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.

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For those of you who didn’t know, this past weekend was our Thanksgiving up here in the Great White North and the weather was downright awesome! We had gorgeous clear skies and temperatures above 75F all weekend. This was a big change because just a week before that we were hovering in the mid 30’s and ready to busty out the parkas and the igloo building equipment! So I picked out a nice summery brew and a lighter cigar to enjoy the weather before it disappeared

The cigar I settled with was the Angelenos Toro from 2009. Now the Angelenos is an interesting prospect. It’s not really the company name, and it’s not really cigar line name, but it’s sort of a mixture of both. The founder of Angelenos is Keith K. Park whose name you might recognize from Prometheus as well as a couple other brands such as God of Fire and Sencillo. If you visit the Angelenos website, Keith K. Park has a nice letter detailing the “why” of Angelenos and about what the name means. As a quick summary, the Angelenos cigar was created to honor Los Angeles (a.k.a the “City of Angels”). He feels the Los Angeles is home to a great number of passionate cigar lovers and wanted to create something for all of them.

The Angelenos cigars are wrapped in an Ecuadorian leaf and rounded out with Dominican binders and fillers. The cigar itself is rolled in the Tabaccalera A. Fuente y Cia factory which is located in the Dominican Republic. you may recognize the Fuente name in that factory, and it is indeed the factory where Arturo Fuente cigars are produced. One neat thing to note about these cigars is that the band has a year inscribed on them in red. This particular Angelenos has “2009” on it. Would be great to see more manufacturers adopt this style!

In a lot of my cigars I’ve come to associate the Ecuadorian wrappers as something that packs a punch. This is most likely just by chance and the choice of cigars that I’ve smoked, but that’s just what pops into my head when I think Ecuadorian wrapper. Now from some basic reading I know this is not the case with the Angelenos and the website promises me a smooth and relaxing cigar. A quick note that this cigar was sent to us from our good friends over at Smoke Inn. Check their site when you have a moment, they have a great selection of cigars! So, Will the Angelenos live up to this claim? Time to read on and find out!

Cigar: Angelenos 2009
Drink: Bell’s Oberon Ale
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $9.95 MSRP @ Smoke Inn
Burn Time: 1.5 Hours

Construction:
• The Angelenos has a nice light brown wrapper surrounding it with some smaller visible veins
• I noticed that the wrapper itself is fairly fragile and even found a few green spots on some of the samples
• The entire cigar is surprisingly firm from head to foot, offering almost no spring at all
• In line with the firm feel, the foot of the cigar appears to be very well packed
• The cigar clipped easily leaving a cleanly cut cap
• At first it seemed the draw was a bit tight but it’s actually doing very well

Burn:
• The toasting went very nicely, took a little bit of time and ended up with an evenly glowing foot
• The burn has been razor sharp through the first inch or so, let’s hope it stays that way
• As I get to the halfway point I’m happy to report we’re still moving along with a razor sharp burn and I have no problems letting it sit to enjoy it slowly
• Loving the burn on this cigar, still nearly perfect as I head into the last third
• Not having much to say is a good thing here, not problems to report!

Smoke & Ash:
• The initial draws are giving a nice comfortable amount of smoke that quickly fills your mouth
• The resting smoke on this cigar is constant and pretty thick too, gives off a campfire type of aroma as well
• The ash is looking very clean and tight and is holding on past 1 inch so far
• The color is also quite nice, showing off a light grey tone with the occasional black line
• The ash fell jsut short of two inches before falling off gently into the ashtray
• The next ash help on beautifully past the 2 inch mark with very little effort!

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma off this wrapper is mostly woodsy with a bit of barnyard
• The foot has a much more interesting aroma though, I pick up a touch of floral, more woodsy and a slight hint of spice, maybe like a paprika
• The pre-light draw brings more woodsiness again, along with it I’m getting the paprika and maybe a touch of sweetness
• The initial draws bring out a lot of woodsy flavors, mostly cedar but I’m even picking up a touch of pine. Along with the woodsy notes there is a slight touch of coffee and the paprika is hiding in there as well, a good start
• The start of this cigar has been a nice mild body with a small bite on the retrohale and a smooth cedar finish
• As I progress, the coffee flavors are making more of an appearance and the woodsy notes are still the primary
• The spice has mostly disappeared and I’m enjoying the woodsy and coffee flavors here
• I’m also getting some nutty flavors here and there, perhaps it’s almond like, very nice
• The flavors are intensifying a bit as I go into the last third, it’s still mostly woodsy and coffee but I’m also getting light hints of leather and the almond is around too
• The flavors finished strong but the body didn’t really pass medium, a good smoke right to the nub with no bitterness to worry about

Final Thoughts:
The Angelenos makes for a very nice smoke and can be enjoyed pretty much anytime of the day. If you like to enjoy an early day or morning cigar, this would go well with a cup of coffee or it can hold it’s own in the evening as well. The flavors were not multi-dimensional but they were enjoyable and I didn’t really get bored of them. Maybe a longer vitola might lose it’s appeal but in a Toro size or similar it’s a good smoke. The burn was also top-notch with no issues from start to finish, that always earns extra points in my book. I like to work, read or watch a movie while I enjoy my cigar and if I’m fighting to keep it lit or touch it up, it ruins the experience for me. The classic flavors of cedar and coffee are also very easy to enjoy and pick up on for any level of smoker to enjoy. My main gripe here is probably the price, it seems a little high for this type of cigar with a straightforward profile. With that said, the price isn’t out of this world and still accessible. They are worth buying at least a 5-pack to have around when you need a nice relaxing smoke.

Pairings:
Today’s brew is another one of my imports from my trip to Florida. It from Bell’s Brewery Inc. located in Missouri and it’s called Oberon Ale. The Oberon Ale is actually a summer seasonal and I probably should have drank it earlier but this weekend turned out to have some awesome summer-like weather so I popped it open. The beer has nice light color to it and is obviously not filtered since it is cloudy and has some particles floating around in it. I also found it to be a little more carbonated than normal although that didn’t really bother me. The flavor is very bright as soon as it hits your tongue, definitely a lot of fruity notes but they aren’t overpoweringly sweet. The beer still has a nice medium body to it and a tasty malty finish. This makes for an excellent summer beer that isn’t all clear and watery like some other summer beers are. I definitely enjoyed it and will look for more next time I head south. As for a pairing, I found it made a good partner with the Angelenos. Although you have to be selective with this brew, a nice connecticut or mild maduro would go well. If the cigar is too far into the medium or full range the beer probably won’t stack up as well. As for the Angelenos, this is a good option along with a smooth dark ale or possibly a nice coffee as a morning smoke.

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