The Good Stuff:

Earlier this year Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars announced the release of the “Tatuaje 20th”. Aptly named after the 20th anniversary of the brand, the blend features an Ecuadorian Habano seed wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. The cigar is produced at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaraguan and comes in two sizes: The Chasseur (6 3/8 x 54) and the Merveille (6 1/8 x 46). Each size comes packaged in boxes of 20 running $13 and $14 per cigar. The cigar is actually a full production line and one of a few different releases that will celebrate the anniversary. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars who still have plenty in stock now.

• Size: 6 1/8 x 46
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Seed
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium / Full
• Price: $13

Prelight:

The Tatuaje 20th sports a very dark brown, rustic looking wrapper with darker areas scattered through the cigar’s body. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy with a good amount of oils. It feels very dense and thick while the cigar is packed nicely with only a mild soft spot at the foot. The wrapper is laid over itself perfectly while the wrapper carries some mild veining running from its closed door up to the cigar’s double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a beautiful and elegant black and gold band with the Tatuaje logo and supporting cast embossed in gold and white.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje 20th Anniversary gives off very bold molasses and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar is much of the same since the foot is closed, however there is a tiny bit of spice and natural tobacco seeping through. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces deep notes of dark chocolate and oat.

First Third:

The Tatuaje 20th starts out with an immediate burst of cayenne pepper which while potent, faded very quickly allowing the cigar to release bold notes of dark chocolate, raisin, and dark cherry over lighter notes of musk, cedar, and a really awesome lavender mixed with earthiness and natural tobacco. As I smoked more a really potent clove flavor came to the surface. And when I say potent, I mean the most potent I have ever had in a cigar. No complaints here though as I am a big clove fan. The draw on this cigar is so perfect. Every, tiny, little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick white smoke which you might as well become friends with as it sticks around for a very long time before dissipating. The burnline started slightly wavy due to the enclosed foot, but quickly corrected itself and is now burning even and sharp leaving behind a flaky trail of white ash which held on for about a half inch before falling on my shirt. This pic was the second ash after that.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje 20th and the flavor in this thing is just pouring out. The dark chocolate is still dominant backed by clove and raisin with lighter notes of cedar and floral/earthiness. The retrohale brings out some nice spice and a bit of the pepper I encountered at the start of the cigar. At this point the cigar is burning perectly, the ash is much more compacted and I close out the second third with a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

The cigar really takes off in the final third of the Tatuaje 20th. On top of the bold clove and dark chocolate an awesome cinnamon/nutmeg has creeped in. Backed by raisin and earthiness this has been a hell of a flavor profile. The cigar did go out on my a few times as I was smoking through it, but after I sped up my pace there were no further issues. it took me almost 2 hours to take this slow-burning cigar down tot the nub and I didn’t want to put it down. I experienced no harshness, sap, or extended heat while it left me with only a very mild nicotine kick.

Note: Out of the handful that I smoked these all had the tendency to go out and and be relit often. I mention this here as it’s a relatively fresh to my humidor cigar so it could very well be humidity issues and not cigar issues, however just picking up my pace a bit quicker than normal easily resolved the problem.

Overview:

The Tatuaje 20th is a damn good cigar. I really, really enjoyed the flavor profile especially the clove which I feel isn’t something I pick up in cigars too often. In fact, this is one of the best flavor profiles I have had in a cigar all year. I smoked a handful of these and each time they got better and better so I am curious how they will age especially considering that they are a regular production line. This is a box worthy purchase for sure and one I can see myself coming back to very, very often.

The post Tatuaje 20th Merveille appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Originally released as a store exclusive for R. Field Wine Co. in Honolulu, Tatuaje has brought one of their most highly taught cigars back to marketing. While this isn’t a store exclusive, the 2021 version is still a highly limited run at only 1,000 boxes released. Created at the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua the Tatuaje T110 features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers. The cigar comes packaged in boxes of 25 running $10 per cigar. These sold out in record time. I was able to score a handful of these from our friends over at New Havana Cigars.

• Size: 4 3/8 x 52
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $10
• Pairing: Bottle Logic Jam the Radar (Imperial Stout 14.56% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje T110 starts out with a rustic looking wrapper scattered with splotches of dark brown, orange, and light brown. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy and insanely oily. The wrapper feels very dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is nicely packed and very heavy especially considering the cigar’s size. The T110 showcases some small veining as well as some nice webbing in the tobacco leaf as the cigar’s short body leads up to it round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the updated version of the iconic T110 label which displays the new Tatuaje crest in the front along with the classic red, white, green and blue rings.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje T110 gives off some great sweetness, brown sugar, and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a ton of spice over some nice earthiness. The cold draw gives off some nice oak, leather, and spice flavors.

First Half:

The Tatuaje T110 starts out with a huge blast of cayenne pepper that left my tongue and lips screaming for a second. Shortly after the first few draws the pepper faded allowing the cigar to showcase some great cedar, leather, spice, and almond over some more earthy, grassy, mossy notes. The result is a pretty complex start which is exactly what I remember from the OG T110. The draw is great allowing a very thick cloud of gray smoke to be released with each puff while the cigar releases almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The draw line is pretty wavy with one larger wave that has a mind of its own. I smoked through a handful of these and had minor burn issues with a few of them, but nothing that really impacted the experience and in all cases corrected itself. The ash left behind is tightly compacted and a very consistent medium gray color holding on for about 3/4 of a inch before falling into my ashtray with a thud.

Second Half:

The Tatuaje T110 is still piling on the flavor as the cigar leads with spice, cedar, almond, and leather backed by some light pilonciilo, earthiness and an interested raspberry note keeps popping in and out of the experience. The retrohale brings out some of the pepper I picked up at the start and a ton of spice which holds me back from doing it too often. The burnline has completed corrected itself without any help form my torch I expected and the draw is perfect. It took me a little over an hour to smoke this down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat. I close out the cigar with a crazy little nicotine kick.

Overview:

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.

Pairing:

Jam the Radar is a 14.56% ABV bourbon barrel aged Imperial stout brewed with cacao nibs and raspberry by Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, California. The beer leads with heaps of natural raspberry, milk chocolate, light bourbon and roasted malt with an extremely heavy and sticky mouthfeel with more raspberry and chocolate. Its not the most complex beer, but it sure is fantastic. The chocolate and raspberry pair perfectly with with T110 especially with that raspberry flavor I picked up in the second third.

The post Tatuaje T110 2021 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

• Tatuaje (Brown Label)
• Tatuaje Havana VI
• Tatuaje Black Label
• Cabaiguan
• Cabaiguan Guapo
• La Riqueza
• El Triunfador Original
• El Triunfador
• La Casita Criolla
• Fausto

Being a lover of Broadleaf, I couldn’t pass up the the La Casita Criolla Lancero any longer. Produced in Esteli, Nicaragua at My Father S.A., the La Casita Criolla Lancero is made with 100% U.S.A. Connecticut Broadleaf and produced in three regular production vitolas: HCB (5 1/8 by 42 Corona), HCBC (5 5/8 by 46 Corona Gorda), and HCBF (6 1/2 by 48 Short Churchill). To my knowledge, the La Casita Criolla Lancero is only available with the sampler.

Tony reviewed the La Casita Criolla HCBC back in 2011. You can find the review HERE.

The Facts

A gift from my bride
Price: $95.00 per box of 10 / $9.50 per cigar
Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7 ½ by 38
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Connecticut Broadleaf
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 35 Minutes

Pre-light

The La Casita Criolla Lancero wears a very dark brown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper that is rustic in appearance with its color imperfections, dark water spots, bumps, and veins. The dark color of the medium size veins gives them an even larger appearance. As light hits the wrapper, tiny crystals sparkle on the wrapper. There is no visible tooth, but the wrapper leaf does feel like a very fine grain sandpaper. Other than the foot of the cigar being spongy, the rest of the cigar is evenly and firmly filled.

