The Good Stuff: It’s hard to believe that it’s only been 10 years since Pete Johnson entered the cigar market. This cigar is made to celebrate his 10 years of premium cigar stardom. To celebrate, Pete decided to re-release the cigar that made him famous, the Brown Label. With the same basic blend Pete released two special sizes to celebrate. The 10^th anniversary comes in two sizes, the Belle Encre which is a 5 3/8 x 42 perfecto and the Bon Chasseur which is a 5 3/8 x 52 Robusto which carries an unfinished foot. These two sizes also get a packaging update replacing the simple brown Tatuaje band with a meatier, brown gold and white band with the words “tattoo” “Tatuaje” “Miami” “Seleccion de Cazador” and “10”  on the front”.

The 10^th anniversary will be produced at the My Father factory in Esteli, Nicaragua vs. Miami where the brown label was usually produced. The 10^th anniversary comes packaged in boxes of 20 and run $10 per cigar.  There is also a TAA 2013 exclusive format called the Gran Chasseur which is a 6 3/8 x 54 perfecto and it runs about $11 a stick. I got these over at Bonita Smoke Shop. Again, if you haven’t checked them out, you really should. Amazing selection, amazing prices, and the best customer service around.

Size: 5 3/8 x 42
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Medium / Full
Body: Medium / Full
Price: $10
Pairing: Ommegang Art of Darkness (Belgian Strong Dark Ale 8.9% ABV)

Prelight: Tatuaje’s 10^th Anniversary Belle Encre carries a crazy dark wrapper. If you look at the side by side wrapper you can actually see a huge color difference between the two. It’s not necessarily the difference in size that causes that, it’s simply the difference of contrast across the wrapper leaf chosen for the blend. The Belle Encre starts with a tapered little foot that quickly expands into the 42 ring gauge. The wrapper carries a lot of medium sized veins as it reaches up to the tapered, triple cap. The wrapper itself screams of reflective oils with some slight tooth. The cigar as a whole is very hard and well packed. I couldn’t find a single soft spot.

The wrapper gives off a whole ton of spice and pepper aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of sweetness with some more spice and tobacco scents. The cap cut  very clean and easy with my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw was really spicy with some awesome sweetness, and syrupy flavors mixed in.

First Smoke: As predicted, the Tatuaje 10^th Anniversary Belle Encre started out with an explosion of spice and black pepper. Once the pepper began to fade off some really sweet tobacco, molasses, cedar, leather and lots of spice were showcased in the first third. The cigar lit up with ease using my single flame butane torch. I feared for a bit that the draw would be tight due to how much tobacco was packed into this little cigar, but it was spot on kicking out just the right amount of thick smoke with every little puff. Usually I get crappy burns through the first third of perfectos but the 10^th anniversary is rocking a razor thin edge and a flawless burnline leaving behind a trail of brilliantly white, and light gray tightly compacted ash which held of for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The pepper took a bit, but it has finally completely fizzled out of the 10^th anniversary. The sweetness is still rocking hard as well as the molasses as some nice, sharp, cedar has crept in with just a faint leather on the aftertaste. The retrohale is incredibly spicy and very sharp. It’s not very easy so I only found myself doing it once or twice to get the flavor from it. The burnline has a very larger waves that don’t really concern me and I am feeling almost no nicotine as I close out the second third.

Finish: Into the final third there is a note I’d like to add. In each of the Belle Encre that I have smoked I got a little bit if sap/tar/whatever. You know, that really fowl tasting, brownish/black syrup we find on the cap of some of our cigars. Anyhow, I didn’t encounter this with any of the Bon Chasseur’s that I smoked and almost every time I do encounter it, it’s with a tapered cap regardless of the cigar’s make up or manufacturer. That being said, a little attention from my cutter clipping a bit more off the cap cleaned this right up and I was back to smoking cleanly in no time. Now into the final third of Tatuaje’s 10^th anniversary the body of the cigar really ramped up. The flavor profile still carries a lot of sweetness and molasses but the cedar has become much more bold and there was a bit of a pine flavor as well as a ramp up in spice. It’s a great way to end a cigar. The cigar burned perfectly the entire way and required absolutely no attention from my lighter. Don’t let the size fool you, it still too me about 1.75 hours to take this little guy down.

Overview: As always, the Brown Label delivered. I am always reminded of my first Tatuaje’s every time I fire up a brown label and just what it was that made me fall in love with Pete’s work. Complexity, construction, and great flavors while never really being over the top in terms of strength. The 10^th anniversary Belle Encre is a great edition as the format delivers with lots of sweetness and spice. The price is right where you would expect it and will never leave you disappointed. While I wouldn’t go too far out of my way to find this size, It’s a great experience to those of us who really enjoy this blend.

To Sum it Up: As always, this is a great cigar and is always in my regular rotation. The 10^th Anniversary Belle Encre didn’t stand out too much in comparison to other Brown Label blends, but the blend itself is complex enough to always satisfy the seasoned smoker overdoing it with the novice smokers. The price is nested right within the other formats in the brown label line. Box worthy by far.

