Tatuaje HCS Exclusive
5.25 x 50 (Robusto)
Original Holt’s Price: $142.95 for a box/20

Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Medium

Appearance & Construction: Nice box press robusto with sharp looking gold stamped band. The wrapper is a medium brown but rather thin & fragile with lots of small tears. When I held it between my teeth gently for a moment I was a bit dismayed to see that the wrapper had torn at the head. This cigar was part of the Saints & Sinners package that I received with my membership so I’m not really sure how old it is or how it was handled prior to arriving at my door. Therefore, I can’t be certain if the wrapper on these cigars is normally this delicate or if perhaps my sample was an exception.

Prelight: The wrapper provides a light grass smell & not much else. Despite the fragile wrapper it cut cleanly with my Xikar double blade cutter. I didn’t get much of anything from the cold draw.

Smoking: The draw is perfect with lots of smoke that brings a cool & dry mouth feel with light tastes of chai tea & bread. The ash starts out pretty flakey but the burn is straight. At the back of my throat I feel a light pepper sensation.

Into the second third I can begin to detect a very light chocolate note. The retrohale is surprisingly effervescent, almost as if I had inhaled sprite into my sinuses….lol. The ash is making a mess all over my sweater at this point and I have to admit that flaky ash is a pet peeve of mine. Not impressed.

As the cigar reaches the final third the chai tea flavor has really emerged as the main profile of this cigar. Resting smoke smells like burning paper & doesn’t make me pine for another puff. Chai tea and bread dodge in and out throughout final third of the cigar but neither was overly impressive. A slight bitterness starts to creep in at the end so I called it quits with about 1-1/4″ left. On a positive note: the small tears in the wrapper didn’t cause any problems smoking this cigar.

Final Opinion: This is not a terrible cigar but it’s far from what I have come to expect from Tatuaje. I have difficulty drawing a comparison with any other Tatuaje blend that I have smoked before because I am accustomed to a significant amount of flavor from most of Pete Johnson’s sticks while this one just seems weak by comparison. In a blind tasting I would never have guessed this was a Tatuaje.

Please note that I only smoked this one sample & there is always a chance that I got a bad stick. I do encourage you to make up your own mind. I am a big fan of Tatuaje & Pete Johnson has produced so many awesome cigars that I am surprised at how this particular one performed. Don’t let my opinion stop you from giving this cigar a chance.

Just when people stop hearing and talking about Rocky, he finds a way to get right back into the headlines. I know I am about 3 days late of Cigar Events announcement, but better late than never right?! It appears that the success of his latest Cigar Lounge – Burn – has taken on a mind of its own. The Burn website remarks their location as ‘an evolution in cigar lounges. Featuring a design that draws on exotic mix of Mediterranean, Asian, and Cuban cultures. Burn is a sanctuary for those who enjoy fine cigars and premium spirits. Created to offer perfection in service, Burn by Rocky Patel is the perfect place to enjoy life’s pleasures.’

To me this sounds like a mish mosh – but from the pictures I have to admit, Rocky fan or not – its a nice setup. Cigar Cave announced that the cigars would be introduced to the public tomorrow, Feb 25th and will later be sent to the remaining 30 something Rocky cigar lounge locations. Rocky will be in attendance with Rocky, Nish and Nimish for this event. The cigar is produced at the Tabacalera Villa Cuba factory and will be offered in 3 sizes, Robusto ( 5 x 50 ), Toro ( 6 x 52 ) and Titan ( 8 1/2 x 60 ) all of which will come in boxes of 20, each sporting a Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler.

Alec Bradley 1997 Harvest Selection Robusto
Paired with Water
Cut with V Cutter and lit with Bic Soft Flame
Approximately 1 year old

I have recently smoked and enjoyed quite a few Alec Bradley cigars. After Alec Bradley’s Prensado received the top spot in Cigar Aficionado, I was tempted to expand my Alec Bradley repertoire. After looking through my humidor, I decided on the 1997 Harvest Selection, which is an exclusive blend for Cigars International. The cigar has a nice habano wrapper and is firm, yet fresh feeling. The cigar has a very attractive band with shades that remind me of the fall harvest, fitting.

Although I typically punch, all I had on me was a cheapo v cutter. I moistened the cap and the v cutter went right through the cap. The pre-light draw tasted of grass and leather. Upon lighting the cigar, which was rather easy even though I was using a Bic, I was smacked with a wonderful fall aroma. It was a rather cool night out and was slightly raining and misting. Even though it’s near the end of Winter, the cigar and the weather had me fooled into believing it was a cool November evening. The cigar had a nice woodsy taste and aroma. I consistently tasted wood, grass, and leather in the cigar. I typically like sweeter, more chocolate flavor, however this cigar was so smooth, I didn’t mind at all.

The cigar burned very well. It had a rather sharp burn line and the ash was a nice light gray that held for around an inch. With some cigars, I have a problem with dropping the ash all over me, however, that was not a concern with this cigar. The ash was firm and helped the cigar continue to smoke nice and cool. I was still picking up the fall, woodsy flavors of the cigar. I don’t know if it’s because the beautiful band made me subconsciously associate this cigar with fall or what, but I was digging it.

