Up for review today we have a special edition release from Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars. If you haven’t been following Pete or Tatuaje, you should know that he has a successful line of both limited and regular release blends and he shows no signs of slowing down. You can review some of the other cigars we’ve reviewed from Tatuaje, such as the recently released Halloween special, “The Face”, the Verocu Red Tubo or the Black Corona Gorda. You can also see more by clicking on “Cigar Reviews” at the top of the page and scrolling down to Tatuaje.

Today’s cigar is a special release as part of Tatuaje’s “Exclusive Series” and was made specially for the 100th Anniversary of Barclay Rex Fine Tobacconists. There’s not much extended information around about this cigar. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper which was one of the reasons I really wanted to track it down and give it a try. When it arrived it looked very tasty and appealing. Without further adieu let’s jump right in!

Cigar: Tatuaje Exclusive Series – Barclay Rex 100th Anniverary
Drink: Hirsh Brau – Holzar Bier Bavarian
Vitola: Toro (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $10
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• Very smooth and round chocolate brown wrapper
• The foot is uncut, leaving the extra wrapper to wrap over the foot
• Fairly springy to the touch but even throughout
• The triple cap has a very clean finish
• No major veins but the minor veins offer a nice lighter shade of brown
• Cut was clean but made a bit of a mess
• Draw is perfect, not too open and not too tight

Burn:
• Toasting was fairly easy even without trimming off the excess wrapper on the foot
• Burn has been nice and razor sharp for the first third
• As I hit the halfway mark I’m still getting a razor sharp and slow burn
• No problems all the way to the end

Smoke & Ash:
• A fair bit of resting smoke rises off this cigar in the ashtray
• The cigar also gives a nice mouthful of smoke on each draw
• The ash is a nice light grey color and appears fairly strong and tight although the first one fell gently into the ashtray at about one inch
• Subsequent ashes were about the same length but still kept tight and clean

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper gives off a mostly barnyard or hay like aroma, but a bit of spice can be detected
• Given that the wrapper extends over the foot it has the same aroma at this point
• Pre-light draw is almost non-existent, very mild tobacco flavor with a bit of peppery spice on the lips
• Initial draws hold a bunch of pepper and cedar with some cloves on the finish, interesting start
• The pepper is continuing to be the dominant flavor through the first third with some added toasted wood
• The retrohale has a peppery bite with a nice cedar finish, so far we’re starting out near the medium range
• The toasted wood is developing a but more with some new coffee flavors as the pepper slowly tapers off
• The coffee is balancing nicely with the toasted wood, at this point the pepper is almost gone but the clove flavor is still around complimented with some nutmeg
• The cloves are building as the coffee develops, very interesting mix, I may need to put some cloves in my coffee grinds next time…
• Body is definitely building up, already at full as I head into the last third but still very smooth
• The cigar finished strong but was still smooth and flavorful to the end

Final Thoughts:
This is yet another great cigar from a blending master. It started out fairly strong and peppery but the change-up around mid-point proved to be very enjoyable. The burn and general construction of this cigar was spot on the whole way through. The price is also fairly accessible although they are yet another limited edition and that may turn away some people from purchasing them. If you are a Broadleaf or Tatuaje fan these are definitely worth a try as they do not disappoint. They finish fairly strong so make sure to have a good beverage and a full stomach before lighting one up.

Pairings:
The beer is completely new to me and I stumbled upon it for the first time in one of the holiday packs at my local store. It’s from a brewery called Hirsh Brau and the packaging claims it to be a “Bavarian Beer from Germany”. The English on the packaging and bottle after that is pretty much non-existant, it’s all German. A little online digging shows that this is a Dunkel (Dark Lager) from Sonthofen, Germany. It has a ton of flavor packed into with nice swing top bottle. Despite being a dark lager it is a fairly light drinking ale with bright flavors. It has a nice bitter finish with some hints of fruit and honey and lots of hoppiness. I don’t think it was the best pairing for this cigar, probably a bit too light. I think a nice dark stout or porter would have paired better. Also, this cigar would go fantastic with a good Scotch or Port as well as a nice strong cup of coffee.

The post Tatuaje Barclay Rex 100th Anniversary appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Verocu Tubos are a limited release but still seem to be easily available at the time that I write this. The Verocu line comes in a Red Tubo and various other sizes that are not limited release. The line was created as an extension to his Havana VI line with some added ligero for a little extra punch. The nice tube this cigar comes in is also cedar lined for a little added flavor.

I’ve had this cigar in my humidor for quite a while. I smoked a couple a while back but decided not to review it since a lot of chatter suggested to have these age. I think this particular stick is coming up on almost a year of age since I purchased it and I have some notes from one of first few I smoked to compare to.

