The Good Stuff:

Tatuaje’s Black Corona Gorda is the second release from Pete Johnson celebrating the format and blend. The initial release took place in mid 2008 and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one in which I reviewed here thanks to Brooks over at Halfwheel.com. I also reviewed the Tatuaje Black Tubo a while back which is the same blend, but obviously a different format. We’ll stick with information on the Black CG for now. As stated, Pete released the Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda Jar in 2008 which carried 19 sticks per jar, and only 1,000 jars were released which almost instantly sold out. Before the Jars were released Pete actually released some rare 24-25ct bundles. The Black Label cigar was created by Pete in collaboration with Don Pepin Garcia to mimic a cigar blend that Pete enjoyed while on vacation. Pete would enjoy coffee, a newspaper, and a cigar each morning and wanted to recreate that experience, thus, the Private Reserve, or Black Label was born.

After the success Tatuaje has seen lately, and the 10^th anniversary of the blend, Pete decided to reintroduce the Black Jars to the public shipping 10,000 of them to retailers towards the end of last year. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the occasion. The Black Label Corona Gorda is Pete’s own personal cigar and probably one of his most talked about to date. Halfwheel.com had a great story in which Pete talked about the blend:

On a recent trip to a famous island known for historic cigar making, I spent my time in a small town enjoying the simple life. Every day was peaceful and every night was festive, with both having cigars involved throughout. My favorite cigar was not a cigar bought at the local store or factory, but a cigar that was handed to me every morning.

Mornings, after taking a shower with a bucket of water warmed with what looked like a curling iron, I would walk to the front of the house and sit on the fence to get some sun and take in the fresh air. I also took in the fact that I was miles from home and no one knew where I was. My phone didn’t work and I had no cares in the world other than trying to decide what to smoke.

My first morning on the island an older gentleman came along on his bike. This was not a motorcycle but something like an old Schwinn that he had likely been riding for decades. This gentleman was well dressed, almost dapper, and I probably appeared to him to be a strange character. My usual outfit of jeans, t-shirt, loads of silver jewelry, and an arm full of tattoos didn’t seem to faze him. He saw I was enjoying myself so that morning, and every morning after that, he would stop and give me a cigar from his shirt pocket.

This cigar was far from being a ‘pretty’ cigar but that did not bother me a bit. It was a treasured and unexpected gift that I was thrilled to be given. After smoking this cigar I realized that this was one of the best cigars I smoked on the island. Later that day in speaking with my host on this trip I came to understand that these cigars were something special to every person who carried them. They were cigars that they made for themselves. Even the guys who worked hard in the cigar factories all day would return home at night and make their private cigars. Simple cigars with flavors they personally enjoyed. Over the course of the next few days my host and I visited his friends and asked for cigars that they made. Before I left I had cigars from a few locals who all used different tobaccos from the different growing regions. They were all great but there was one that really stood out for me as special.

I decided when traveling to Nicaragua to work with the Garcia family that I would try to recreate this special cigar for myself. Together we spent quite some time working on the blend and looking at different leaves for wrapper. The marbled toothy wrapper was perfect for this cigar, rustic looking but with tons of aroma. After smoking the first sample, I was immediately brought back to that island relaxing on a fence, enjoying life, smoking a great cigar. A great cigar that will always in my mind represent the place, the time, and the experience of the purity of the simple life. This cigar may be considered ugly by some but inside that surface roughness it contains such rich flavor and aroma.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. This is a tribute to that cigar.

Enjoy,

(Pete)

Size: 5 5/8 x 46
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo Esteli
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $10
Pairing: Brooklyn Local 2 (Belgian Style Strong Dark Ale 9% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda carries a really old looking, rustic, almost beat up looking wrapper. I know that Pete had made mention that this was done in part to resemble the crude cigar in which he enjoyed on vacation, but it also showcases how beautiful the natural characteristics of the leaf really are. The wrapper is very splotchy with a medium brown tone and lots of darker and lighter brown areas throughout with splashes of orange here and there. The wrapper sports some rather large veins, a folded over unfinished foot, and a shallow, pointed cap. The construction on the Black Corona Gorda is flawless. The body of the cigar is perfectly straight, there are no soft spots at all, and the cigar feels really well packed, and tight. The wrapper feels very dense with some great toothy texture and quite a bit of oil especially in the upper region towards the cap. The Black Corona Gorda is finished off with a modified Tatuaje band. While it sports the same, simple, elegant design that we are all used too there is the inclusion of some silver metallic accents surrounding the band and the print. It’s a great little touch.

Tatuaje’s Black Corona Gorda’s wrapper doesn’t give off more than a soft sweetness, and a bit of dark chocolate aroma while the foot of the cigar leads with a nice burst of spice. The cap cut very cleanly, and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw is very spicy with some strong pepper, deep coffee, and light tobacco flavors.