The wrapper gives off aromas of earth and barnyard, while the foot has an extremely pungent barnyard smell with deep cedar notes.  The small pig-tail cap clips easily revealing a stiff draw requiring an additional clip. After the second cut, big notes of chocolate, cedar, and cinnamon greet my palate. 

First Third

The initial profile is of earth, leather, and spice, with an underlying yeast flavor. The spice picksup rather quickly leaving a spice tingle at the back of throat and all around my mouth and then exits the profile. At a half-inch, a pencil-shaving flavor and unsweetened cocoa make an appearance. A beautiful white ash is formed as La Casita Criolla burns evenly.

Middle Third

The cocoa remains, the pencil-shaving evolves to a deep woodsy flavor, and black coffee joins in along with a jelly-like sweetness. The deep, dark flavors are in the medium/full realm, while the strength is picking up steadily to the low-side of medium. Other than the burn that has a small wave, the La Casita Criolla Lancero is chugging along effortlessly. The finish of the smoke remains heavy as coffee and earth notes linger on the palate.

Final Third

Pulling into the final third, the La Casita Criolla Lancero is showing off an unexpected richness. The cocoa and coffee are holding strong, while the sweetness is only making an appearance every so often.  The strength continues to increase but has not made it in too full arena as the cigar begins to wind down. With just an inch remaining and the heat picking up, the La Casita Criolla is letting me know it is time to put down the cigar for its final rest.

Wrap-up

I remember my excitement for the La Casita Criolla line with it first arrived on the shelf several years ago. However, it has now been at least a few years since I have smoked one. Smoking the Lancero reminded me why I loved this cigar so much “back in the day”. Each time I light one up, I am blown away by what can be accomplished by a 100% Broadleaf cigar. It is not the most complex smoke, but it is far from boring. The performance is spot on, which has to be a daunting task to accomplish with only Broadleaf tobacco. The dark earth, coffee, and cocoa flavors with the subtle sweetness fit the bill perfectly for me. I know I have already said it, but I will say it again, stop wasting time and order up the Tatuaje Limited Lancero Collection already!

Also, don’t forget to enter the giveaway that is going on right now! Casas Fumando and Famous Smoke Shop are giving away a six cigar sampler and Cigar Monster humidor jar HERE.

The post Tatuaje Cigars – La Casita Criolla Lancero appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

At the end of each October cigar enthusiasts rush to their local cigar shops in hopes of getting their hands on the annual Tatuaje Monster release. This year, Pete Johnson has created the Jekyll. A cigar which is based on the fictional Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde bi-polar monster which we all love. While this year’s release is the Jekyll, halfwheel.com reports that next year Pete may actually release the Hyde version of this cigar. As stated, Pete releases these blends every year and I have been fortunate enough to smoke through the entire series: The Frank, The Drac (released alongside the Boris), The Face, The Wolfman, The Mummy, the JV13, and now the Jekyll complete the series. There were also two box releases, the Little Monsters, and the Pudgy Monsters which featured modified vitolas of each of the releases as well as a few small batch monsters:

2008 – The Frank
2009 – The Drac (also released the Boris)
2010 – The Face
2011 – The Wolfman
2012 – The Mummy (also released the Mini Monsters)
2013 – The JV13
2014 – The Jekyll (also released the Pudgy Monsters)

That being said, let’s get back to the Jekyll. The Tatuaje Jekyll features a not-so-familiar Ecuadorian Sancti Spiritus wrapper. Santi Spiritus, meaning “Holy Spirit” is the name of a cigar and province in central Cuba. Coincidentally, this wrapper is used as a binder in Jeff’s last review of the L’Atelier ER13. Both binder and filler in the Jekyll are from Nicaragua. As with most cigars in the monster series, it’s a big one. Measuring 7 x 49 the Jekyll carries an awesome semi-torpedo cap made famous in classic Cuban 109 formats.

As with most of the recent Monster Series releases, the cigars will come packed in two different boxes. The rare Dress Box which features some great artwork and 13 cigars, and the standard Non-Dress Box which carries 10 cigars. Only 666 Dress Boxes were released, and sold out within hours as they were distributed among 13 “Unlucky” retailers which are hand picked by Pete Johnson himself. While not all 666 boxes were send solely to these retailers, more than half were. The rest were sent in very small quantities to other stores throughout the U.S. with Tatuaje accounts, as well as stored for Pete’s own personal stock. In terms of the Non-Dress Boxes there were a total of 4,500 released to various Tatuaje retailers making the total number of Jekylls released 53,658. This may seem like a lot, but again, this is probably the most, of not one of the most sought after annually released cigars in the world. The cigars were released in mid-October and will run $13 a cigar. I got a box of these from our great friends over at Bonita Smoke Shop.

Size: 7 x 49
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sancti Spiritus
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $13
Pairing: Brouwerij Van Steenberge Witches Brew (Belgian Tripel 9.3% ABV)

Prelight:

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Jekyll is absolutely stunning. Starting with the very consistent light, milky brown that’s covered in oils and soft tooth. The wrapper features some orange ares and lots of darker webbing throughout the leaf. The Jekyll sports a few medium sized veins throughout it’s massive body as it leads up to a very snubby, short-torpedo, triple wrapped cap. I actually enjoy the cap as it rests very comfortably in the mouth, and is very easy to clip. The wrapper is very dense, and very hard while the Jekyll is very tightly compacted giving almost nothing as I squeeze it between my fingers. As with all Monster Series cigars, the Jekyll is polished off with the standard Tatuaje simple band featured colors familiar with the Monster’s character. In the case of the Jekyll the band is primarily white with the green Tatuaje logo and banding.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Jekyll gives off a very strong pepper and spice aroma while the foot of the cigar is a pleasant spice and cedar mixture. The cap cut very clean, and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw is packed with strong pepper and spice. Pretty much everything is is muffled.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Jekyll starts out with a whole mess of strong black pepper. While it took a while to fade out, the pepper was still a dominant flavor throughout the entire first third. The other less-powerful flavors I picked up was some great woodsy/cedar, spice, cashew, lots of grassiness and great natural tobacco flavors. The draw is perfect. Each puff kicks out just enough thick, white smoke. It’s a bit windy out today, but if it wasn’t I’m sure the smoke would linger quite a bit. The burn line is a bit thick, but solid as it leaves behind a pretty flaky medium/dark gray ash. The ash doesn’t hold on very long at all, I got about a half inch in before it flew off into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The black pepper is much more dormant in the second third of the Tatuaje Jekyll. The main flavors are the cashew and woodsiness with some pine starting to sneak in and some slight spice and grassiness. It’s a pretty dry combination and I’m glad I have a drink close by. The retrohale reminds me how much pepper was once in this cigar and it’s a bit tough to take down. I don’t find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. The burn line is still rockin’ it as I close out the second third with very little nicotine kick, if any at all.

Final Third:

The flavors in the Tatuaje Jekyll continue to hold up, with little changes between the second and final third. The Jekyll leads with some great cedar/woodsiness, cashew, pine, spice, and grassiness. Some floral flavors began to poke their head through every now and then in the final third, but they don’t last very long. The experience has been very well balanced and extremely creamy. I just with there was a bit more complexity along with a few changeups. I only had to relight the cigar once, and that was probably due to taking my sweet time smoking it. The burn line was completely solid the entire experience and it left me with almost no nicotine kick even though it took me 2 hours to take down to the nub. One thing to keep in mind is how flaky the ash can get on this cigar. This doesn’t bother me at all, but I kept forgetting and the ash dropped in my lap on 3 different occasions.

Overview:

The prominent pepper made me think this cigar was a lot more powerful than it actually was. The Tatuaje Jekyll finished in the Medium to barely Medium/Full range but each time I smoked it I could swear it was stronger until I stood up and the effects wore off. It’s interesting how cigars can do that. 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. It’s very different and I totally dig that. I can’t wait to see how these cigars hold up after some time in the humidor. I have a feeling these are going to get better and better with a bit of age on them.

