse pouring out tons of cedar, spice, nutmeg, cashew, leather, sweet tobacco and even a bit of fruit. Yeah, it’s a lot of flavor but the Mini Mum ties it all in perfectly with a smooth and creamy experience from start to last. The burn line was a bit wavy but again, no touch ups or relights required. The entire time I smoked this cigar I couldn’t help but compare it to the Tatuaje Black. It was everything I liked about the black blend, only better. That being said, I really can’t wait for the full Mummy release to come. These will be a monster series blend that I will be going after.

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Yesterday I took advantage of the fact that all my clients would be off celebrating. I decided to stay home and light up a good cigar with a tall glass of beer and enjoy the slightly warmer weather. I decided to sit down with this years Monster release from Tatuaje, dubbed the Wolfman. If you didn’t know, Pete Johnson has been releasing a Halloween themed cigar each year for the past few years and it’s called the Monster Series.

Last year, Tatuaje released “The Face” which we reviewed here. Before that you would have seen the Boris, Frank or Drac. Each one is inspired by a horror creature from a story or film. This years Wolfman release is no different, named after the infamous werewolf. The cigars came packed in a limited selection of dress boxes with 13 cigars as well as a slightly larger release of 10-count plain boxes. They were sold out very quickly across the country so I’m glad I was able to snag a few to get a review in.

The Wolfman comes in with a shaggy foot to keep inline with the character of the cigar. Pete wanted to give it a sort of “ugly” unfinished look to match the theme. Other than the shaggy foot, the cigar looks to be of excellent construction. The band on this cigar also has one new thing from the older Monster Series sticks. On the sides of the band you can see “MONSTER” and “HALLOWEEN” written beside the normal Tatuaje name. Normally, there was nothing else on the bands aside from the brand.

Now I know I’m coming in a little late to the game with this review but it did take quite a bit of digging and asking around to get these cigars. Especially up here to Canada where they aren’t sold and very few B&M’s are even willing to ship to. Tony’s local shops also don’t seem to get these in so we were both in a bit of a bind trying to track a few down. Alas, determination leads to success and I got them. So here I am, sitting down and getting ready to light this cigar and write down my thoughts for your reading pleasure.

Cigar: Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series 2011
Drink: Trafalgar Ales & Meads – Smoked Oatmeal Stout
Vitola: Box-Pressed Torpedo (7.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Sumatran
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $13
Burn Time: a little under 2 hours

Construction:
• The Tatuaje Wolfman is a nice looking cigar with a chestnut brown wrapper
• The wrapper is slightly rough with some veins running through it but none look to be large or worrisome
• The whole cigar actually feels a little soft when squeezed
• The cap is finished with extreme care and blends into the cigar with ease, the foot is left uncovered and shaggy but still looks to be fairly well packed
• Cap cut cleanly and easily and left me with an easy draw, make sure not to cut too much off this cigar or it will be very open
• As soon as I finished burning past the unfinished foot the draw got super-tight so I needed to cut the cap a bit more and now we’re all happy

Burn:
• Toasting seems fairly easy and even and took a good 30 seconds or so to get the foot glowing, I was expecting a messy toasting with the unfinished foot but it wasn’t messy at all
• Burn got off to a wonky start on one side that needed a quick correction early on
• After that correction, things have been burning a lot smoother with a nice sharp and even line
• Another small correction as I pass the halfway mark, nothing major and didn’t affect the flavors

Smoke & Ash:
• There’s a ton of smoke from each draw as I’ve come to expect from pretty much all of Pete Johnson’s cigar, he really knows how to nail the thick billowy smoke
• The ash from the unfinished foot was super weak and fell off quickly, before I even had a chance to snap a picture
• Seems that suicidal ash is the trend today, lost the first two ash to the floor after about an inch each, sigh…
• The ash seems to be fairly weak and a little bit messy with a light grey color to it
• Considering there is so much smoke on the draw, the isn’t much resting smoke to be found on the cigar and it’s giving off a nice cedar aroma

