Tatuaje - Noella
I have never had one of these before, in fact I have never had any Tatuaje or Cab. or Don Pepin or... Anyway, I have heard about the Tatuajes, so was glad to get one of these and was really excited to try it out. In fact, I didn’t give it the rest in the humidor like I normally do. I was going fishing, and this was going to be the smoke at the end of the day at Bernie’s Bar & Grill as we unwind.
Well, the fishing was really, really poor. OK, so the fishing was fine - there just wasn’t any catching going on - zero, zilch, nada... That ain’t normal! If I don’t catch something, my buddy Steve does. And the Steelhead run should be full-swing by now, but bay (the body of water that is called Green Bay - a portion of Lake Michigan - is still frozen) I did have a cigar while fishing, but that’s a review for later. Anyway - here goes. Remember the guidelines...
0.0 - 2.0 = poor/inferior quality
2.1 - 2.9 = fair
3.0 - 3.5 = good
3.5 - 4.5 = excellent
4.6 - 5.0 = superior
1) Aesthetics: Chocolate wrapper with some larger veins, and one big one that ran down the length - slight glisten of oil, but bit rough. But it did fairly scream, "Smoke me!"
Score for aesthetics: 3.3
2) Pre-light Construction: This was a brick - I mean solid. There was no give to it at all. I was guessing that hotreds keeps his humidor a bit below 70%. But, this was also a heavy stick for such a smaller size. I’m figuring 30 minutes topside for this puppy (remember this).
Score for Pre-light construction: 4.5
3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: This stayed firm as a rock throughout, a solid white ash slowly bent as it clung for a good 2" - the burn was razor sharp.
Score for post-light construction: 4.9
4) Flavor and strength: The first couple puffs were harsh, but then it smoothed out. Leather, sweet earthiness, slight citrus, cocoa (not chocolate) and white pepper predominated this stick - incredibly complex and full-bodied for such a short stick with this narrow ring gauge.
Score for flavor and strength: 4.9
5) Aftertaste/Finish: A long, full tobacco flavor on the finish. This is what a cigar should do.
Score for aftertaste: 4.8
6) Aroma: The sideslip exhibited tingle to my nose and cocoa - very nice. I couldn’t get enough of it.
Score for aroma: 4.8
7) General Comments: This is a cigar smoker’s cigar, not for the faint of heart or beginners. I lit this stick at 5:12 and nubbed it after burning my fingers at 7:03. I couldn’t believe I was puffing this bad boy for almost 2 hours. A 5X42 stick going that long was incredible - especially when I thought at the onset it was dry.
hotreds, thanks!!! This was a real treat.
I have never had one of these before, in fact I have never had any Tatuaje or Cab. or Don Pepin or... Anyway, I have heard about the Tatuajes, so was glad to get one of these and was really excited to try it out. In fact, I didn’t give it the rest in the humidor like I normally do. I was going fishing, and this was going to be the smoke at the end of the day at Bernie’s Bar & Grill as we unwind.
Well, the fishing was really, really poor. OK, so the fishing was fine - there just wasn’t any catching going on - zero, zilch, nada... That ain’t normal! If I don’t catch something, my buddy Steve does. And the Steelhead run should be full-swing by now, but bay (the body of water that is called Green Bay - a portion of Lake Michigan - is still frozen) I did have a cigar while fishing, but that’s a review for later. Anyway - here goes. Remember the guidelines...
0.0 - 2.0 = poor/inferior quality
2.1 - 2.9 = fair
3.0 - 3.5 = good
3.5 - 4.5 = excellent
4.6 - 5.0 = superior
1) Aesthetics: Chocolate wrapper with some larger veins, and one big one that ran down the length - slight glisten of oil, but bit rough. But it did fairly scream, "Smoke me!"
Score for aesthetics: 3.3
2) Pre-light Construction: This was a brick - I mean solid. There was no give to it at all. I was guessing that hotreds keeps his humidor a bit below 70%. But, this was also a heavy stick for such a smaller size. I’m figuring 30 minutes topside for this puppy (remember this).
Score for Pre-light construction: 4.5
3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: This stayed firm as a rock throughout, a solid white ash slowly bent as it clung for a good 2" - the burn was razor sharp.
Score for post-light construction: 4.9
4) Flavor and strength: The first couple puffs were harsh, but then it smoothed out. Leather, sweet earthiness, slight citrus, cocoa (not chocolate) and white pepper predominated this stick - incredibly complex and full-bodied for such a short stick with this narrow ring gauge.
Score for flavor and strength: 4.9
5) Aftertaste/Finish: A long, full tobacco flavor on the finish. This is what a cigar should do.
Score for aftertaste: 4.8
6) Aroma: The sideslip exhibited tingle to my nose and cocoa - very nice. I couldn’t get enough of it.
Score for aroma: 4.8
7) General Comments: This is a cigar smoker’s cigar, not for the faint of heart or beginners. I lit this stick at 5:12 and nubbed it after burning my fingers at 7:03. I couldn’t believe I was puffing this bad boy for almost 2 hours. A 5X42 stick going that long was incredible - especially when I thought at the onset it was dry.
hotreds, thanks!!! This was a real treat.