Pairing:

Not only is the name fitting, but this beer’s flavor profile made it an idea match the the Tatuaje Jekyll. Brouwerij Van Steenberge’s Withes’ Brew is a Belgian Tripel from Belgium which registers in at 9.3% ABV. Witches Brew leads with strong sweetness and floral flavors with a very light mouthfeel while it finished with some citrus, sweetness, and a bit of hopiness. The sweetness really helped balance out the pepper-forward cigar flavors in the experience. This cigar will actually pair well with just about anything, especially anything with some added sweetness. My best suggestions will be a Belgian golden or tripel ale, some black coffee, brown soda, or some sweet tea.

The post Tatuaje Jekyll Monster Series #7 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Havana VI Lancero is only available in the limited production lancero sampler featured in the picture above. The sampler features 10 highly acclaimed cigars from Tatuaje all in a 7 ½ by 38 Lancero vitola including Tatuaje (Brown Label), Tatuaje Havana VI, Tatuaje Black Label, Cabaiguan, Cabaiguan Guapo, La Riqueza, El Triunfador Original, El Triunfador, La Casita Criolla, and Fausto. At the start of August, I reviewed the Cabaiguan Guapo lancero, which can be found HERE.

Tatuaje’s Havana VI is produced under the direction of Jamie Garcia at My Father Cigar S.A. in Esteli, Nicaragua. Here is a list of other avalable vitolas in the line: Verocu No.5 (4 by 40), Angeles – Petite Corona (4 5/8 by 42), Victorias – Corona Especial (6 by 38), Hermosos – Corona Gorda (5 5/8 by 26), Nobles – Robusto (5 by 50), Gorditos – Toro Grande (5 1/2 by 56), Artistas – Torpedo (6 1/8 by 52), and Almirantes – Churchhill (7 by 47).

The Facts

Gift from my bride
Price:$9.50 ($95 for the sampler)
Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7 1/2 by 38
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes
Drink: Water

Pre-light

The Tatuaje Havana VI Lancero is dressed in oily Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that is milk chocolate in color. It has been a while since I smoked a cigar from this line but I do not recall the wrapper being so dark. The simple red band jumps out against the dark leaf that is scarred with small, black veins that crisscross down the stick. The Havana VI gives slightly when pinched but feels evenly filled.

The wrapper aroma is big and bold with notes barnyard and  manure. I am met with some spice as I smell the foot of the cigar with additional notes of earth and cedar. A triple cap comes to an end with a small pig-tail that gets the job done but nothing to write home about. Clipping through the 38 ring gauge stick is quick and painless, giving way to a somewhat firm cold draw that brings forth rich cedar and clove.

First Third

The cigar opens up with full flavors of cedar and pepper awakening my palate. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper is really shining through with a significant amount of spice heat. There is a unique finish to the smoke that makes me think of bubble gum once it loses its flavor.  The smallest of draws delivers a mouthful of smoke that is thick and chewy in the mouth. A light colored ash is dropping every half inch. At the close of the first third the perfromance has been spot on with a thin eye-liner burn.

Middle Third

At the thirty minute mark, I have run into what may be a major issue going forward. A tunnel is forming that has cut down the smoke production and put a damper on the flavors.  The profile has taken a shift to much more earthy notes and has also increased in richness. The burn-line has gotten a bit out of whack and I can’t seem to keep the cigar burning. The tunnel is now having an adverse effect on the flavors resulting in some charredness.

Final Third

Finally, with three inches remaining, the tunnel has come to an end but the flavors have not fully recovered. What I assume to be a result of the multiple relights, charred notes are dominating the profile. The earth has developed to diesel-like flavor and the finish of the smoke is of chocolate. The charred notes are masking the potential of the final third, which is very dissapointing. The spice is still prevalent and has turned from a pepper spice to more of a jalapeno spice. As I begin to put a close to the cigar, I notice a very appealing aroma from the smoke of tart cherries.

Wrap-up

2014 has been a year of tunneling cigars for me. It seems that every couple of cigars I smoke have had a tunneling issue. Having on the opportunity to only smoke one of these, I cannot give it a fair assessment due to the major tunnel that was encountered. I have smoked several other cigars from Tatuaje and I rarely find any issues with quality/performance. The Tatuaje Havana VI Lancero began with a bang, opening up with full flavors that were balanced and spicy, but that is where the fairy tale ends. The final two thirds became a story of bad performance and poor flavors. Knowing the high quality of Tatuaje and My Father cigars, this cigar has not deterred me from hunting down one more Havana VI Lancero and giving it another shot.

The post Tatuaje Havana VI Lancero appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Cabiguan Guapos is made in Esteli, Nicaragua at My Father Cigars S.A., the factory responsible for most of Tatuaje products. Available sizes include 5 5/8 by 54, 5 by 50, 5 5/8 by 46, 4 5/8 by 42, and 7 1/2 by 38. Tony reviewed the 5 ⅝ by 54 Gaupo here.

The lancero vitola of the Guapo is only available in the sampler. While the sampler will be in regular production, it will be made in limited quantities during each run.

The Facts

A gift from my bride
Price: $9.50 ($95 for the sampler)
Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7 ½ by 38
Wrapper:Ecuadorian Sun Grown
Binder:Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 and 35 Minutes

Pre-light

The Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper is consistent in its medium brown color. I am met with a pungent aroma once the cellophane is removed, along with cedar and wet earth notes. The foot gives off more of the cedar and earth with an added sweet vanilla smell. The wrapper leaf is marked with bumps and veins giving it a slightly rugged look.

The Guapos Lancer0 is filled evenly all the way down to its neat, pointy cap. The cold draw is on the dry side with the same cedar and earth notes from the wrapper and foot aroma, along with a faint clove flavor. I am also feeling a spice tingle on my lips the lingers for a good amount of time.

First Third

One thing I have come to expect from cigars produced at My Fathers is spice. And the Guapos does not disappoint in that area. I am met with a considerable amount of spice in the first couple of puffs that warms my mouth and lip, and leaves quite the burn through the sinuses during the retrohale. The other flavors are deep and in-line with the cold draw being of cedar and earth. As I take a smaller, shallower draw, I notice the pepper lessens and some sweetness comes through. I can’t put my finger on it yet, but it may be a vanilla-like sweetness. The finish is a bit dry with a dark fruit flavor. The burn-line is crazy thin and first ash made it past an inch.

Middle Third

Making my way into the second third, the dry cedar has moved to the front of the profile with the unique, vanilla sweetness. The sweetness is refreshing and brings a nice balance to the smoke. The earthyness is gaining ground and an acidic citrus has joined in right around the halfway point. As I knock off the ash, I find a small tunnel in the center of the cigar. So far it is not having any kind of negative impact on the flavors or smoke production. Even the smallest of draws fills my mouth with a satisfying amount of smoke. The flavors are full, with the strength falling not too far behind.

Final Third

The Tatuaje Gabaiguan Guapo Lancero is still smoking cool with two and a half inches left. The pepper has calmed but in no way completely departed and the spice is still warming my mouth and lips. The vanilla I got early on is really only noticable on the finish, along with a dusty cocoa flavor. The deep cedar and wet earth notes are still holding strong as I begin to wrap up this 7 1/2 by 38 lancero.

Wrap-up

I have been a fan of Tatuaje for some time, but there were several cigars included in the sampler that I had yet to smoke and the Cabaiguan Guapo was one of those. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first experience with a cigar. The cigar burned cool and even. There were no touch-ups or ashes dropped in my lap. Just a complex, flavorful cigar to sit back and relax with. One thing I noted on this lancero was how big, deep draws brought out an overwhelming pepper, while a small shallow draw highlighted  the nuances of this stick. As is the case with lanceros, you need to slow down your regular smoking pace to fully enjoy what this traditional vitola offers. I highly recommend you get your hands on these. You won’t be disappointed.

