The Good Stuff:

Tatuaje fans rejoice! One of the most popular blends Pete Johnson ever created has made it’s triumphant return. The Tatuaje Frank, the first set in the popular Monster series released an eerie 13 years ago in a VERY limited production run of only 666 boxes. Each year thereafter a new “Monster” was released:

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde
• 2016 – Krueger
• 2017 – The Michael
• 2018 – The Bride
• 2019 – Chuck and Tiff

The Tatuaje The Frank Redux 1 is essentially the same cigar as the first release with only minor tweaks. Likely due to crop variations. The Frank Redux 1 is offered in the same 7 5/9 x 49 format utilizing the same blend on paper: Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a dual Nicaraguan binder (Jalapa and Esteli) and all Nicaraguan fillers (also from Jalapa and Esteli). This time there was a total of 5,000 boxes of 13 released. Each cigar runs $13. Big thanks to Jason for the hookup!

• Size: 7 5/9 x 49
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Dual Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Bottle Logic Study Break (Imperial Stout 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Frank Redux 1 carries a deep, dark brown wrapper covered in splotches of almost-black areas and lighter orangish areas. It’s definitely a bit monster-looking. The wrapper itself carries quite a few medium-grade veins along with a ton of gritty tooth and lots of oils. The wrapper is very thick and very hard while the cigar itself is huge and heavy as hell. It’s very tightly compacted. The cigar carries a few notable characteristics as it carries a very soft box-press format and the wrapper is folded over the foot concealing the fillers while it’s finished off with a round, double-wrapped cap. The Frank Redux is then polished off with the same dark green and black Tatuaje band we found on the original Frank release.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Frank Redux 1 gives off lots of spice and nut aromas while the foot of the cigar is more natural-tobacco focused with lots of pepper scents. The cap was a bit tough to cut through. The cold draw on the Tatuaje Frank Redux 1 releases a ton of spice and black pepper over some sweet natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Frank Redux 1 starts out with a good amount of black pepper which quickly faded allowing the profile to transition to something more chocolate-forward with deep cocoa, cinnamon, espresso, and gingerbread over light walnut. Maybe I’m already feeling the holiday spirit, but this tastes a little like Christmas. I am getting a nice tart berry that creeps in every now and then while the spice from the wrapper leaves my lips tingling a bit. The draw is perfect. Each little puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which really takes a long time to dissipate while the cigar releases very minor amounts of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted light gray ash which held on for about 3/4 of a inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje The Frank Redux 1 and the flavors are still pouring in. The cocoa and walnut lead the charge backed by cinnamon, espresso, oak, and a whole mess of natural tobacco flavors. The tart berry is still creeping in and out of the experience. The retrohale really brings out the spice and pepper I experienced at the beginning of the first third. I close out the second third with no nicotine kick yet.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje The Frank Redux 1 and this is where the cigar really shines. The body has continuously ramped up from the start of the cigar until now. The flavor profile is now heavily focused around the spice and dark chocolate over milder espresso notes, walnut, cinnamon and natural tobacco. It took me about 2 and a half hours to take this down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat. The cigar never once needed any attention from my torch as I burned flawlessly the entire time. I close out the cigar with a pretty decent nicotine kick that wasn’t necessarily due to the strength of the cigar, but the length of the experience instead.

Overview:

While the original Frank is so far in my rear view mirror that I can’t remember much of that experience outside of my written words, I do remember how special of a cigar that was. The Frank Redux 1 delivered the same experience. It’s just an all around fantastic cigar. The flavor profile is incredible and really marries up well with my I personally look for in a cigar. The blend is complex, yet balanced, the price is perfect, and the fact that it’s much easier to find this time around is just awesome. I’ve always been a huge fan of the monster series and I for one am more than happy with it’s resurrection.

Pairing:

Bottle Logic’s Study Break is a Snickers inspired candy bar stout brewed with lactose, caramel malts, cacao nibs and peanuts. Coming in at 10% ABV the beer tastes much like it’s described as it leads with a ton of bold peanut over milk chocolate, roasted malt, a light saltiness and vanilla with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with even more peanut, toffee and chocolate. Outside of the obvious Halloween connection, I decided to pair this cigar with the Tatuaje Frank Redux 1 as it shared similar flavors in the chocolate and nut while the cigar added some more spice-forward flavors to the overall pairing experience.