The band ended up coming off rather easily, which was nice. I collect bands and hate when they either tear or stick to the cigar too much and cause a tear in the wrapper. I will typically leave the band on until the smoke line gets near. By then, the heat has normally loosened the band and will allow me to remove it. This is the case with the 1997 Harvest Selection. It easily slid off and went into the fishbowl. The flavors of the cigar remained the same as above, more grass and woodsiness. One would think this would be boring, however, it wasn’t. This cigar was SO smooth. I did not detect any bitterness in the cigar and it burned rather cool throughout. Along the same lines, the flavor never faded either. Even towards the end of the stick, I was still able to get strong, enjoyable flavors out of it.

Like I said before, these cigars are a Cigars International only blend. Alec Bradley doesn’t even list them on their website as being part of their portfolio. They run anywhere from $3-$5 a cigar, depending on how many you purchase. Although this is only my first one of these I’ve had, I can’t recommend it enough. I would say it was medium flavored and medium strength. I felt a little bit of a nicotine kick from it, but it was ever so slight. I was very surprised by the good flavor and smoothness of such a reasonable priced cigar. It appeared to be a very well built, with a good burn line and a solid ash. Now, I hope I enjoy the rest of the Alec Bradley line as much.

For those of you who are Altadis fans, looks like the VegaFina line has a new addition, the Sumum Edicion Especial 2010 which appears to be quickly getting put into the retail market. Without boring you with the details too much, I have to admit that I am actually looking forward to finding these in my local B&M although I have heard that some locations already have them in hand and that although Europe has these already in a tube version, the US market will not be getting them in that packaging – but I digress – onto the press release!

Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Altadis USA is proud to let you know about a new launch ‘VegaFina SUMUM Edicion Especial 2010’ – perhaps one of the best cigars of the year.

VEGAFINA SUMUM. The name says it all. Sumum (latin): the highest, the greatest, the summit

For some, it is an unreachable, challenge. For us, it was a pleasurable accomplishment.
VegaFina SUMUM cigarVegaFina Sumum is made of the very best tobaccos, hand selected at the peak of the season for their unique characteristics and aged with care. Qualities our expert blenders knew would create a stick with the most satisfying and rich flavors and aromas. The result is a cigar with distinct body, toasty aroma and unique rich flavors. A truly spectacular cigar that we could only name SUMUM.

Carefully aged, this 2010 vintage is a very special cigar. Here are the components:

Size: 5″ x 54
Wrapper: Aged for 2 years. The Ecuadorian grown Cuban seed wrapper tobacco is harvested at it’s prime and specially chosen for the dark, rich color.
Binder: Aged 3 years. The Santa Domingo binder has harmonious, almost sweet notes that create an exceptional aroma and a clean, firm ash.
Filler: Aged 3 Years. Tobacco of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Peru are blended, creating earthy and spicy notes with just a sense of coffee flavor.

Presentation: Box of 10 cigars
MSRP: $6.75/cigar

Joya De Nicaragua Anatno 1970 Gran Consul

Size: 4.75 x 60 (Gran Consul)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder and Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Full
Price: Roughly $6 bucks each

Behind The Stick:

Some of you may have heard this name before, but for those who are not familiar with the Joya De Nicaragua story, a quick recap. The Anatno is actually the first cigar ever to be produced in Nicaragua when the cigar factory opened in 1964 – shortly there after ( 1970′s ) the cigar had taken off in popularity, many of the politicians and ‘famous’ of the time particularly enjoyed these smokes and helped in making them quite the popular choice. Many would think this would be the start to a great future, but due to the political and social unrest in Nicaragua at the time the production actually came to a complete stand still until 2002 when the Joya De Nicaragua name was revived and the Anatno 1970 again began production – this time a tribute to the start of the Nicaraguan growing and production history.

I’ve had two of these cigars resting in my humidor for about a year and a half, time to finally get this one out and see how it performs!

Construction:

Talk about a short, fat little smoke! Evenly packed from head to foot although a little on the firm side. Not enough to make me worry about the draw enough to pick up any tools, but the concern was still in the back of my mind. The dark brown wrapper does have a few oils, but surprisingly enough not as much as I was expecting. The feel to the wrapper on the other hand – now that made me realize just how oily this cigar is! No flaws with the wrapper, cap placement or issues when cutting. My pet peeve with band removal was even flawless. Hate to say it but I’m almost looking for something to bitch about. So far so good.

Flavor:

Just as I was worried about, the draw was a bit tighter than I prefer – I was still getting some smoke through but it reminded me of sucking a freshly made milkshake through a straw. That being said, the first third mainly consisted of me trying to open up the draw and focusing on the poor burn rather than the flavors, which surprisingly still shined and were quite intense when licking my lips. A mild ‘spice’, wood and leather flavored combination pretty much carried this smoke through till the band. At that point, the spice seemed to calm down, the wood flavors turned darker and the leather kicked into full gear straight to the nub.

Overall:

This is not a cigar I would personally grab first out of a line up, but at the same time I do admit, this was a pretty damn good smoke. The larger ring gauge helps give you the true flavors of the filler tobacco rather than the wrapper aiding with a bulk of the flavor. There is nothing wrong with this, but I did notice about half way through I started to get bored with the flavors – they were enjoyable but more than once I thought ‘is this it?’

Now here is the caviot, at the price of roughly 6 bucks a pop or just under $5/each when buying a box, these are a great budget smoke that I can see that a lot of full body smokers will go nuts for it. This isn’t one I’d write off without a try, but unless your jumping at the bit or consider yourself a big full body fan, I’d try a pair or a 5 pack before you splurge on a box. Hell, this might just be a smoke that falls into my regular rotation. If you have had the chance to smoke some please let me know what you though of them!

Every Cigar Has A Story, Every Smoke A Memory