The post Tatuaje Cabaiguan Guapo Lancero appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

This cigar was gifted to me by a great friend and BOTL. I want to give a big “Thanks” to Roman O. for hooking me up with this cigar. The Avion is a line extension of the Tatuaje Fausto  line. In 2011, Pete Johnson, owner of Tatuaje, released the first extension being the Avion 11, which has been followed by a release each year since. Currently, the extension includes:

• Avion 11 – Perfecto – 6 ¾ by 48/52
• Avion 12 – Perfecto – 5⅝ by 48/52
• Avion 13 – Perfecto – 6 ⅞ by 52
• Avion 13 Limited – Perfecto – 7 ¼ by 52 (Connecticut Broadleaf)

The Facts

Price: $8.50
Vitola: Perfecto
Size: 5⅝ by 48/52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan – Esteli and Jalapa Ligero
Pairing: Club Soda
Smoke Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes

Pre-light

The Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper is a beautiful dark brown and very oily. There is a small tear about an inch down from the head of the cigar but I don’t foresee it impacting the experience. The wrapper is almost seamless with small veins webbing across the leaf.  I’m loving the aroma off of the wrapper. Notes of chocolate, musty earth, and faint cedar arouse my senses.

The tapered foot makes it hard to find much in the aroma department other than the notes already pulled off the wrapper. The cap has been neatly applied on its pointed head. After a beautiful cut, the cold draw is revealing rich tobacco with clove and other spices.

First Third

A copious amount of smoke pumps out of the Avion with each small puff. The flavors are just as dark as the wrapper itself. Deep notes of earth and cocoa grab my attention and spice lingers on the palate. The retrohale highlights cedar and pepper, while oily smoke coats my entire mouth. As expected, the crazy thick burn started wavy. Burning pass the tapered foot, the eyeliner burn is now about perfect. The flavors are full but completely balanced and the strength is coming in at a solid medium. The dark grey ash is a bit flaky on the outside but holding firm past an inch.

Middle Third

As I enter the second third of the cigar, the smoke has become a bit toasty. But don’t get me wrong, it is not bad at all. The toastiness, which seems to be a combination of roasted coffee and burning wood, is complementing the cocoa . The earth flavor has also evolved from musty earth to diesel-like.  A sweetness is beginning to hit the tip of my tongue and I am interested to see what kind of role it will play later on.The  burn line is a bit wavy, flavors remain full, and the strength is putting me in a relaxed state of mind.

Final Third

Other than a slight tartness (think SweeTart) that has joined the mix, there has not been much development in the flavor department. The notes of cocoa, earth, and pepper are well balanced and extremely satisfying. The faint sugary sweetness is not making the appearance I expected. As I draw my final puffs, the strength cannot go unnoticed as it sits firmly in the full range. The burn line is right on and the ash is still nothing to write home about but nothing to complain about either.

Wrap-up

The Avion 12 was a pleasure to smoke. Well, to be honest, this cigar was unbelievable. The profile just fit my palate, a copious amount of smoke was produced, the burn line was rock solid, and the strength full but not overwhelming. At $8.50 each, and even lower with a box purchase, these cigars are a steal.  As I was smoking this cigar, I texted Roman O. and told him we had to get a box of these bad boys right away. Without hesitation he agreed. And that is my recommendation to you: Get over to your B&M and grab a handful. Smoke them. Then go back and grab a box.

The post Tatuaje – Fausto Avion 12 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Petite Cazadores Reserva was released by Tatuaje in 2010. At that time it filled a much needed gap in Tatuaje’s line; and affordable, short smoke. Since then Pete Johnson of Tatuaje has also released a favorite of mine, the Verocu #5. You can check that review out here. The Petite Cazadores Reserva is an extension to the infamous “Seleccion de Cazador” or “Brown Label” line. It’s based on the same blend but features a beautiful Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper vs. the traditional  Ecuadorian Habano.

As always, Pete worked with the Garcia Family to create this blend. As stated above, the blend features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, and Nicaraguan binders and fillers similar to the Seleccion de Cazador blends. The cigar comes packed in cabinets of 50 and run about $225 a cabinet. They have been out for some time, but I still find it hard to get a hold of these cigars at times. I purchased these recently from Atlantic Cigar. I have always had terrific customer service from these guys and i know Jeremy used them on a purchase from one of his next reviews and had nothing but great things to say about them as well. Awesome prices, and great selection. You can check them out here.

Size: 4 x 40
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $4.50
Pairing: New Belgium Lips of Faith Cascara Quad (Belgian Style Quad 10% ABV)

Prelight: The Tatuaje Petite Cazadores Reserva isn’t much to look at. In fact, this is a pretty ugly looking cigar. But that doesn’t mean it’s due to bad construction. On the contrary, the construction on this cigar is spot-on and that says a lot for a cigar of this size. Must have had a lot of little, nimble fingers rolling these guys up. When I say it’s ugly, it’s mainly the wrapper, it’s character, and the different foot-style on this cigar. The wrapper is very, very toothy and has a very rough texture with a few larger veins. While being very dark in color there are some darker, and some lighter spots as well as a few reddish-brown areas spread throughout the dark brown wrapper. The Petit Cazadores sports un unfinished foot where the tobacco is gently laid over the foot of the cigar adding some extra character to the stick. The cigar is finished off with a little, round, triple cap. The cigar is very light and small but fits very comfortably in your hand. Although it’s small, you don’t have to be afraid to handle it at all as it feels very durable and gives very little as I squeeze it between my fingers.

The wrapper lets loose a very pungent, very strong sweet tobacco aroma while the foot of the cigar matches the sweetness and adds just a little bit of spice. The cap cut clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw boasts of strong tobacco, strong sweetness, berry, and leather.

First Smoke: The cigar is very easily to light up with my butane lighter. Word to the wise, pay close attention to the length of your flame on your lighter. Since this cigar is so small, you might end up burning your eye brows off. The Petit Cazadores starts out with a nice little pepper blast before fading into a much sweeter profile.  The cigar starts with some very sweet tobacco, brown sugar, cherry, and a little bit of leather to finish off. The draw on this little guy is enormous. Each, tiny, little puff kicks out a mouthful of thick smoke. The burnline is dead even and razor sharp which is always a concern of mine with cigars that have closed, or unfinished feet. The ash is bright white, incredibly compact, and held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: Into the second third of this Petite Cazadores and the flavors haven’t really changed up too much. The pepper at this point is no where to be found while the cigar continues to gradually ramp up in sweetness with the cherry, brown sugar, and leather all remain in the mix. I probably could have done this cigar in two different sections instead of my normal three, but that just wouldn’t be me. I pull out some nice, woody flavors in the retrohale that aren’t very present in the actual experience, but not as much of the sweetness that I had hoped for. I am feeling absolutely no nicotine kick at this point, and I doubt I will be once I finish. The burnline is still dead even, but beware of the ash. Although it looks extremely tight, it’s actually pretty weak due to the small ring gauge. I quickly found this out as I ashed into my lap. I wonder how crappy the finish picture is going to turn out.

Finish: Down to the final third of this Tatuaje Petite Cazadores Reserva and it’s still going strong. It’s crazy how much flavor this little cigar pumps out draw after draw. As mentioned in the previous stage, the sweetness has increased steadily the entire experience making for a wonderful finish while the cherry, leather, and brown sugar are all still present as well as a slight cedar which made it’s way from the retrohale into the mix.  The cigar took about 35 minutes to take down and didn’t require a single touch up or relight. I also didn’t encounter any nicotine kick, harshness, or heat.