First Smoke:

The Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda leads in with some solid black pepper backed by a ton of potent spice. The pepper wasn’t nearly as strong as I was expecting and didn’t last very long. As the pepper faded the spice became more of a nutmeg flavor blending in with the black cherry, dark chocolate, and espresso flavors that the Black started out with. The draw on the Black is absolutely fantastic. The density of the output smoke is incredible and it doesn’t take much effort to get a perfect draw. The burnline is rocking solid and razor sharp despite the unfinished foot leaving behind a nice zebra-striped black and light gray ash which held on for a bit over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda and an awesome fruit/plum flavor has become a pretty dominant flavor along with the awesome nutmeg, dark chocolate, and subtle notes of cherry and espresso. This cigar is a long smoother than I expected while still pumping out some great, bold flavors. The retrohale really shows some of the sharp, hidden spice deep in the flavor profile. The retrohale is actually wonderful on this cigar and I find myself resulting back to it after every handful of draws. The burnline is still perfect and as sharp as ever as I feel absolutely no nicotine while closing out the second third.

Finish:

The strength in the final third of Tatuaje’s Black Corona Gorda has really ramped up and is now reached the medium/full level. White the ramp of the strength the flavors became a bit deeper as well. The plum and spice are still the leaders in the flavor category while some deep cedar has come in with force. The cherry, dark chocolate and espresso are still there but they are more of an afterthought in comparison to the stronger flavors. The burnline got a bit wavy towards the end of the smoke, but I never once had to break out my torch for any relights or touchups. The Black Corona Gorda took me about an hour and forty five minutes to take down. While I was left with a slight nicotine kick thanks to the strength in the final third of the experience, there was no real harshness or heat even down to the nub. And believe me, I took this cigar down as far as I could until I could no longer hold it in my chubby little fingers.

Overview:

The Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda is one of Tatuaje’s most popular releases for a reason. That reason being is its just a fantastic smoking experience. This all starts with a great, natural presentation, flawless construction, ending with an absolutely solid, and great flavor profile with an excellent burn and draw. While these cigars may be hard to come by, you’d be silly not to pick them up if you found them. I know for a fact that Monte’s still had a few of these in stock even after I grabbed a bunch of them. Treat yourself, the price and effort in finding these are well worth the trouble.

Pairing:

I decided to pair the Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda with a beer I consider a perfect cigar pairing beer. Brooklyn Brewing’s Local 2. The local 2 is the second in the series (after the Local 1….obviously). It’s a Belgian style Strong Dark ale brewed at Brooklyn’s Brewery in New York. Coming in at 9% ABV this ale leads with strong fruit and spice while finishing smooth and clean with some slight citrus and lots of apple and spice. The mouthfeel is real light an thin resulting in a very easy drinking experience. You really don’t taste the alcohol this brew carries. The spice and fruit married up very well with the spice and cherry/plum that the cigar had to offer while the cedar from the cigar added a bit of an aged feeling to the beer. I think this beer pairs well with most medium or full bodied cigars that carry spice or sweetness while the Black would also pair perfectly with some black coffee, black tea, port wine, or and dark Belgian Ale.

The post Tatuaje Black Label Corona Gorda (Jar Release) 2013 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: As I said, the Aquitaine Blockhead is a shop exclusive to Monte’s in Albuquerque and used to be only available at events. The Aquitaine blend itself is not an exclusive and made it’s debut at last year’s IPCPR. The exclusiveness pertains to the box-pressed format of the blockhead while the blend remains the same. The Aquitaine blockhead isn’t RoMa Craft Tobac’s first shop exclusive. Actually, it’s not even the first “Blockhead”. Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac had previously released a Blockhead version of the Aquitaine’s sister line, the Cromagnon (which I reviewed here) to Tower Pipes and Cigars in Sacramento, California and Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The Aquitaine starts off with an Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and 3 different Nicaraguan fillers each from Esteli, Condega, and Pueblo Nuevo which is a small town on the Northern border of Nicaraguan and Honduras. The blend is identical to the Cromagnon only replaces the Connecticut Broadleaf with the Ecuadorian Habano Ligero. The Aquitaine comes in 8 different sizes including the Box Pressed Blockhead (6 x 54), the Knuckle Dragger (4 x 52), the Mandible (4.5 x 60), the EMH Early Modern Human (5 x 56), the Anthropology (5.75 x 56), the Cranium (6 x 54), and two limited edition sizes including the Atlatl (7 x 38) and the Mode 5 (5 x 50 perfecto). The Blockhead runs $9 a stick and they had plenty in stock at Monte’s while I was there. For more information about Monte’s you can visit their site here, Facebook here, instagram here or twitter here. I always stop in whenever I am in town (El Paso isn’t too far from them) and they have always been great people.

