Tatuaje Cojonu 2012 Habano Cigar Review
Rustic cigar with a strong box press going on. It is very oily and is not without some minor imperfections including: stretch marks, a couple small holes in the wrapper, bumps along the sides and, well, that’s it. Throw all of that negative stuff out though because, in the end, that stuff doesn’t really matter (to me at least).
What does matter? This is one of three cigars in this release of the Cojonu line. For more of an explanation on that you can head on over to Cigar Coop’s breakdown to learn how to spot the difference between Habano, Capa Especial and Reserva versions of this cigar. Don’t worry, it really isn’t that complicated.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: toro
Length: 6 ½”
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $13.00/Single
Weltschmerz Torch!
It starts out subdued but enjoyable. There’s a bit of hot spice (close to pepper) and soft spice (cinnamon) along with some bread (wheat). Everything works well together but it isn’t an amazing mixture of flavors. Also, the cigar has been threatening to go out if I don’t take a puff every 30 seconds or so. The draw is fine but it’s just threatening to give up on life.
Fortunately, during the second third, the cigar stays lit without necessitating my constant attention. It wasn’t a big pain to begin with but not having to worry about it is better.
The second third’s flavors are a bit better for me than the first third’s. Oak with sweet spice adding a strong secondary influence. There’s also this slightly bitter and washed out chocolate lurking in the background like that creepy neighbor who is peaking over the fence leering at the hot chick sunbathing but she doesn’t mind so it works (I mean the chocolate flavor works, you should never be a peeping Tom, that’s just wrong).
Slightly bitter and washed out chocolate gets an upgrade to slightly bitter milk chocolate during the final third. The sweet spice is still around.
Medium-full bodied with a good draw and burn, this cigar features a decent amount of evolution with a flavor profile that I think most will find agreeable. Besides this cigar not wanting to stay lit during the first third there really aren’t any glaring deficiencies with this cigar. There aren’t a lot of really high points either. Instead, this is a solid cigar performing admirably from beginning to end.
90 points
Alec Bradley Prensado Short Cigar Review
I received the cigar used for this review from Cigars Direct. All reviews are my own.
Wrapper: Trajes, Honduran | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Trajes, Nicaraguan & Honduran | Box of 20: $175.00; 5 Pack: $47.00 | Churchill | 7″ x 48
0/3: Looks well made, slightly darker than medium brown in color, no noticeable imperfections on the wrapper, fairly hard packed with a soft box press. I should note that I am shocked, SHOCKED!!!, that I haven’t reviewed this line before. I thought I had (maybe that’s why I never did a review because I thought I already had).
1/3: Starts out very well. Coffee, earth and some sweet spice. It’s got a bit of strength but not so much as to overpower.
2/3: Flavors are pretty much the same as before but the spice does pick up a little in intensity. With the increase in spice it does add to my enjoyment of the cigar because the extra spice adds an extra dimension to the flavor profile.
3/3: Bitter earthiness is the main force in the flavor profile during the final third. I like it because the flavors are deep and work well with the spice and the hint of chocolate that is starting to break through now. I did have to touch up the burn line a couple of times but this is a rather long cigar and it wasn’t too much of a hassle.
4/3: It is pretty easy to see why a certain publication that has been around for two decades likes this cigar so much. Medium-full bodied with a good draw and decent burn, this cigar has a lot of flavor in what I like to refer to as the dark end of the flavor spectrum.
4.5 out of 5 points – a cigar most everyone will like
Viaje Oro Collector’s Edition 2012 Fuerza Cigar Review
This particular Viaje is a perfecto shaped cigar with a bottle nosed shaped tip. That’s a fairly unique shape nowadays and I do like the look of it. As you might guess with Viaje, this is a limited edition cigar (For more info check out Cigar Coop).
But limited edition, or, as is the case here, “Collector’s Edition,” doesn’t mean good. I’ve liked some Viajes (Skull and Bones Red 2012 WMD) and I haven’t cared for some others (TNT 2012); that’s just natural.
This cigar does look nice and, as I mentioned before, is a perfecto. I think due to the difficulty in rolling this kind of cigar the wrapper does have a couple of minor stretch marks around veins. It’s also a little bumpy in some areas with the most obvious misshapen parts being around the bulge near the foot. None of this is off-putting, though.