Overview: Yeah, I love these cigars, no doubt about it. I ended up purchasing a cabinet of these due to the fact that I had run out of my second cabinet of Verocu 5’s and needed a drive home cigar. While I loved the Verocu 5’s, the Petit Cazadores Reserve makes for a totally different experience. The Verocu is much more full strength, and spicy while the Reserva is much more flavorful, and milder. Most of the time you consider cigars of this size to lack good construction, but I find that these are on par with just about every other cigar coming out of the My Father factory. And the price? Well, these are way lower than what I would pay. But don’t let Pete know that. I don’t know how else to explain the value on this sticks. This cigar is box worthy for sure and will satisfy any seasoned cigar smoker as well as showcase an excellent cigar to those who just picked up the hobby. Another word to the wise concerning the Petit Cazadores Reserva. TAKE YOUR TIME WITH IT. Treat it well, and it will treat you the same. I’ve smoked a ton of these and despite it being a “quick” cigar, the length and ring gauge can produce a little bit of harshness and heated burn if you smoke it took quickly. Taking my time this cigar will usually last between 30 – 45 minutes which is absolutely perfect for me.

Pairing: Cascara is an experimental Belgian Quad style ale brewed over at the New Belgium Brewery in For Collins, Colorado. Coming in at a whopping 10% ABV New Belgium describes this brew the best:

“Local roasters Novo Coffee turned us onto Central America’s Cascara, the fruit or husk the surrounds coffee beans. When dried, it can be made into a tea with hints of cherry and tobacco. Blend that into a Quad fermented with gorgeous malts and Date Sugar for a crazy complex beer to warm your winter nights.”

I know, it’s not winter, but it doesn’t need to be. Just reading that statement makes me crave a cigar and I couldn’t think of a better cigar to pair it with. The Tatuaje Petit Cazadores Reserva already has the sweetness, sugar, and cherry so it blended in perfectly with the cherry, date sugar, and tobacco hints of the Cascara Quad. Seriously, this beer is amazing by itself and pairing it with any respectable, sweet cigar only heightens the experience.

The post Tatuaje – Petite Cazadores Reserva Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: Over the last few years Smoke Inn has teamed up with some of the world’s leading cigar manufacturers to bring you what they call the “Microblend Series”. This series now contains the Tatuaje Anarchy, Padron SI-15, My Father El Hijo, and the A. Fuente Solaris. Big thanks to the guys over at Smoke Inn for providing us with samples of each of these. They sent over this pre-release sample as well (note: I am doing this review of a single sample. There will be no pairing with this one as I would hate for my choice of beverage to cloud the character of the cigar).

This press released found on the Tatuaje Anarchy site pretty much sums up the blend:

“West Palm Beach, Florida – December 21, 2012 marks the conclusion of the 13th Ba’ak’tun in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar. It is believed that Armageddon would overtake the peoples of the world and all creation at this time. On December 14th, be prepared to smoke the last cigar you will ever have: the Tatuaje Apocalypse.

In a continuing effort to create limited runs of premium cigars blended by the industry’s top manufacturers, Smoke Inn Cigars of South Florida proudly presents its fifth installment of their MicroBlend Series, the Tatuaje Apocalypse. The sequel to the highly acclaimed Tatuaje Anarchy released December 10, 2010, the Tatuaje Apocalypse is smaller in size measuring 5.25” x 48-52. Made at the My Father Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua and dawned with a dark, rich Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, the Apocalypse was guided by the vision of Pete Johnson. Johnson, along with the Garcia Family, have masterfully tweaked the original blend with such subtlety that the Apocalypse is highly reminiscent of the original flavor profile, yet in somewhat of a more concentrated fashion.

Packed in 15-count boxes emblazoned in a vibrant red and screened in black ink, the reversal of red and black colors can be found on the cigar label as well. With only 1300 boxes having been made, the Tatuaje Apocalypse will individually retail for $8.95 and boxes for $134.25. Pre-Orders will begin at midnight on Thanksgiving Day, the beginning of Black Friday. The first 333 box orders will receive a special promotion: free shipping and a free limited edition Tatuaje Apocalypse Cap.

The national release party will be held at Smoke Inn’s West Palm Beach location at 801 Village Blvd on Friday, December 14th. Both Pete Johnson and the Garcia Family will be in attendance. All pre-orders will ship the following Monday, December 17th 2012. Orders should arrive in time for all to enjoy before the end of the world!

Previous releases in Smoke Inn’s Microblend Series –The Tatuaje Anarchy , The Padron SI-15 , The My Father El Hijo , and the Arturo Fuente Solaris — have received great accolades from cigar smokers all over the world. Smoke Inn proudly continues its quest to work with the world’s leading manufacturers to create limited release boutique cigars that are produced with only the highest quality premium tobaccos under the strictest supervision to guarantee the consumer a unique and exquisite experience. For more information on Smoke Inn or their MicroBlend Series, please visit www.smokeinn.com or call toll free 1-888-SMOKES-1.”

Well there you have it. Now let’s get into this.

Size: 5.25 x 45-52
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder:  Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.95
Pairing: Water

Tatuaje Apocalypse (left) and Tatuaje Anarchy (right)

Prelight: I love the crazy format of the Apocalypse. The cigar starts out with a large, figurado bulb then tapers into much smaller ring gauge before being polished off by this crazy, spiral-looking big tail. The cigar kind of resembles a small baseball bat. The Apocalypse has a beautiful, thick, dark wrapper. This wrapper carries some mild tooth and medium sized veins, but is incredibly firm and hard as a rock. Not only is the wrapper hard, but the entire cigar feels pretty firm and only shows a few soft spots toward to cap. The Apocalypse is finished off with a similar band as last year’s anarchy band, only with the colors reversed.

The wrapper gives off tons of sweet tobacco, cedar, and a molasses type aroma while the foot of the cigar lets loose a more mild, spicy aroma. The cap on the apocalypse cut very clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. Despite the strange format, I was able to get a nice cold draw in, taking in some very bold tobacco, strong pepper, and cedar.

First Smoke: The Tatuaje Apocalypse started out with lots and lots of in-your-face pepper, along with some really strong, sweet tobacco, hints of cedar and chocolate, and a bit of that molasses that  picked up on during the prelight. The draw is spot-on producing an awesome amount of incredibly thick, white smoke with every little puff. The burnline is a bit wavy here and there, but that is expected in almost any salomon, hopefully it starts to correct itself into the second third. The Apocalypse gives off only a slight amount of stationary smoke, but what caught my attention was how cedar-heavy and sweet the aroma was. The cigar has more of a bold tobacco, cocoa taste to it. We’ll see how that changes throughout the experience. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The flavors in the Apocalypse have really started to alter a bit. The chocolate is now a much dryer cocoa, the cedar is almost gone, and I am picking up no sweetness at all. More of the bold tobacco and spice has moved in as well as a neat little cashew flavor. As I hoped in the firs third, the burnline has completely corrected itself and is now burning dead even and razor sharp. The retrohale on this cigar is a beast, coating my nasal passage with lots of sharp pepper and cedar. I don’t find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. Despite the mellowing of flavors, the strength of this cigar has ramped up a bit as I am feeling a slight nicotine kick after the second third.

Finish: Wow. A whole lot more of that molasses flavor really started to show up in this final third. Along with it the addition of raspberry, ramp up in spice and cedar, as the bold tobacco flavor dampened out. I really like the change ups in this cigar. Quite the opposite of the second third, while the body has ramped up significantly, the strength has really mellowed out. The burnline did encounter a few larger waves into the final third, but I never had to touch it up or relight the cigar. Despite the smaller stature of the Apocalypse it burned incredibly slow making for a pleasurable 2 hour smoke down to the nub. I experience absolutely no harshness or heat and only a slight nicotine kick.

Overview: I personally, was a fan of last year’s Microblend Anarchy release. That being said, did the Apocalypse deliver? Or did it suffer the curse of the sequel. In my opinion, this cigar rocked. I am a full bodied smoker and despite the body and strength and body being more on the medium/full end of the spectrum, the experience completely satisfied me. The change-ups kept me on my toes while the complexity was perfect, neither too much, or too little. Smoke Inn has had a great run with their microblend series and the Apocalypse is just another notch in their belt.

Pairing: Again, I only received a single sample of this cigar so I didn’t want to alter the tastes by drinking anything other than water. Plus, you really gotta know what the cigar tastes like before picking out a proper beer pairing.

