Tatuaje Apocalypse Short Cigar Review
I received the cigar I am using for this review from Smoke Inn, all reviews are my own.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Nicaraguan | Box of 15: $134.25; Singly: $8.95 | Perfecto | 5 ¼″ x 48-52
0/3: About a year ago Smoke Inn released their first in a series of micro blend cigars with the Tatuaje Anarchy. It was a wonderful cigar and I rated it at 94 points, which is a pretty damn good score. Supposedly, the blend for the Apocalypse is a tweaked version of the Anarchy blend so that the Apocalypse has more concentrated flavors. Or, to put it in layman’s terms: it’s like cracking an egg and getting two yolks.
Now, this is a pre-release cigar but, according to the good folks over at Smoke Inn, this is the same cigar everyone else can purchase starting at midnight on Thanksgiving Day. I’m not exactly sure but I’m pretty confident that you will be able to purchase these cigars on this page at the appointed time.
Of course, your buying decision is going to solely rest on what my verdict is. Starting off, it is a really cool looking cigar. A perfecto, the chocolate brown wrapper feels like fine grit sandpaper and is very oily. The pigtail is back for this iteration and, to be honest, it doesn’t add anything to the cigar. It actually looks like an impressionist Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll but one I cannot eat.
1/3: The draw gets good once the burn line overcomes the perfecto’s hump. Whereas the flavor profile for the Anarchy was dry and “rugged” this one is warm. Leather, spice, graham cracker and some sweetness. Good mix.
2/3: Gritty, chalky earthiness comes through. The leather, spice and graham cracker flavors are still there with roughly the same intensity but the sweetness has pretty much left.
3/3: During the final third there is a marked change in the flavor profile with a movement towards dark, floral sweetness. Earth is still present but the other flavors have definitely receded into the background. Some fruity flavors as well.
4/3: Medium-full bodied with a good draw and burn, this cigar is pretty good. But I didn’t like it as much as the Anarchy. Still, I think it’s definitely worth a try.
4 out of 5 points – Definitely worth a try
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
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
Tatuaje Avion 12 Cigar Review
Size does matter.
Tatuaje’s Fausto line is becoming one of my favorite line of cigars with the Fausto Avion 11 being my favorite cigar of all time – by far. I gave that cigar 98 points and I would still give that cigar that high of a score. It just fits right into my preferred flavor profile and, I think, due to the fact that it’s a larger figurado, it just worked perfectly for me. I have found that figurados, in this case a perfecto, smoke better for me and the reason why I think this is the case is because they must have to use more experienced torcedores to make these kind of cigars.
So that’s why I was excited to try the Fausto Avion 12. It’s also a perfecto and it’s just a smaller version of the Fausto Avion 11. The diameter is the similar with the same high and low diameters (it’s not the same because the cigar is shorter, I think my math is right here). Smelling it I get a large whiff of liberally spiced hay. Looks perfectly made with a slight box press.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: perfecto
Length: 5 5/8″
Ring Gauge: 48/52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $42.50/Pack of 5 | $152.95/Box of 20
Orangutan & Dog Torch!
Spice, leather, hay and some sweetness. The same, basic flavors are here that I found in the Avion 11 but the Avion 12 just isn’t holding up to the 11, which I know is a tall order. With this one the flavors are a little wild and almost harsh. Both the draw and the burn are great. Even with that being the case, I’m loving this cigar.
During the second third the flavors do calm down a bit and any hint of harshness is gone. Spice is still present but it’s a secondary flavor to the hay and leather and, now, there’s also some nutty flavors coming through. It’s a really strong cigar in my book but nowhere near as good as the Avion 11.
One of the interesting things about the Avion 11 was that the final third wasn’t as good as the first two. That isn’t the case here. Spice and sweetness have combined to create a wonderfully delicious flavor profile. Leather and hay are gone now but I’m liking this spice and sweetness mix a lot.
Full bodied with a great burn and draw this cigar may not be as good as its bigger brother, the Fausto Avion 11, but it’s still damn good. The flavors are really clear and, for me at least, they work really well together. I think that if you are worried about smoking an Avion 11 this would be a good alternative because at no point did it make me even the slightest bit queasy. It’s strong but not overly so. Great cigar.
Interestingly, I’m pegging this cigar’s score right around the same score I would have given the final third of the Avion 11. It’s just an inch shorter but that inch did make a big difference. Still a great cigar but I’ll stick with the Avion 11.
94 points
Tatuaje Little Monsters Mini Mumm Cigar Review
So far I have reviewed the:
For those of you who know math that means I have reviewed four of these cigars and for those of you who know math and know about the Tatuaje Little Monsters series you will know that this review of the Mini Mumm will complete the Little Monsters series for me. While reviewing all the Little Monsters isn’t as arduous a task as, say, circumnavigating the globe in a catamaran I’m sure I’m liking reviewing and smoking these cigars more than puking my guts up in the South Pacific and being accosted by pirates off the coast of Sudan (damn Somalis!).
Closed foot, somewhat veiny, toothy cigar with a rough textured wrapper. What I like the most about this cigar, as well as the rest of the Little Monsters, is that they are smaller cigars. It’s fine if you like the thicker ring gauged cigars but, for me, I like the smaller ring gauge cigars because you get to taste more of the wrapper and I like the lesser amount of smoke consumption you get from a smaller ring gauge cigar. To me, smaller cigars usually end up tasting better. (Contradicting this is the fact that I really like figurados of almost any ring gauge a lot.)
One point of interest for this cigar is that unlike all the other Little Monsters, which are based off of cigars that have already been released, the Mini Mumm is based off a cigar that has not been released yet, The Mummy. (h/t Tiki Bar Online)
Cigar Stats
Vitola: toro
Length: 5 ¾”
Ring Gauge: 42
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sung Grown Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: ~$8.00/single as part of a box of 10 Little Monsters
The Mummy Flame!
It starts off with amazing, deep flavors. A bit of spice, leather, anise and maple. There’s a lot of depth to the flavors, at least in the early goings, and there is a good deal of complexity as well. Even though it’s still early I think this might challenge the Frank Jr. as my favorite Little Monsters cigar.
The second third is still good but the depth of flavor has slackened a bit. I’m continuing to get leather and maple and a bit of anise. There’s also a bit of hay that is very faint.
Leather, hay and some spice has reentered the fray. It’s still a good cigar with some complexity and depth of flavors.
Medium bodied with a good draw and burn the Mini Mumm started out amazingly but didn’t live up to that first third, which is fine because that first third set a really high bar and even though there was a drop off it wasn’t a huge drop off. From beginning to end the flavors you are going to get are deep, expressive flavors that will definitely keep you interested the whole time. Of the Little Monsters this one is my second favorite.
91 points