It’s also a very oily cigar and the Nicaraguan grown wrapper tobacco is medium brown with some darker flecks and lighter splotches (this isn’t a demerit in my book because tobacco is, after all, a natural product). I’ve smoked one before at a herf and now let us see if this thing is worth the price tag.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: perfecto
Length: 5”
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $225.00/Box of 25 | $10.00/Single
Tree of Life Fire!
It’s a fairly spicy cigar with a decent amount of intensity. The spice is a cross between sweet and floral but the main part of it is black pepper. There’s also some cedar and earthy flavors roaming around as well. What I like most about the first third is that the flavors work well together and are very clean.
The spice loses some of its sweetness but keeps its floral and black pepper essence. Cocoa has come on and has a slight bitter tinge to it that gives extra life to the flavor profile. It’s a (good kind of) weird mixture of soft, floral spice and earthy, bitter cocoa. I’m liking it.
During the final third the main flavor is that black pepper with a solid backing of bitter cocoa and earth flavor combination. The flavors are fairly strong during this third as has been the case throughout. Perhaps the flavors were a bit stronger during the first third but not by a large margin.
Medium bodied with a good draw and burn, this cigar was easily able to keep my interest from the beginning to the end. It wasn’t a particularly special cigar but it was good in its own way. The combination of the spice and earth and bitter cocoa was interesting. If you are a fan of Viaje you probably won’t be disappointed by this cigar.
90 points
Tatuaje TAA 2012 Cigar Review
The other day I finished watching “Into the West“, which is one of those multi-generational miniseries that follows a family (two in this case) through the generations and, in the process, you also get to see a dramatized version of history, the “Wild West” in this case, and, based off of my watching of this show, I’m reasonably sure that the image on this band is that of an Indian. Upon further inspection I notice that the Indian is wearing a headdress made of tobacco leaves (this is a special cigar for the Tobacconists Association of America) and that immediately got me thinking of a Cabbage Patch Kid.
But none of that is important. What is important is that this cigar is a beauty. A box pressed toro, the very dark brown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper has that rough, toothy texture that gets me excited to smoke a cigar. The box press is pretty drastic in that it’s a fairly flat cigar. Very oily with a closed foot this cigar looks like it is going to be a treat.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: toro
Length: 6 ¼″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: ~ $12.00/Single
Space Jump Incineration!
After a slightly longer than normal session of toasting the foot, this cigar opens up with some pretty nice flavors. Fruity spice with a bit of a bite on the finish, clay earth and a small helping of very bitter chocolate in the background. The flavors are working well together.
Leather gets added to the mix during the second third. While the spice has decreased in importance the earthiness has increased and changed into this incredible dustiness. It’s still has a good deal of bitterness as well. This is one of those cigars where the smoke’s consistency is very granular; sort of like a thousand little flavor molecules surrounding your taste buds. Very interesting cigar.
The final third is a lot like the second with leather, earth and bitter chocolate. Like I said about the second third, this is a very interesting cigar, which, in this case, means that it’s unique… in a good way.
Medium-full bodied with an excellent draw and burn, this cigar does not have a great deal of evolution in the flavor profile but what it lacks in that department it more than makes up for with the mixture of flavors. It was good from beginning to end.
91 points
Viaje Skull and Bones “?” 2011 Short Cigar Review
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Nicaraguan | Single: ~ $12.00 | Torpedo | 4 ½″ x 52
0/3: Viaje, which is Spanish for “boutique,” has put out a limited edition torpedo the last two years called “?”. Sounds like a Super Villain’s name to me but, hey, I guess it works.
It’s short (obviously) and it looks well made. Tightly packed, the wrapper does have some stretch marks but is also very oily.
1/3: Strong with clean, fruity spice, leather and some coco. Nice mixture of flavors. Not too strong, but the flavors are really alive.
2/3: Black cherry and spice dominate the second third. Coco and cream are there as well. So is leather. Very smooth cigar with a slight nasal spice burn that lasts for a while.
3/3: Spice, leather and a bit of bitterness. Not much bitterness but it starts to creep in during this third.
4/3: Good draw and burn, this full bodied cigar is alright. A little bit better than “alright” but not a lot better. Personally, I’m beginning to get a little Viaje limited edition fatigue because they are relatively expensive cigars and they aren’t always great cigars. Better than average, perhaps, but nothing spectacular. That being said, it’s still an intriguing brand to me.
3.5 out of 5 points