The post Tatuaje – Apocalypse (Smoke Inn Exclusive) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now the Tatuaje Reserva Series is an extension of the popular brown label line called La Seleccion de Cazador. A few years ago, Pete Johnson started a limited release cigar called the Cojonu that would be released every 3 years. This is the 2009 edition and as I write this I believe most stores have already started receiving the recently released 2012 edition. One quick note on the year in the name, it’s not related to the tobacco leaf age or anything like that, it’s specifically linked to the year it was released.

The Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 was released on March of 2009 so as I smoke this it has just recently passed its 3 year anniversary. The blend in the Cojonu’s have an increased amount of Ligero over the brown label versions and are touted to be a fairly strong blend so nicotine sensitive cigar enthusiasts may want to tread lightly here. The 2009 edition is rolled at Don Pepin Garcia’s factory located in Miami, Florida, the El Rey de Los Habanos Factory.

There are a total of 4 cigars in the Cojonu line, the Gran Cojonu, Cojonu 2003, Cojonu 2006, Cojonu 2009 and the most recent Cojonu 2012. The Gran Cojonu is the only one of the line that has no band. the other 4 cigars have the standard brown Tatuaje Label and on additional band. The black and gold band is standard for most of the Reserva lines and in our case today it simply says Cojonu 2009. Now let’s get to setting the flame to this cigar!

Cigar: Tatuaje Cojonu 2009
Drink: Quinta Do Noval Black Porto
Vitola: Belicoso (6.75 x 48)
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $13
Burn Time: A little over 1.5 hours

Construction:
• Here we have a fairly rough looking cigar with a milk chocolate colored wrapper and some hints of golden tones
• the veins on this Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 are somewhat medium sized and the wrapper has some interesting toothiness to it
• The cap is finished with a cleanly wrapped single leaf, not perfect but it’s nicely bound
• The cigar is firmer than a baseball bat from end to end, I could probably hurt someone with it, hope that doesn’t affect the draw here
• Despite being super firm, the foot did not appear overly packed which is a good sign i think
• After trimming the tapered cap a bit with my double bladed guillotine cutter I was glad to be welcomed by a draw that felt just about right
• Before even reaching the half-inch mark there was some tar buildup which was tightening up the draw. I may have made too small of a cut so I trimmed a bit more and we’re off to the races again
• The body started picking up shortly after I passed the mid-way point but it’s still within the medium range I’d think
• Some of the spices started coming back too, more of a light white pepper at the moment
• There was a bit too much glue on the secondary black band and it tore the wrapper a bit

Burn:
• The foot of the Tatuaje Cojonu 2009 was actually very stubborn on the toasting, the middle of it refused to light up, I switched up my culinary torch to a more focused single flame torch and that seemed to do the trick
• After the tough start the burn line was a bit wavy but nothing that needed attention
• Seems that within the first inch there were already a couple times where the cigar felt like it was almost burning out and needed me to take a few extra draws
• In the second inch the wave got a bit out of hand so I needed to give it a little touch up
• The cigar continues to feel like it’s going out and requiring extra draws which is really taking away from the experience here
• The last third of the cigar required multiple touch ups to keep it burning properly

Smoke & Ash:
• So far there isn’t a ton of smoke coming off each draw, it’s taking a few attempts to get a decent volume
• There is a fair amount of resting smoke after setting the cigar down each time and it seems somewhat consistent
• The ash through the first inch is sort of starting to “bloom”, not too strong or clean and a lot of flaking all over the place
• The color of the ash is mostly a nice light grey but there are quite a few black accents all over the place
• I tapped off the first ash after about an inch because it looked like it was getting really weak and messy
• The next ash reached the same 1 inch mark, even though this one was a lot cleaner it still lacked strength so I tapped it off to save it from a deadly plunge to the concrete!
• The third went back to being messy and weak, probably due to multiple touch ups and only lasted about an inch

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has almost no aroma to it, just a bit of woodsy notes and some tobacco leaf
• The foot brings more of the woodsy notes and adds to that an interesting sweet cinnamon type of aroma
• The pre-light draw has a bit more cinnamon spice to it along with the woodsy and just a touch of sweetness, maybe even a touch of pepper there on the tongue and lips
• The initial draws jump out with some of the signature Tatuaje/Pepin spices, mainly pepper, followed by the cinnamon and woodsy flavors I was getting on the pre-light inspection
• After the initial spices died down I’m left with nicely balanced blend of espresso, woodsy and sweet cinnamon flavors
• As for the body, I’d say I’m at the low end of medium right now and the retrohale started with a kick but now it’s a smooth coffee finish with no bite
• The espresso flavors have toned down a bit and it’s getting replaced by an interesting dark chocolate flavor that is really mixing nicely with the sweet cinnamon
• All the flavors really mixed together nicely and balanced well in the last third, especially the dark chocolate and espresso notes
• I have to say I’m not getting the huge hit of strength I was expecting from ligero packed cigar but that might be because it’s 3 years old now
• Despite all the touch ups, the flavors are still enjoyable and constantly changing
• There was a slight build up of harshness near the end but nothing overpowering, most likely due to the re-lights I had to perform here
• I put down the cigar a little short due to all the re-lights but the flavors were present and enjoyable right to the end

Final Thoughts:
This is one of those cigars I was really trying to enjoy. It had a lot of the right elements but the whole package together didn’t sing huge praises for me. On the flavor front, there were some very enjoyable notes that kept me on my toes, that’s the part of this cigar I really enjoyed. It was the burn and draw issues that hampered the experience for me here. I did have a few samples before reviewing and it was the same story for the majority of them. So the flavors were awesome but the burn and draw left something to be desired, and at a price point of $13.00 I would have liked the whole package to be neat and tidy. I still think this is a worthwhile cigar to try and I will still seek out the 2012’s but I think Pete has some much better sticks under his belt that I would rather enjoy.

Pairings:
Today’s pairing is yet another new port that I stumbled across at the store. It’s from Portugal, as are most ports, and the winery is called Quinta do Noval. Although it’s name is just “Black”, this bottle is another standard Late Bottled Vintage Porto with some nice labels and marketing to it. There’s actually a embossed bird on the glass near the bottom, not sure if it’s visible in the picture but it’s pretty neat. So this porto is not all marketing, it’s actually got a decent product in the bottle as well. At it’s base is a nice, full-bodied red that seems comparable to a Merlot. On top of that are some excellent dark berry notes and a hefty helping of oak flavors that make up for a delicious treat. At only $17 a bottle, I can’t complain at all here, this was a great but and pairs perfectly with most any cigar. As you can guess, it made a great compliment to the Tatuaje Cojonu 2009. I think a nice scotch or strong espresso would also have gone well here.

The post Tatuaje Reserva Cojonu 2009 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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 L’Esprit de Vérité and the La Vérité cigars are part of what Pete Johnson has coined as his “Vintage” line. Now don’t think “Vintage” as in grungy jeans, think “Vintage” in terms on Wine. Just like a winery offers vintages of it’s wine (ie. the year the grapes were grown), Tatuaje is using the same idea and applying it to their tobacco crops. So what does that mean to you and me? It means that every year will be slightly different. As you can appreciate, different weather will affect how the tobacco leaves grow and therefore will affect their flavors. The same percentage of a blend may not work as well the next year due to these subtle changes.

With that knowledge, it’s also worth knowing that all the tobacco leaves also come from the same farm in Esteli Nicaragua, making each one of these a Nicaraguan Puro. The 2009 vintage cigars were actually rolled in 2008 and aged for a year. Tony also did a review on the Tatuaje L’Esprit de Vérité 2008(http://www.casasfumando.com/?p=698) last year so take a read through his review first then come back here and see how it compares. I am also reviewing the L’Esprit de Vérité vitola which is the Robusto. The other size is a Churchill and is called the La Vérité. The two words stand for “The Truth” and “The Spirit of Truth”.