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma off the wrapper is slightly sweet with a peppery touch
• The foot adds a hefty helping of cedar added to the sweet and spicy notes
• Pre-light draw brought more of the cedar to the mix, quite a nice flavor
• Initial draws after lighting were mixed mostly of cedar and a spicy pepper undertone, no sweetness at this point
• The pepper seems to be staying as a soft undertone but now I’m getting some other more interesting spices in the mix, mainly like a nutmeg or clove type of flavor
• I’m also picking up on some leathery and earthy notes on this cigar, lots of flavors going on here
• The cedar flavors continue to dominate and I think I’m getting some coffee notes in the mix now too but that might be the stout I’m pairing with
• The body of the cigar has been a nice comfortable medium since the start, a good well balanced smoke so far
• The retrohale brings with it a slight peppery bite and smooth cedar finish
• A little past the halfway mark I’m starting to pick up a little bit of that initial sweetness, let’s hope it develops a little more
• The sweetness didn’t really develop any further and faded soon after, but the coffee and cedar really grew together into a nice mix
• All the flavors slowly ramped up near the 2 inches but the body stayed in a nice smooth medium range
• No harsh or bitterness right to the nub, enjoyed every last cedar and coffee filled draw

Final Thoughts:
I think Pete Johnson has another winner in the ever popular Monster Series of cigars from Tatuaje. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s his best ever but these are tasty right out of the box and they seem to have some aging potential as well. Other than a couple minor touch-ups the cigar burned fairly well and offered a lot of complexity to the palate that kept me interested the whole way through. And that is sometimes a hard task when the cigar is this length of vitola, I tend to have a short attention span, lol! The Wolfman was quite balanced and smooth through the whole experience and I enjoyed it from start to finish. They are getting harder and harder to come by each year (especially for a Canadian!) so I’m glad I was able to grab a few. If you manage to find some, definitely pick a couple up for a special occasion!

Pairings:
Today’s brew comes from a local brewery called Trafalgar Ales & Meads which is located about 45min from where I live in a place called Oakville, Ontario. I don’t actually see many other brews from these guys but I have picked up this brew a few times. It’s called the Smoked Oatmeal Stout. The first time I saw this I thought it was going to have a heavy smoked flavor like a scotch or something, but that’s not the case at all. It’s actually a fairly light stout but it’s got the most head out of any beer I’ve seen before. I mean if you shake this bottle even a tiny bit, it’s going to explode when you crack it open. And pouring it takes like 30min to let the foam settle, it’s ridiculous but worth it. The flavors you get are chocolate, coffee and a malty deliciousness that mix together so well. The array of flavors also makes for an excellent pairing for nearly any medium to full cigar, it would easily overpower a mild stick though. I think a nice Tawny Port would have gone excellently with the Wolfman or possibly even a strong coffee or black tea.

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The Face in my opinion has to be one of the most sought after cigars of 2010. With only 666 dress boxes (the purty box in these pictures) containing 13 cigars, released on October 13th, distributed to only 13 “unlucky” retailers across the US The Face is extremely rare, and hard to come by. Luckily, Daniel decided to go in on a box split with me and the great guys at Centro cigars had a box with our name on it. How unlucky are we? Let’s find out.

The Good Stuff: The Face is the third installment in Pete Johnson’s “Monster Series”. The Face is a cigar to replicate the scary as hell creature “Leather Face” from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. The Monster series started in 2008 with the inaugural release of the Frank (Frankenstein) which happens to be the only one I was never able to get my hands on (hint, hint). This was followed in 2009 with a dual release. The first being the second installment the Drac (Dracula). The second was a revamped version of the Frank, the Boris (the actor in Frankenstein) wich had a different wrapper than the original Frank.

According to our friend Brooks over at Smoking Stogie (click here to see his excellent review of  The Face) The Face is the second blend that Pete has decided to use a Mexican wrapper for. I’ve actually been quite amazed with the amount of flavor the Mexican wrappers have been able to kick out, we’ll have to see if The Face can replicate this. Brooks also goes on to say that it is rumored that the fourth installment in the Monster Series will be based on the Wolfman and of course, that is due out next year in mid October.