The post Tatuaje The Frank Redux 1 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

It’s everyone’s favorite Halloween cigar time! Every year Pete Johnson of Tatuaje releases a new Monster cigar which celebrates… well… monsters. Monsters from the past, and from iconic movies:

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde
• 2016 – Krueger
• 2017 – The Michael
• 2018 – The Bride
• 2019 – Chuck and Tiff

Last week I took a look at the Tiff, while this week I take a run at Tiff’s love, the Chuck. Just like the Tiff, the Chuck is rolled at the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua. The blend differs from the Tiff by featuring an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, but features a Nicaraguan binder and fillers. As with most of the Tatuaje Monster Series cigars there are two packaging options, a 13 count dress box which was limited to only 700 boxes, or a 10 count standard box which was limited to 2,190 boxes. Each option goes for $13 a stick. I purchased mine over from our friends at Neptune Cigars.

• Size: 5 7/8 x 52
• Wrapper: Ecuadoria Habano
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Founders KBS Espresso (Imperial Stout 12% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Chuck starts out with a beautifully consistent, dark brown wrapper that resembles a Hershey’s bar. The wrapper features a copious amount of oils and some very minor veining and webbing leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The wrapper itself feels very dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is very heavy and tightly packed with no soft spots whatsoever. The cigar is polished off with the standard, beautiful Tatuaje band in blue and white with the words “Halloween” and “Monster” printed in red on the sides.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Chuck gives off soft oak and chocolate aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of pepper, spice, and dirt. The cap cup clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw on the Tatuaje Chuck produces bold oak and spice flavors with underlying earthy notes.

First Third:

The Tatauje Chuck starts out with a tiny little bit of black pepper which only last the first puff or two before releasing a ton of bold oak, dark chocolate, coffee, spice, and musk. The draw is perfect as each little puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, gray smoke which hangs out for a very long amount of time before dissipating while the cigar gives off only very minor stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving what I thought was a trail of tightly compacted white ash until it fell in my lap about a quart of an inch in, so excuse the following picture.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Chuck and the dark chocolate flavor is now dominating the flavor field backed by notes of coffee, musk, and oak. The retrohale really helps bring the oak out making the chocolate/oak combination incredible.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje Chuck and the flavors mimic what I picked up in the second. The cigar still leans heavily on dark chocolate with backing notes of coffee, spice, musk and oak. It took me almost two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness nor extended heat. The cigar did tend to produce some sap which just reminded me to pace myself and not to smoke too quickly. Slowing down minimized the impact. I close out the cigar with only a very light nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Tatuaje Chuck isn’t the most complex cigar, nor did it need to be for me to enjoy it. The chocolate-led flavor profile was great and really hit the spot for me. The construction was flawless, and the price is average to what I’d expect to pay for this experience. While I did enjoy this stick, its not something that would find its way into my regular rotation but something I do see myself coming back to from time to time.

Pairing:

By now, everyone should be well aquatinted with Fonder’s Pride and Joy, KBS. KBS is a 12% imperial stout brewed with chocolate and coffee and aged in bourbon barrels. New to the line, the espresso version is the same beer which then ages on espresso beans after its pulled from the barrels. The Espresso KBS leads with what tastes more like a mild, smooth, roast cold brewed coffee flavors than espresso, chocolate, and malt with a heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more light coffee and chocolate. Like the cigar, its not the most complex beer, and you can’t even taste the bourbon barrel anymore, but it makes for a hell of a pairing with cigars like the Chuck that have chocolate and coffee notes in their experience.

The post Tatuaje Monster Series #11 The Chuck appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Every year since 2008 Pete Johnson of Tatuaje has released the Monster Series cigar. A cigar released around halloween which takes its characteristics from some of the most famous monster ever known. I have been lucky enough to smoke quite a few of each release since then:

2008 – The Frank
2009 – The Drac
2010 – The Face
2011 – The Wolfman
2012 – The Mummy
2013 – The JV13
2014 – The Jekyll
2015 – The Hyde
2016 – Krueger
2017 – The Michael

This year we focus on none other than Haloween’s infamous killer Michael Myers. Hand crafted at the My Father factory in Nicaraguan the Michael starts out with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/2 x 52 toro size which comes in limited edition dress boxes of 13 and standard boxes of 10 running $13 a stick. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Fox Cigar Bar who actually still have some in stock last time I checked. I suggest you head over there, email them, or call them and buy them now if you are interested in this cigar cause these sell out extremely fast year after year. Let them know we sent ya.