It’s worth noting that the blend did change from 2008 to 2009 quite a bit. In the 2008 vintage, the cigar contained 100% Habano leaf so it was all from one type of plant. In the 2009 Vintage, there is actually a mix of 4 different leaves. In the La Vérité it’s 45% Habano, 40% Criollo ’98 and 15% Pelo De Oro. In today’s cigar, the L’Esprit de Vérité, we have 50% Habano, 40% Criollo ’98 and 10% Pelo De Oro. The difference isn’t much but it’s worth noting. Now you might raise an eyebrow at the Pelo De Oro tobacco? Thats because it’s pretty rare and the only cigars I’ve had that contained it were the My Father Le Bijou 1922 and the My Father Limited Edition 2010. To tie all that information together, it’s becomes clear when you know that this cigar was made at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua. You’ll also notice the addition of a second band that just says “Tatuaje” and has Pete’s initials on the back side.

So I hope that’s not too much info but I found it pretty interesting to hear the history of this cigar. If I haven’t lost you yet or you just skipped to the last paragraph cause my rambling looked long, let’s just get right into the actual review!

Cigar: Tatuaje L’Esprit de Vérité 2009
Drink: Great Divide Brewing Co. Yeti Imperial Stout
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 55)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Currently MSRP is $20
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A wonderfully constructed cigar that has a perfect diameter from end to end with a wrapper that has almost no veins
• The color of the wrapper is a very warm golden brown color and the texture is slightly rough, like a very soft sand paper
• The top of the cigar is finished with an expertly applied triple cap that blends in extremely well
• The firmness is consistent from end to end with very little spring and the tightly packed foot explains why
• The cap took a little effort to clip off and made a bit of a mess

Burn:
• The toasting of the foot was a slightly slow process but resulted in a perfectly flowing foot
• Through the first inch the L’Esprit de Vérité 2009 is smoking super razor sharp
• Not much I can say here, super sharp through the first half and it’s staying lit with ease, no need for extra draws
• I should also note it’s burning at a nice slow pace and I feel I’m getting more time out of this cigar than I expected based on seeing it’s length
• Not a single issue with burn right to the nub, I wish more cigars were like this

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke on each draw is just about right, it’s not overly thick and full but it’s not light and airy, a nice middle of the road here
• The resting smoke is very minimal, mostly jsut immediately after taking a draw then within a few seconds it looks like it’s not even lit
• The ash on this cigar looks fantastic from the start, it’s clean and tight with a glowing white color
• The ash continues to impress, it’s stayed strong and clean through 2 inches without a problem
• Ash was consistently about 2 inches so I only had to ash twice through the whole smoke, great construction here

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper aroma is giving off an almost citrusy cedar smell that is very pleasant and inviting
• From the foot you pick up more cedar with some mild tobacco and a small touch of spice
• The pre-light draw has surprisingly little flavor to it, maybe just a touch of cedar and mild spice
• Initial draws bring more of the aromatic cedar flavors I was picking up with maybe just a slight touch of nuttiness
• The finish on this cigar is extremely smooth with a fantastic creamy cedar flavor
• The cigar has been in the high range of mild so far with a smooth and bite-free retrohale
• I’m picking up some coffee notes peeking around here and there, but nothing solid yet
• The cedar remains prominent through the first half and it’s a very flavorful cedar
• Some other flavors like the mild spice, nuts, coffee and even a bit of earthiness are helping keep the cigar interesting and well balanced
• The coffee notes seem to be shining through just past the half way mark
• As the coffee takes charge I’m still picking up cedar, nuts and some earthiness, and they are all balancing fantastically
• As I approach the last third the cigar has settled comfortably into the medium range and I’m getting a slight bite on the retrohale with a smooth aromatic cedar finish
• The wonderful balance of flavors continued through to the nub with each slowly getting more substantial
• There was almost no harshness or bitterness right to the end so I enjoyed it until my fingers were burning

Final Thoughts:
This was a very enjoyable smoking experience from start to end. The flavors were tasty, consistent and well balanced from start to finish. Although there was nothing that jumped out of this cigar it all molded together to make a great smoke. The construction was fantastic, it burned exceptionally and the price is well placed among limited edition cigars (although this is still high for the average consumer). It also let me enjoy it right to the nub with no issues at all. What probably surprised me the most about this cigar was its easy smoking profile. It had a smooth and relaxingly creamy profile from end to end. This was unexpected for me as I’ve come to know a blast of pepper and spice from a lot of Tatuaje cigars. This is definitely not a bad thing, I really enjoyed what this cigar had to offer and it’s good to see something a little different in the Tatuaje inventory. I’d highly recommend grabbing a few of these before the 2009’s are sold out. I can’t really say anything negative about this cigar, I will definitely be seeking out some more for my humidor.

Pairings:
Today we have one a brew from the Great Divide Brewing Co. and it’s called the Yeti Imperial Stout. The brewery hails from Denver Colorado and I think this is the first beer I’ve had from that state. We actually don’t get any brews from Great Divide up here in Ontario so this is another one I picked up while down in Florida. The stout is very full and thick, it coats your whole palate and the flavors linger long after. From each sip I get a strong malty coffee flavor with some dark chocolate thrown in the mix. It’s really a great stout and I enjoyed it. As for the pairing, I think the brew overpowered the cigar a bit. The cigar has some great flavors but it was not full bodied or overpowering so possibly a dark beer may have played nicer and allowed you to enjoy the flavors the cigar had to offer. I also think a cup of coffee would be a great pairing. Even water would go well with the smooth profile of the Tatuaje L’Esprit de Vérité 2009.

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The Good Stuff: La Casita Criolla or “The Creole Cottage” is the first, or one of the very few cigars that are actually constructed from 100% Connecticut Broadleaf. Pete Johnson goes into a bit more detail on the tobacco used for this cigar:

“Okay guys. To clear this up. Not all broadleaf is dark. The wrapper will be but the binders and fillers are made up of broadleaf tobacco also. When Jaime (Garcia) buys broadleaf, he buys in hopes to get good dark juicy wrapper, some medium color wrapper like La Riqueza and good binder but the other leaf that doesn’t make those grades is sorted by size and texture for filler. Again not every leaf will look like the wrapper. It’s all 100% USA Conn. Broadleaf. Jaime also buys all primings of broadleaf. Seco, Viso and Ligero. This is also how we are able to sort the filler to do the blend on the cigar.”

So yes, that’s right. 100% Broadleaf. I know that Broadleaf is expensive, and isn’t the easiest to come by so if anyone was able to create a cigar comprised of nothing but this leaf, it had to come from the My Father factory. The Garcias use more broadleaf than any other cigar manufacturer. And anyone that reads this blog knows that I am sucker for Broadleaf. Let’s hope this cigar doesn’t disappoint. The La Casita Criolla line will come in three different sizes, HCB – 5 1/8 x 42, HCBC – 5 5/8 x 46, and the HCBF – 6 1/2 x 48 and will be sold in the $7 range. That’s right, I was expecting a much higher price tag.

Size: HCBC 5 5/8” x 46  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf  –  Binder/Filler: Broadleaf  –  Body: Medium

Prelight: What a vintage looking cigar, from the band down to the wrapper’s appearance. Although quite consistent in color the Casita Criolla sports a very rustic, almost beaten looking appearance. The construction is spot-on and the wrapper is a nice dark brown with lots of smaller darker spots around the ripples in the leaf. There are lots of very small veins throughout the slender body leading up to a nice round triple cap. The cigar is actually very first and puts up a ton of resistance when compressed with no soft spots at all.  The band is interesting and a departure form what we normally expect Pete to come up with. It’s very vintage looking with an almost old days, sewn on looking placement of the “La Casita Criolla” logo. As you rotate the cigar around you can see Pete’s embroidered logo as well as “Tatuaje Cigars Estelí” just before coming to a small sketch of a nice little cottage. Right away I get this crazy pungent smell from the Broadleaf wrapper.  It’s very barnyardesque with some nice chocolate and spice notes. The foot is almost just as stinky as the wrapper of the cigar bearing almost identical aromas.  The cap was easily clipped using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw was a lot smoother than I had originally expected pumping out some inviting spice and coffee notes with just a hint of pepper.