Size: 6 x 54 Box Pressed
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Ligero
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan from Condega, Esteli, and a Ligero from Pueblo Nuevo
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales / Evil Twin Brewing Bible Belt (Imperial Coffee/Vanilla/Chili/Cacao Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight: The Aquitaine Blockhead is one badass looking cigar. We’ll start with the format in which the name “Blockhead” is obviously pulled from. It’s box-pressed to the max almost forming a perfect square. The corners and edges are real sharp and hard. Again, I’ve said it over and over I am a huge box-press fan and absolutely love this size. It’s very comfortable in both the hand and the mouth. Next we have the wrapper. The Aquitaine carries a very thick, incredibly toothy, and incredibly oily texture. It’s definitely one of the prettier wrapper leafs as the medium and dark brown color showcases the natural webbing in the leaf and carries only a few smaller veins. The Blockhead is rather firm and packed pretty tightly. It’s a heavier cigar but again the box-press makes it really comfortable to hold despite being a longer format. There are absolutely no soft spots or construction flaws. The cigar is capped off with a stoutly round, seamless, triple cap. The Aquitaine Blockhead is then polished off with the standard brown, and white layered, letterpressed bands with the word “Aquitaine” pressed into the front and the RoMa Craft Tobac logo in white on the back. I am a HUGE fan of these bands. Simple, elegant, clean, and they serve the purpose of distinguishing your cigars without the need to be overly flashy letting the cigar’s appearance speak for itself. I’ll put these bands up there with the Liga Privada, Most Tatuaje, and Illusione bands as my all time favorites.

The wrapper on the Aquitaine Blockhead lets looks a whole ton of syrupy, molasses, chocolate aroma mixed over some bold tobacco notes while the foot of the cigar is a bit more modest only showing some natural tobacco and spice aromas. The cap cut very clean and easily using my handy Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some strong syrup, and raisin notes with a bit of spice and tobacco mixed in.

First Smoke: The Aquitaine Blockhead starts off with some modest black pepper backed by some sharp spice, raisin, espresso and some grassy tobacco flavors. As I smoked down the first inch the pepper completely faded away and a real nice brown sugar sweetness crept its way in. While the Blockhead is very tightly packed with tobacco the format makes it incredibly easy to get a nice, big, thick draw with every little puff kicking out tons of dense, white smoke. The burnline is a bit thick, but dead even forming a compacted medium and dark gray ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: As I venture into the second third of RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead some really interesting charred meat flavors began to sneak into the flavor profile. Maybe I’m just hungry, maybe the heat is starting to get to me but it was actually pretty potent and mixed in well with the syrup, cedar, and spice while there was still a slight sugar and espresso on the aftertaste. The retrohale far more modest than I was expecting as it coats my nasal passage with some soft cedar, spice, and plum. I really enjoy the retrohale from the Aquitaine and find myself routing it that way quite often. The draw is still flawless and the burnline is perfect and I am feeling zero in the nicotine department.

Finish: RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead really took off into the final third. The spice and espresso ramped up, the pepper came back, the brown sugar and raisin stayed strong, and even that meaty flavor stayed with it. This is a flavorful cigar and I found it pretty bold, but the one thing I enjoyed the most was how creamy and balanced the flavors were. They weren’t fighting for your attention, instead they complimented each other resulting in a complete performance. The burn and draw were perfect the entire time and I never had to take my torch back out of my pocket for any touchups or relights nor did I feel much in the nicotine department. It took me about 2 hours to smoke this bad boy down to the nub and I enjoyed every minute of it. I experience no harshness and the only heat I felt was from the sun on my head.

Overview: It’s not hard to tell how much I enjoy the Aquitaine blend. I always have. Jeremy and I actually had a conversation the other day about where we would rank each of Skip’s blend and both of us had the Aquitaine right up at #1 or #2. The Blockhead has to be one of my favorites in terms of formats for the Aquitaine. The boxpress is comfortable and produces a massive draw which really lets the cigar showcase how complex, yet balanced it’s flavors are. At $9 a pop these are priced perfectly and I am glad I picked a few up while I was at Monte’s. The shop is about 4 hours away from me, but I tend to visit Albuquerque quite often so it’s not too hard for me to get my hands on them and I plan on picking up quite a few more next time I make a trek up there. Hell, this is a box purchase for sure as these are the perfect addition to just about anyone’s rotation.

Pairing: This is the second time I’ve paired a cigar with Prairie Artisan Ale’s Bible Belt which they produced in collaboration with Evil Twin Brewing (see Espinosa’s 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster). Why? Two reasons: 1) It’s simply a badass beer which pairs perfectly with most bolder cigars and 2) Skip has been on a tear with these beers lately and I found it fitting to do an homage to him. Bible Belt is a hefty Imperial Stout weighing in at 13% ABV which is basically a mash up of Prairie Artisan’s popular Prairie Bomb! (which I paired with Viaje’s 2013 Christmas Tree) and Evil Twin’s Even more Jesus. The result is a crazy flavorful stout aged over coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and chili peppers. In contrast to the Prairie Bomb! the Bible belt is much more chili heavy which creates this awesome spice which pairs up perfectly with the spice in most cigar experiences while the creaminess, sweetness, coffee and chocolate do the rest of the work marrying up with the robust flavors of the Aquitaine creating a pairing that’s near flawless and impossible to replace. Knowing how often Skip smokes his own supply it’s easy to see why he’s been such a fan of this beer.

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