Size: 6 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $13
Pairing: Brouwerij Het Anker Cuvee Van De Keizer Rood 2013 (Belgian Strong Ale 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Micheal starts out with a rustic, meaty, dark brown wrapper thats covered in splotches of darker brown, and reddish-tinted spots. The wrapper’s texture is decently toothy and gritty with a good amount of oils, as well as some really prominent natural webbing scattered throughout the cigar’s body. There are some mild veining as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, triple wrapped cap. The Michael is then polished off with the standard black Tatuaje band we all love, with the words “Halloween” and “Monster” across the sides.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Michael gives off a very peppery, spicy aroma while the foot of the cigar is a bit more subtle with notes of cocoa, natural tobacco, and cedar. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw really hits you in the face with pepper and spice along with some subtle cocoa and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Michael starts out with a massive cayenne pepper burst that kept my tongue and lips tingling for quite sometime even though the flavor faded after the first few draws. Once the pepper fades the Michael showcases some great, complex flavors of deep oak, cocoa, cranberry, spice, and a molasses style sweetness. The draw is perfect as each puff kicks out just there right amount of thick white smoke which really hangs around for a while before dissipating. The burn line is pretty wild and a bit wide, but I haven’t had to touch it up so no marks taken there. The ash left behind is medium and dark gray and pretty flaky. It only held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Michael and while the body is still well in the full-bodied arena the flavors have really started to come together. The cigar leads with spice, sweetness, and deep cedar backed by some great cranberry, molasses, pecan, and musk. The retrohale really brings the pepper back into the mix sod I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still slightly wild but I haven’t had to touch up the cigar so I’m not messing with it. I close out the second third with a mild little nicotine kick.

Finish:

One thing I noticed about the Tatuaje Michael is the cigar will go out on you if you leave it sitting for almost any period of time. Knowing this, just give the cigar the attention it deserves and you’ll be home free. The flavor profile in the final third is really ran by the spice and backed by the molasses, cedar, musk, and berry. It took me over 2 hours to take the Michael down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat all the way down tot the nub. I closed out the cigar with a decent little nicotine hit.

Overview:

The Michael has to be my favorite Monster releases since the JV13. The cigar is complex, bold, yet manageable and not too overpowering in the strength department. I actually smoked one of these with a buddy Andrew who works at Lucas Tobacco in Las Cruces, New Mexico who is a huge Tatuaje fan. He said the same. ITs nice to see after all these years Pete and his Monsters still haven’t lost their touch.

Pairing:

I went a bit off the grid here and decided to pair this Tatuaje Michael with a Cuvee Van De Keizer Rood from Brouwerij Het Anker in Belgium. This Belgian Strong Ale comes in at a whopping 10% ABV and you wouldn’t guess that it would be even close to that boozy. The beer leads with sweetness, coriander, spice, pear, and some light hop with a very juicy/light mouthfeel before finishing crisp with even more pear, spice, coriander and sweetness. In theory, the pairing didn’t have too much going for it outside of the spice and sweetness but the beer really helped pull out some of the cedar notes as well as add some great fruit to the mix. I think the Tatuaje Michael would also pair great with a Belgian Quad, spiced stout, or Tawny port.

Giveaway:

Want to know how to get your hands on a 3-pack of The Michael for yourself? Well, once again we teamed up with the amazing team at Fox Cigar Bar who threw in a couple of free cigars to hand out to one of our lucky readers! You know the drill, just follow the rules below to enter. The winner will be announced Monday, November 13th. Continental US only, 21 and over please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Tatuaje Monster Series #10 The Michael appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

It’s that time of the year folks! One of the most popular, sometimes elusive releases just hit shelves. I’m talking about the the Tatuaje Monster series. This ninth release in the Series is called the Krueger and is designed after none other than the man nightmares are made out of, Freddy Krueger himself. For those who have been living under a rock for the last 10 years, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars releases a Halloween specific blend each year just before the holiday hits. I have had the pleasure of smoking each and everyone, and plan on keeping that tradition up as long as I can. Here is the rundown of the releases.