Pairing: Art of Darkness is a limited edition Belgian Style Dark Strong ale coming out of the Brewery Ommegang in New York. Ommegang has been a long time favorite of mine as it’s one of the only breweries in my opinion that specialize in Belgian style brews. This special beer was actually a birthday gift from none other than our Jeremy Henseley. He spoils me. Clocking in at 8.9% ABV this beer isn’t for the faint of heart. Leading off with a ton of fruit (cherry, apple, date) this beer is full of flavor. It finishes off with the traditional Belgian bitterness and a ton of malty goodness. This beer is incredibly flavorful and could easily overpower most cigars. Lucky for us, Tatuaje’s 10^th Anniversary can hold its own. The strong spice was from the cigar was an amazing addition as it parried up with the fruit and bitterness from the beer. Another great matchup was the molasses from the cigar as it transitioned into a much more malty, caramel mash up with the beer. Great Pairing, success! Ommegang is pretty easy to find in these parts so I suggest picking this one up while it’s still available. If I’m not mistaken, there was only one run, so there won’t be much to go around.

The post Tatuaje – 10th Anniversary Belle Encre appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Cremo Classic Maduro is the second release from the good guys over at Cremo. Created at the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami, this American made cigar contains Nicaraguan binder and filler wrapped in a beautifully dark Mexican San Andreas wrapper. I was a big fan of the Cremo Classic line (read the review here), so I couldn’t wait to see what the Maduro version had to offer. The Cremo line is still in it’s boutique phases, but years back it was a popular cigar created in New York. In recent times a New York born man by the name of Walter Lilo Santiago decided to revive the brand. The Classic Maduro will come in 2 sizes, the Intrepidus (6 x 52) and the Excelsior (5 x 50).  The cigar will run $10 – $12 a stick, and will come in boxes of 20.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $10
Pairing: Sixpoint Righteous Ale (Rye Beer 6.4% ABV)

Prelight: The Cremo Classic Maduro is a very pretty little cigar. Starting with the crazy dark, consistent brown wrapper. This cigar look, and even smells like a candy bar. The construction is perfect as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself and the round triple cap. The body carries only a few larger veins, but nothing too concerning. The wrapper has a very toothy texture with a pretty good amount of oil. The wrapper feels a bit delicate as I squeeze the firm cigar. While the cigar remains firm you can tell it’s not packed too tightly. Polishing off the cigar is the classic Cremo band only this time they replaced the yellow with a mirror chrome finish.

The wrapper on the Cremo Classic Maduro seriously smells like straight up hot chocolate with some spicy notes. The foot of the cigar gives only nothing more than just a small trace of lightly scented tobacco. The cap cut very clean and easy from the Cremo Maduro. The cold draw produces a very strong, bittersweet chocolate flavor with some soft spice and tobacco notes hidden underneath.

First Smoke: The Cremo Classic Maduro started out just as I expected. Lots and lots of biter-sweet chocolate, lots of spice, some slight black pepper, and soft tobacco. The draw on this bad boy is magnificent. Each little puff fills my mouth with this crazy-thick, light brown smoke. The crazy thing is, with all the smoke this cigar kicks out every day, there is no stationary smoke at all. The burnline on this cigar started out pretty wavy, but nothing that caused me to break out the lighter. The ash is very tightly compacted and bright grey with darker spots. It held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The flavors in the Cremo Classic Maduro really began fading out in the second third. The chocolate has become more of a cocoa, blending in with the spice as more of the tobacco flavor crept in. It’s very smooth, and very creamy, I just wish the flavor kept up as well as it did in the first half. On a good note, the burnline has complete corrected itself with no help from my lighter. The cigar is now burning dead even leaving me with no nicotine kick at all yet.

Finish: There we go! The final third of the Cremo Classic Maduro is where this cigar really starts to shine. Some soft cedar got thrown in the mix as the spice ramped the hell up and the chocolate and tobacco kept trucking along. The crazy part about it was how smoothly all the flavors blended with each other resulting in a very tasty experience. The burnline has continued to burn perfectly with no touch ups or relights. There was a slight bit of harshness towards the very last inch, but nothing really concerning. This cigar took a little over an hour to take down and I felt absolutely no nicotine the entire time.

Overview: El Titan de Bronze rocks. I love them. And I am incredibly delighted that they are finally making Maduro wrapped cigars. The Cremo Classic Maduro was a solid stick. Great construction as always, some nice flavors, and perfect burn. That’s all you can really ask for a cigar. It wasn’t overly complex, but not one dimensional. I still don’t think it did what the Cremo Classic did for me though. That cigar was just dynamite. 9 times out of 10 I will reach for the Maduro version of a blend too. I smoked another Classic recently and can still confirm that I like that better than the Maduro. I think it just had a little more “umph” while the Maduro was more smooth and creamy. The price point is another issue. $10-$12 a stick puts it in a high-caliber price range. The construction and burn experience was on spot with that range. I personally, don’t see these as a box purchase for me, but I’d still pick up a few to have on hand. Either way, both blends are great and I suggest giving them both a run!

Pairing: I’ve been all over Sixpoint’s brews as of late. The marketing, packaging, social media attention, and the fact that they are finally available here in El Paso forced me to finally try out a few of their brews and I am so glad I did. This brew in particular, the Righteous Ale is very interesting. First of all, it’s brewed in New York, which is the same location in which the Cremo brand was developed. It’s called a “Rye Beer”. Basically it’s brewed with Rye grain, a grain that can survive the most acidic soils and harshest winters. What the Rye grain does is add this very unique, sweet, zesty, character to the malty, caramel goodness. This is seriously an amazing beer. The best part about it is I could see myself drinking this any time of the year. The darkness and malty character make it perfect for the winter while keeping light-weight and refreshing to satisfy those summer thirsts. That being said, how do you turn it into the perfect winter brew? Add chocolate. And that’s exactly what I did by pairing it with the Cremo Classic Maduro. I knew this pairing would be love at first taste and it was. Not to mention, the band matches the can pretty neatly.

The post Cremo Classic Maduro Excelsior 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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