Size: 6 3/8 x 56  –  Wrapper: San Andreas Mexican  – Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Medium/Full

Prelight: The Face is a very large, very hefty stick. The wrapper is composed of a very dry looking, yet silky, dark, leather styled (to match leather face of course), thick and firm to the touch. This is a tough looking little cigar. It almost looks like it’s been beat up a couple of times. I think Pete did an excellent job showing off a bit of creativity here. The dark wrapper leads up to a very thin, lighter brown, leather looking “band” composed simply of a lighter leaf. The face is the topped off with a round cap that leads up to a tiny point. I’m not sure if that cap really does anything for the experience, or the overall appearance, but it’s definitely something new. The foot of the cigar looks like a shaggy foot that got the living crap beat out of it. The body of the  cigar is embellished by quite a few larger veins that I hope won’t give me too many problems. The Face is really firm and tightly packed. I wasn’t able to really find any soft spots what so ever. The wrapper gives off almost nothing but a soft cedar smell  with the same story on the foot. The cap clipped right off using my double bladed cutter. I was actually very surprised by the amount of strong tobacco, spice, and nut the cold draw was able to produce. If the cold draw has anything to say for the remainder of the smoke then I am in for one flavorful experience.

First Smoke: The Face’s foot was a little tricky to get going at first, but once the shaggy foot toasted up the cigar took right off.  I was greeted with the familiar “Pepin Salute” as the cigar started out with a very sharp, peppery kick. After a few relaxing draws the pepper begins to fade and a flavorful bundle of spice, tobacco, cashew, and bittersweet chocolate take the stage. The draw is just right and produces a massive cloud of thick, brown spice and citrus scented smoke. The Face gives off very little stationary smoke however. The burnline is just remarkable, razor thin and perfectly straight leaving behind a trail of solid white, and light grey ash which only held on for about an inch before it dropped into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Into the second third and there is one real way to explain this cigar. Smooth. This is a much smoother, and milder experience than I was expecting from the face. I guess you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. The pepper is surprisingly still there but only slightly as a nice complement to the powerful, tasty spice this cigar is kicking out. It tastes much like cinnamon and nutmeg with a hint of citrus, followed up my creamy chocolate and wood. This is such a flavorful cigar. The retrohale is a bit too spicy for me to produce too often but it does coat my nasal passage with a very nice woodsy flavor once the spice has settled. I’m not feeling any nicotine at all and I think it’s safe to say the second third is much smoother than the first. The burnline is still absolutely perfect.

Finish: The second third of The Face was definitely the quiet before the storm as the final third really ramped up in both flavor and body.  The pepper is just about gone from this cigar and a really strong cedar flavor has taken it’s place. The cedar is backed by the citrus and spice that were the more dominant flavors throughout the cigar. There are soft hints of creamy coffee, and chocolate still in the mix. Although the body has ramped up, the cigar is still going down very smooth with no signs of harshness even into the final inch. This cigar burned perfect the entire way with no touch ups, no waves, no relights. It didn’t burn too slow but because of the massive size of this stick it did take close to two hours to take back. I felt only slight hints of nicotine once I stood up into the final third, but nothing too significant. The cigar burnt a little warm into the final inch, probably due to the larger ring gauge. But nothing too hot. And for those of you who are wondering, there really wasn’t a change up in flavor at all when you burn through the lighter shade leaf band.

Overview: I am really glad that I got a chance to get my hands on these remarkable cigars. Thanks again  to Centro Cigars for the excellent service and thank you Daniel for going in on a split with me on these. The monster series are pricey, and take quite a bit of effort to find, and with Tatuaje Frenzy at an all time high these more than likely won’t be on any shelves. So if you do happen to find them, toss in the coin, its worth it. The smoothness is perfect for any cigar lover and will only increase with age. The monster series have always been held high on my list and Pete knocked another one out of the park with this scary treat. Flavorful, complex, and perfectly balanced.

Pairing: I actually didn’t drink anything with this review. Sorry about that. The wife and I had just gotten back from a rather large dinner and anything else would have probably made me vomit. Although many of you would have enjoyed that, I’m not one for spew in my reviews. Until next time!

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