Don’t forget that we are currently running our contest with CheapHumidors.com for a 10-Cigar Caddy. Read the rules and add a comment below to get an extra entry!

Cigar: Tatuaje Verocu Red Tubo
Drink: Quinta de Infantado Tawny Port (Bottled in 2004)
Vitola: Torpedo (6.125 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $11
Burn Time: 2 Hours

Construction:
• Very smooth and appealing dark chocolate brown wrapper
• A couple medium veins but nothing that looks too worrisome
• Very clean and even diameter
• Fairly firm with a slight spring, same feel throughout
• Excellently applied double cap
• Foot looks fully packed but very clean
• This cigar has two bands, one being the standard Tatuaje band finely written in script and accompanied by their logo. The second band is says “Verocu Tubos”
• Cut was extremely clean and easy
• Draw is perfect, just enough resistance but not too tight
• Bands came off easily with no wrapper damage at all

Burn:
• Toasting was amazingly even and slow
• Cigar is burning nice and slowly but still producing lots of tasty smoke
• The first couple of inches have been razor sharp with just a slight wave
• The wrapper needed a couple touch ups past the half-way mark but nothing major
• The burn was consistently nice and slow with no need for extra draws to stay lit

Smoke & Ash:
• Big mouthful of smoke right from the first draw
• Lots of resting smoke giving off a very nice sweet aroma
• The ash is showing a bright white face with minimal highlights
• The ash is also very tight with almost no flaking and appears very strong
• Awesome ash held on for almost 2 inches, you could actually see it slowly falling off, no mess with this cigar
• The next 2 ashes were a bit shorter but still clean and falling right into the ashtray

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has a very nice cocoa and spice aroma
• The foot is bursting with cinnamon and nutmeg and nicely complimented by a faint cocoa aroma
• Pre-light draw has some hay-like flavors and and more spice, maybe a little pepper thrown in there
• Starting off very mild with jut some sweet tobacco flavors, the spice on the aroma seems to be missing so far
• Retrohale has a mild cocoa finish, very tasty
• Starting to pick up some nice creamy coffee notes, almost like a Latte, very interesting
• The nutmeg flavors starting to kick in now and I’m just approaching the first inch, I like how this cigar started off fairly inconspicuous and is slowly adding flavor dimensions
• About 2 inches in I’m starting to get a nice little nutmeg bite on the retrohale
• As I approach the half-way mark the body is definitely starting to ramp up a bit and the cinnamon spice is starting to make an introduction
• The cigar has generally been fairly dry but nothing overpowering, just need a nice pairing to compliment it
• The spices are balancing nicely with the coffee and cocoa, each taking turns being the prominent one, great stuff
• As I approach the last 1.5 inches a little bitterness is starting to creep in and a nice spicy/creamy coffee flavor has taken over
• The bite on the retrohale has consistently developed nice and strong towards the end with a smooth cocoa and nutmeg finish
• The bitterness did not develop any further and I nubbed this cigar with a nice creamy coffee finish

Final Thoughts:
I think the notes above pretty much speak for themselves. This cigar started off fairly slowly but then each flavor made a nice slow introduction. The flavors were always nicely balanced and I never really felt overpowered by this cigar at any point. The Tatuaje Verocu red Tubos is definitely recommended in my books. The price tallies in a bit higher than some other cigars but the quality, flavors, construction, burn and overall enjoyment are worth having a few on hand. The age did this cigar fairly well and the bitterness that used to start earlier in the cigar was only evident near the very end. The flavors were also a lot more prominent that what I can remember. The body did not change much however as this cigar ended at just around full. Try to grab these fairly soon before they disappear!

Pairings:
I recently paired this port with another cigar, so I won’t re-invent the wheel. Here’s my thoughts on it from before:

The bottle I had today was bottled in 2004 by Quinta de Infantado. It has a fairly light red color to it and produces some nice oaky flavors complemented by dark berries, such as black berries and black cherries. It’s not too strong and comes in at an excellent value for the price. It’s definitely a good port to start with if you’re just considering trying it out for the first time or to have on hand to serve without feeling a wallet pinch.

This pairing was excellent. I find that a good Tawny Port can play well with both mild and full cigars and this cigar seemed to span that entire range. A drink too strong may drown out the initial flavors but pair well near the end. Vice-versa, a light drink will go well at the start but lack the palate cleansing qualities as the cigar builds body. Some other pairings here could be coffee, dark soda, a dark porter or stout or even a nice red full-bodied red wine.

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