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde

Produced a the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua, this year’s format utilizes the Conjonu 2009 molds but were cut a bit longer. It closely resembles the format of the Wolfman coming in at a 7 1/4 x 48 box-press with a tapered torpedo style cap. The blend features a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan Binder and Nicaraguan Filler tobaccos. The Krueger comes packaged in Dress Boxes of 13, and standard non-Dress  Boxes of 10 running $13 a stick and won’t last long. I purchased a few of these over from our friends at 2 Guys Smoke Shop. At the time I am writing this it looks like they have already sold out.

Size: 7 1/4 x 48
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $13
Pairing: Goose Island Bourbon County 2015 (Imperial Stout 14.3%)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Krueger starts out with a very consistent, deep, dark brown wrapper. While the wrapper is already dark, you can still see many natural dark webs reaching through the cigar’s wrapper leaf. The texture of the cigar is incredibly toothy and firm. It feels like extra gritty sandpaper wrapped around a stack of popsicle sticks. The entire cigar is very solid and firm and feels incredibly tightly packed while the wrapper itself is very dense and very hard. The long, slender body carries a comfortable soft box-press which leads up to a very long, pointed, tapered cap. The cigar is polished off with the same Tatuaje and we see on just about all of their cigars with the standard monster twist, carrying a red, green, and black design which matches the clothing worn by Freddy.

The wrapper of the Tatuaje Krueger gives off a good amount of spice, cocoa, and cedar while the foot of the cigar carries more pepper than spice, natural tobacco aromas, and a good amount of earthiness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great tart, cocoa, spice, and rich tobacco flavors.

First Third:

Woah! I wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of bold cayenne pepper the Tatuaje Krueger was about to give off. After the first few puffs my lips and tongue were left burning for a few minutes. After about a quarter inch the pepper starts to give way and it opens the doors for the tartness, cocoa, spice, molasses, and rich oak that lies within the cigar. The draw is perfect, each tiny puffs releases a huge cloud of thick white smoke while the cigar gives off a decent amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a compacted trail of medium and dark gray striped ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

The Tatuaje Krueger is really coming to life in the second third. The flavors lead with a deep, rich oak, bold bittersweet chocolate, a nice natural tartness, a good amount of spice, and a bit of pepper that is still somehow lingering around. The retrohale is a great reminder of just how potent that pepper was to start off the cigar and I really doubt I’ll find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. The burnline is still dead even and very sharp, while I close out the second third already with a nice little nicotine kick.

Finish:

The Tatuaje Krueger finishes just as bold as it started with a ton of bittersweet chocolate, spice, tartness, cinnamon, and pepper with some soft notes of pine and clove. This is one of the better Monster Series releases in my recent memory. I smoked it down to the very nub which took just over two hours and I experienced no extra harshness or extra heat. In fact, I was able to take this cigar down much easier than most cigars with half the body and strength which is pretty surprising considering how full body and strength the Krueger is.

Overview:

As I stated, this was one of the better Tatuaje Monster Series I’ve had. Not that any of them are bad, or even close to it. But the Krueger seems to stand out amongst them. The cigar is very strong, and very bold, yet I never once felt overpowered by it which is great considering how long the smoking time was. I wouldn’t recommend this for those novice cigar smokers though. I just think its a bit much and if you aren’t used to smoking full-strength cigars it might do you in. I know its pricey, I know its hard to find, but in all honesty if you see them I recommend snatching up quite a few of them. I’m glad that I did.

Pairing:

Good Island’s Bourbon County Stout is another beer that isn’t a stranger to Casas Fumando. As the released of the 2016 version grows near I dipped into my stash to put a few of the 2015 on ice. Brewed at the Goose Island brewery in Chicago this Bourbon Barrel Aged stout comes in at a whopping 14.3%. At least in these parts, in other parts of the country a less potent version is found on shelves. The Bourbon County Stout leads with a ton of sweetness, rich bittersweet chocolate, cinnimon, spice, a bit of clove, lots of roasted malt, and even a bit of raisin with a very, very mouthfeel before finishing very sweet with a good amount of bourbon and booze over more chocolate, roasted malt, spice, and raisin with a very boozy aftertaste. I love this beer, and knew right away it would have to go down as the pairing with this cigar since the flavors were so compatible.

The post Tatuaje Monster Series #9 Krueger 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.

