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.

The post Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series #4 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Man O’ War Armada is available exclusively at Cigars.com and Cigarsinternational.com as with the other Man O’ War lines. The other blends in the series include the Ruination, and untitled Man O’ War, the Virtue, and the Puro Authentico. The Armada is the special edition of the Man O’ War line and priced rightly so for that purpose at a hefty $20 per cigar.

Now I have to say how much I love these bands. I think I mentioned this in my Man O’ War Virtue review as well. This particular band has the gold Spartan mask with hints of metallic green in it all splashed on a black background. It really stands out and gives the cigar a “mean” look! lol Maybe there’s a hint of inspiration from the “300” movie here? hehe

The boxes of these cigars are packaged in impressively made chests of 32 cigars that also include a humidifier and a hygrometer. Currently, the Man O’ War Armada is only available in a single vitola, the Toro Grande. There are also two limited edition boxes that come with a few other cigars and include an Armada. These two boxes contain the Armada in a Perfecto and Box-Pressed Robusto Vitola.

The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is extremely rare and all the tobaccos used undergo an extensive fermentation and aging process before being put into any cigar. The fillers in this cigar are ligero from AJ’s farm in Nicaragua, specifically the Esteli and Ometope regions. The Armada is also produced in limited quantities of only 10,000 of this cigar each year. All these key features come together to justify the higher price tag. Now all that is fine and good, but if it doesn’t have a delicious profile and excellent construction to back it up, most people probably won’t buy it right? So let’s see if it has that important last piece to the puzzle.

Cigar: Man O’ War Armada
Drink: Brights Canadian 74 Port
Vitola: Toro Grande (6.5 x 56)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $20 MSRP
Burn Time: A little over 2 hours

Construction:
• Now this is a beefy looking cigar with mean face! The dark brown wrapper glows in the light with a nice oils it has
• The whole cigar is super smooth and evenly constructed, although it does have a few sizeable veins
• It’s also a fairly heavy stick, feels substantial and has no soft spots to be found. Just a tiny bit of spring when squeezed
• The foot of the Man O’ War Armada is finished super clean and looks fully packed
• The cap on this cigar is also damn near seamless and even the exact same color, wonderful construction all around
• The first cut was clean and easy but the filler was so packed near the cap that I barely got any draw
• I went in for a second deeper cut and the result was a little better, but still tight. The amount of filler in this cigar is beyond comparison

Burn:
• The toasting took a bit of time but rounded out nice and even with a perfect glow
• I can tell right away that this cigar is gonna burn SUPER slow, especially with all this filler
• The burn for the first bit was razor sharp and not wavy at all, it continue to burn at a turtles pace
• I’m getting a bit of a wave near the middle of the cigar, hopefully it evens itself out
• Did I mention how slow this thing is burning?!?!
• The wave in the middle corrected itself but I got another one soon after, turned into a pretty long peninsula that needed a correction
• Got another peninsula shortly after correction, just seems one part of the wrapper just stops burning
• It’s still burning super slow by the way

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite what seemed like a tight draw I’m getting super full smoke from every draw, it’s thick and creamy as it coats my palate
• There is a good amount of resting smoke coming off the cigar, not over powering, and it smells almost like the burning wood of a campfire
• The ash on this cigar is strong, clean and an awesome white color with occasional dark grey bands. With all the filler in this I would expect no less
• Although the ash looked amazingly strong, it gently fell into my ashtray after just over an inch
• The other ashes fell off on their own at a similar 1 inch length
• The smoke stayed super thick and creamy right to the end

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a mild coffee and cocoa aroma to it, very pleasant and light
• The foot is a different beast, bringing a full sensory aroma of cedar, floral, earthy and a touch of spice
• The pre-light draw is bursting with spices, I’m getting some pepper, cloves and maybe nutmeg, along with some cedar and earthiness
• Initial impressions are impressive, lol. I’m getting a really full and balanced cigar right off the bat. It’s not in your face but it seems so full flavored
• The flavors on the first few draws are filled with cedar, spices, earthy notes and a super smooth creamy coffee finish
• I have to stress how amazingly balanced this cigar is so early on, and the finish is so smooth and tasty, I really hope it continues
• The body is starting off in the medium range but I have a sense that this is going to be a powerhouse of a cigar (which is why I busted out my trusty port wine!)

• I’m surprised to say the retrohale is very subtle and laid back, almost no kick to it and a smooth/light cedar finish
• Just an inch or so in and the flavors gave me a nice change up. The coffee notes are much more pronounced, most of the spice is settled in although still lingers, and the smooth cedar rounds out the profile nicely
• Did I mention how wonderfully balanced this cigar is?!?!
• I’m getting another tasty change-up just past the halfway mark. Although I feel the body increasing the flavors are getting a touch sweeter and I’m also picking up some vanilla and cocoa notes
• The spice is making rare appearances in more prominent bursts, then settles nicely into the background
• The intensity of the flavors and body is really starting to burst out in the last third, but it’s still balanced amazingly well
• It seems like all the flavors are making a comeback and playing nicely together now, coffee, cedar, earthy, spicy, vanilla-y (lol?), sweetness and a touch of cocoa
• I’m finally getting a bit of a nice bite in the retrohale now but still nothing over powering, still keeping the smooth cedar finish as well
• The body is really shining through into the full range now
• The flavors started to fade a bit in the last inch and I was left with mostly woodsy and leathery notes. Very surprised to get very little harshness on such a full cigar

Final Thoughts:
I’ll admit I had my reservations going into this cigar. I haven’t had too many AJ cigars that wowed me but I also haven’t had any of his newer ones. Also, with a $20 price tag, this cigar set the bar high from the start. I have to say I’m not at all disappointed and it was $20 well spent! The flavors in this cigar were excellent and the balance of them all with incredibly spot on. It kept me on my toes and going back for more to see what flavor would be the dominant one on the next draw. My only real complaint here might be the draw, which was a bit tight even after a few pokes with a toothpick. But the construction on this cigar was something to admire and AJ Fernandez’s skills in the blending department definitely shined through! The price may be out of range for most people to purchase a box but I think it’s definitely worth getting a few to sit in the humidor for a special occasion. Take note that this cigar does have some kick and power behind it, so pick your pairings well and don’t give it to a new cigar smoker as they may not be able to fully enjoy the complexity and balance that this cigar offers. Perhaps this will be a contender on our 2011 list??