First Smoke: Wow, the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla starts off as what I would call the epitome of smooth. Right away I am greeting with some very nice woodsy, cocoa, espresso notes that tend to transition into a bit of spice after a while. No pepper at all, but a whole ton of sweetness. The draw on this Casita Criolla is super effortless pumping out huge clouds of thick smoke with every little draw. The cigar doesn’t give off much stationary smoke, but the smell is pungent! Be prepared, this probably isn’t something you’d want to smoke around people who aren’t really into cigar smoke (or could work in your favor by keeping them away). The burnline is pretty thick but produces a very nicely compacted, light grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The dark chocolate and sharp espresso flavors are really taking over this cigar, along with a nice creamy fruit hint here and there mixed in with some subtle spice. The Casita Criolla started out really smooth and has managed to become even more-so into the second third. Even the retrohale on this cigar is creamy and smooth coating with a nice creamed coffee style flavor. I’m really not feeling any nicotine, but this cigar is burning a little quicker than I expected. The burnline is still dead even.

Finish: Into the final third of the Casita Criolla and the spice that has been nothing but an aftertaste has really start to shine through. The cocoa and espresso are still the there in force, with a more creamier, milky flavor starting to creep in with still a dash of sweetness. This cigar took only a little over an hour to finish, requiring no touch-ups or relights. I started to feel a little nicotine at the tail end of the experience, but not really enough to call this cigar anything stronger than medium.

Overview: It may be a little early to call it, but I think Tatuaje’s La Casita Criolla has a VERY good chance in making it’s way towards the top of our “Top 10 Cigars of 2011” list. The flavors are smooth and powerful with only slight changeups where needed to keep me on my toes, the construction on these cigars are perfect, and the price point is actually cheaper then I expected knowing that these are composed 100% of Connecticut Broadleaf.

Pairing: Despite what most people think, Fat Tire was actually New Belgium’s second beer. The first being their award winning Abbey. Since then New Belgium has actually created a stronger, more premium Abbey with limited releases through their “Lips of Faith” collection. They call this their “Grand Cru Abbey Ale” and it’s exactly what I decided to pair this Tatuaje La Casita Criolla with. Abbey is a traditional strong, dark ale perfected by Belgium Trappist Monks, and in my opinion, one of the best brew styles available. With a malty flavor with nice Banana, Caramel, and Lemon hints its hard to believe that he beer boasts a 9.5% ABV. The sweet, creamy style of the beer blended perfectly with the smoothness of this cigar. It really made for a perfect pairing, even if it does leave you a bit loopy afterwards. I think this cigar would go well with any stout, porter, or brown ale as well as Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.

The post Tatuaje – La Casita Criolla appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

This week’s review is one that Daniel has teased me about. I have been trying to get to this review for weeks now but every time I fire up one of these cigars I decide I much rather kick back, relax, and smoke it instead of writing up a review. Either way, it’s better late than never. I bring you, Tatuaje’s Verocu #5.

The Good Stuff: The Verocu line is basically a spin off of Pete Johnson’s already existent  Havana VI line. Pete wanted to extend the line so he, and master blender Don Pepin ramped up the blend by adding enough Ligero to coin the Verocu as a “Havana VI on steroids”.  The #5 is the newest size in the Havana VI series. This short, stout little cigar is jam packed with more flavor than most cigars three times it’s size. These cigars come in cabinets of 50 and run around $195 for the box.

Size: 4×40  –  Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan

Prelight: The Verocu #5 is a perfectly constructed little cigar. Judging by some of the other smaller cigars I have had I would assume that smaller vitolas are hard to roll. They just usually seem to have some sort of flaw in one way or another, but these cigars are spot on.  I absolutely love the wrapper on these cigars. The consistent, dark, almost milk chocolate looking wrapper looks almost good enough to eat. The wrapper leads up to Pepin’s famous, Cuban style, round triple cap. On most of these cigars I found it harder to find larger veins. Only a few sticks had more prominent ones. The only thing that would make this cigar look any better would be a band. No idea why Pete decided to keep the bands off these cigars, but I personally would have liked to see them.

The body of the cigar gives off a very sweet, chocolatey aroma where as the foot  tells a very pepper filled tale with notes of tobacco and cocoa. The cap was pretty easy to cut using my double bladed Palio cutter.  The cold draw gives off a very peppery and spicy first impression with little notes of tobacco and a bit of fruit shining through.

First Smoke: The Tatuaje Verocu #5 lit up with extreme ease using my single torch flame. Right away you are greeted with this just, immense pepper flavor. Enough to give you a bit of a tingling sensation on your lips and tongue long after each draw.  After sorting through the strong pepper punch I was introduced to very sweet, tobacco, cocoa, and even berry like undertones. The draw on these Verocu #5’s are badass. Don’t let the size fool you. They pump out a thick cloud of smoke just like the big dogs. Not only is the draw large, but the cigar pushes out a mean trail of woodsy/tobacco scented stationary smoke.  The ash the Verocu leaves behind is a very bright white, with a few greyer spots, very tightly compacted all the way up to the perfectly even burnline.

Halfway There: The Verocu #5 is still kicking out quite a bit of pepper. Not as much as the first third, but it is still a major player in the flavor race.  There is still some spice creeping in with the subtle cocoa and berry flavor but there is also this coming and going of a very slight perfume/floral type after taste. I love it. This tiny cigar is just jam-packed with tons of flavors. I am not really feeling any nicotine off this cigar, and quite frankly I’d be surprised if a cigar of this size gave me more than a slight nicotine kick if any at all. The retrohale is very sharp coating my nasal passage with just tons of pepper at this point and a lingering woodsy coating.

Finish: That floral taste has surprisingly married up with the sweetness of this cigar and have completely dominated the pepper and the spice. The only undertones now are a bit of berry mixed with some dark chocolate. This is one hell of a mash-up. I am still not feeling any nicotine off this little guy either. The burnline has been just spot-on the entire way. I had a tiny bit of unwrapping at the cap of the cigar, but that was more than likely due to the way I clipped the cigar combined with the dryness of my humidors right now. It’s impossible to keep those things above water in the winter here. This has been just an all around smooth smoke. There was very little harshness towards the end, however once I got down within the final inch the head of the cigar really heated up. I took it down as far as I could without burning my fingers off. The heat was nice though as its freezing cold outside. And by freezing, I mean like 45 degrees. Call me what you will but I’m a desert boy used to the warm weather.

Overview: The Verocu #5 is one hell of a cigar and could quite possibly be the best drive-home cigar I have ever had. It’s definitely up there with the Tatuaje Pettit Cazadore, Illusione Epernay Pettit, and the 7-20-4 Dogwalker. The only main difference between the Pettit Cazzie and the Verocu is I personally think the Verocu is quite a bit bolder and hold much more flavor. So it just depends on what you are into. I seriously smoked about half a Cabinet of these bad boys in a matter of a month and I will be buying another one in the near future. This is a must have in ANYONE’s regular rotation. The cigar is nothing short of amazing and the price is much lower than what I would personally pay for one of these.

Pairing: I am still not 100% sure I should be enjoying a drink, but screw it. I have been alcohol free for far too long. Beer really screws up gout so I reached for the wine in  this case. Hopefully I’ll be back on the beer wagon before next week’s review.  The wine in question was a nice little glass of Enchantment Vineyards Chocolate Port. This is a favorite of mine and I love to pair this with more flavorful cigars. The Chocolate, Raspberry, dark grape, and black cherry notes are bold enough to overpower any lighter cigar. In this case, the risk paid off as the wine paired perfectly with the floral and berry notes the Verocu had to offer. Another great pairing would be some dark coffee, or a nice little stout. Brooklyn Brewing makes a badass black chocolate stout that would pair wonderfully with this cigar.

The post Tatuaje Verocu #5 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

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.

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