In case you missed any of our other Quick Draws, here are the links and the cigars contained:

• Quick Draw Episode 1 – Gran Habano Connecticut #1 and Cohiba Siglo VI
• Quick Draw Episode 2 – P. Benitez Connecticut and Padron’s Serie 1926 #6
• Quick Draw Episode 3 – Quesada Oktoberfest Bavaria and Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos

If you haven’t read one of our Quick Draws before, it’s basically a quick review of a cigar we’ve recently had. Perhaps revisiting an old one, trying a new one, something we didn’t intend to review but surprised us, or whatever other reason we can think of. Without any more blabbering, let’s just jump right in.

Tatuaje Monster Series #1 – The Frank – Tony

It’s been a while since I personally have done a Quick Draw. Mainly because, well I don’t know really. It’s been a crazy last couple of weeks. Busy at home, work, you get the idea. Anyways, recently I was lucky enough to fire up one of the most sought after cigars in the country. Tatuaje’s Monster Series #1, the infamous Frank.

I know some of you wanted a review of this, but quite FRANKly (rimshot), there really is no point. This isn’t a cigar you will be able to find unless you already have a few lying around, or you have a really awesome friend (right Daniel?). There is some good news though. Recently Pete Johnson rumored that he might be making a “mini monster” series. Smaller vitola versions of the current line-up. And rumored to be amongst those blends is the mini-Frank, or whatever he called it. So keep a look out for those.

Anyways, I was a HUGE fan of the Boris. In fact, I think that was one of the best blends Pete has ever released. And the Frank is supposed to be the same blend, only with a Connecticut Broadleaf Wrapper. I’m a sucker for Broadleaf so you know I jumped all over that. Anyways, the cigar is a monster (double rimshot). Seriously, this thing is a huge. Beautiful looking deep, dark, toothy wrapper. I was surprised that almost 4 years later it still had so much oil! The flavors were exactly what I had imagined, some very, very sweet tobacco, lots of chocolate, woodsy and even some maple flavors with a splash of spice. After only a few puffs in I could totally taste the resemblance to the Boris, except, it seemed very subtle and washed out. The more I smoked this cigar the more flat it became. I really wish I had smoked one of these at it’s initial release so that I could make a comparison, but I think that all the age on this cigar worked against it. That’s not the first time that has happened to me. Not all cigars age well, and through all the hype I would have to imagine this was another blend that fell into that category.

Ahh well. At least Boris’s are still around through trades (I smoked the heck out of mine), and if the mini-monster series of this does get released I can make a solid judgment on it.

Alec Bradley American Classic Blend – Daniel

The weather in Toronto continues to be totally wacky lately, just 2 weeks ago we were wearing shorts in awesome high 70’s temps and just yesterday we had freezing rain. It makes no sense! But luckily the temps have been somewhat favorable for cigar smoking outside so I try to make the most of it. I’m always looking for new sticks to try and even revisit old brands I may not have had good luck with. Today I’ll be hitting up the Alec Bradley American Classic Blend.

The AB is a beefy looking cigar with it’s thick 60-ring gauge and at 6 inches, it’s not the faint at heart smoker. Be prepared for a nice long smoking session when you choose this stick. The cigar itself offers up a nice smooth wrapper and fairly springy consistency when squeezed, even though the foot appears to be quite well packed. The cap clipped easily and the foot toasted up nicely using my favorite culinary/creme brulee torch (get one of these if you don’t have one, I love mine!)

The cigar itself I felt was another classic Alec Bradley. I seem to have mostly the same opinion when it comes to Alec Bradleys and this is how it went. I started off the cigar with a nice mix of medium body flavors including a bit of woodsiness, leather and a touch of earthy flavors. There was some spice that snuck in now and then as well. Now my biggest gripe here was that those flavors didn’t really change much through the whole time I smoked this. A massive 6×60 cigar that is fairly one-dimensional gets boring for me very fast. That’s not to say the flavors were bad, they were fine but I needed and wanted a change up within the first third. That seems to be a continual event with me and Alec Bradley sticks. So a shorter vitola probably would have held my attention but in this monster size, I got bored pretty quick. I might pick a smaller vitola of this blend one day but I don’t think it’ll be on my primary shopping list any time soon.

Now I need to point out that the brew I paired this cigar with was damn fantastic! It was a Tripel from La Trappe breweries, a traditional Trappist ale. Seems like Tony has something right about this Belgian brews. IT was full of a mix of dark and light fruity flavors, everything from citrus to a nice deep blackberry, mixed with a ton of malt and even a touch of toffee or caramel. Definitely worth picking this up if you can find some!

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