Pairings:
I was pretty excited when I found this bottle at my local liquor store. More Port wines are produced in Portugal and it’s fairly uncommon to find them produced by many other wineries. I’ve only come across a small handful that are made in Canada and this one happens to be from one of my favorite wine regions, Niagara, Ontario. The winery is called Brights and this particular bottle is called Canadian 74 Port. I fully plan to visit the winery on my next road trip to the Niagara region and see what else they have. Why you ask? Well, because this port is fantastic! It has a light start with cherry, current and blackberry fruit notes along with a woodsy touch. But the real treat is the finish, when it builds in body and gives you a full heavy red wine flavor, similar to the Merlot wines I’ve come to love from the Niagara region. It’s incredibly tasty and I will definitely be buying more, especially at a super cheap price tag of only $12 even after all the ridiculous liquor taxes here.

But the question is, did it pair well with the Man O’ War Armada? You’re damn right it did! the light fruity start complimented the flavors of the cigar extremely well and the full smooth finish contended the full body of the cigar perfectly. This was a powerful cigar but I find a good port wine really helps counteract any nicotine effects you might feel. I’m not sure there is a better pairing for this cigar but if I had to choose I might pick out a smooth aged scotch or possibly a strong cuban coffee with a couple sugars to combat the nicotine. A full stout might also work well here.

The post Man O’ War Armada appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

I’m splitting this into 2 separate postings, so look forward to the other one next week! Keep in mind that I know NOTHING about these cigars. I really like these blind tastings because it completely removes any biases towards a brand or particular cigar, so it’s 100% honest. I think we all create some kind of bias to brands based on past smoking experiences so I’m throwing those out the window and going into this with an open mind. Let’s see what happens…

“The Godfather”

This is a massive cigar, probably one of these new fancy 6×60’s that everyone seems to be making. It appears to have a nice clean wrapper and even construction at first glance. The cut and lighting were super easy and I was soon on my way.
Initial draws were fairly bland, getting just your basic tobacco flavor with a hint of woody or earthy, but mostly just tobacco. The draw is also fairly open at this point.
After about an inch, a bit of sweetness started appearing now and then making this a little more enjoyable, let’s hope it sticks around.
The burn through the first half has been pretty good with only one minor touch up but the cigar is leaving me a bit dry, although the sweetness is a nice touch. Body for the most part has been on the edge of medium and the retrohale has a nice bite and a smooth woodsy finish.
Despite the good burn in the first half, I’ve had to retouch the cigar multiple times in the second half and that’s not helping the flavors at all… The retrohale continues to be amazingly enjoyable.
Cigar got a little bitter near the end and needed to set it down early, probably due to the relights.
The ash was always nice and clean and lasted at least an inch every time. I found it very odd that the retrohale was much more enjoyable than the normal draws, haven’t really experienced that disconnect before.

Reveal: Illusione ~mj12~

Post Reveal Notes: Wow! Big surprise! Although this was still a decent smoke, I remember the one I had a while back to be awesome. I think this may have been a bum stick or maybe I didn’t let it rest in my humi long enough to acclimate. I have one more from a box pass to compare to. After discussing this with Tony he mentioned he has come across the occasional dud in the ~mj12~ as well, so I’ll chalk this one up to that!

“Casino”

A very nice looking Toro sized cigar, maybe 6 x 54 or so. The wrapper has a very nice oily sheen to it with a few medium sized veins. Construction looks excellent and cigar feels pretty hefty in my hand, it’s also fairly firm through the whole length.
Toasting was a cinch and the foot glowed easily with no effort. Initial draws are packed with cedar and light peppery spices with a bit of leather and saltiness. I might even venture an early guess that this is a young Cuban of some kind?? But I quickly change my mind because the wrapper and construction looks too clean and neat for a Cuban.
Getting some nice coffee flavors developing with the cigar as the spice takes a backseat. Burn line is awesome through the first half and the ash is staying strong, clean and solid.
The cigar has been mostly in the medium range and the retrohale has a nice little bite and a smooth woodsy finish. The spices seem to be making a little comeback as I progress past the halfway point and the profile has had a nice creaminess to it throughout. I’m going to go with a second guess here that this is an AJ Fernandez stick of some kind.
Spices and espresso-like coffee flavors made for a nice final third of this cigar. The body increased a bit, but just barely at the edge of full. There is a nice mix of pepper and maybe a bit of paprika near the end and the creaminess is sticking around too.
A tiny bit more buildup in body and intensity of flavors near the nub, but no harshness. A very tasty finish!

Reveal: A La Aurora Broadway Series!

Post Reveal Notes: I didn’t think I was gonna get to try this since it’s a New York exclusive so I’m glad I got to. I was WAY off in my guess. This cigar had a lot more spice than I would expect from La Aurora. I looked up the MSRP of these, at $12 I would be hard-pressed to buy many more. They are good, but not $12 good. Apparently they can be had for about $8 which is a much more reasonable price point. Yet another cigar that keeps my interest in the La Aurora brand!

I will have a couple more to review next week so keep your eyes peeled!

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