Tatuaje – A First Foray

For many years I have heard good things about Tatuaje and Pete Johnson.  In fact, I met Pete at a Big Smoke years ago when he was first starting out in the cigar business.  Little did I know then that this nice guy with lots of tattoos would become a huge cigar maker with an excellent reputation.  Regardless, for whatever reason, I never smoked one of his sticks until now.

When you first look at the cigar, you are delighted by a nice stick.  It is a rich deep brown with an oily Habana seed wrapper.  That portends the goodness that you’ll find when you light up.  I lit the cigar after a careful punch and it drew well with lots of nice smoke.

I was expecting a powerhouse, but this blend is obviously more mellow.  At first, I got woods tones with a hint of caramel.  As the cigar progressed it became a little bit stronger with an undertone of pepper.  I never felt overwhelmed by the spice as the flavor continued through the end without getting too strong.  I probably smoke this cigar beyond what I normally would because I was enjoying it so much.  Usually, I let a cigar go at about an inch plus, but this one lasted to jsut singing my fingertips.

The construction of this stick is great.  It appears seamless.  It held a perfect edge, with a nice ash of medium gray.  The Pepin people my a great cigar and this is another example.

At $6.75 the cigar is not inexpensive for a short smoke, but for this quality there is lots of value.  I am pretty certain that I won’t wait long before trying another Tatuaje and hope to try the entire line.  If anyone has any favorites, plesae let me know by leaving some comments.