INTRO
Congrats, Cubbies.
We get to see less Bill Murray now... right, gentlepersons?
One could only hope.
We get to see less Bill Murray now... right, gentlepersons?
One could only hope.
THE CIGAR
Tatuaje Reserva
Nicaraguan Regios 5 1/2 x 50 Robusto
w. Connecticut Broadleaf
b./f. Nicaraguan
PRE-LIGHT
Hefty hefty hefty, not wimpy wimpy wimpy, as to the club-like hand-feel. Densely rolled tobacy. -Firm even Charmin Squeeze test result, hath too a lively spring-back off that minimum giveness. Nice oily sheen transfers from eyes to mitt. Seams are tight and even. A zaftik vein or two, but nothing speaking to a potential burn impediment. Complexion is an even dark chocolate with a honey brown under-hue. Cap is affixed well, and at the other end, auburn locks are packed in tight with an occasional dirty blonde tick. A slight peak at brunette is at the core. When held up in the light of my morning porch, there are a few bumps on the shaft and some espresso bean marblings, as well.
A fairly restrained schnozolla, this Tatuaje gots. Not much aroma along its barrel... some light barnyard and a vague wood -- hickory perchance. At the foot, there's a slight peppery leather note added in alongside bits of earth. Cold draw is released via a Xikar Xi2 clipping and on a medium+ tension -- I get a fleeting zetz of cocoa, then leather, hickory, earth. Creamy leathery oiled delivery, yet powerfully so. Cold finish is sweetly spiced and robustly rounded.
LIGHT
Sweet leathery oils and hickory are the toasting room-notes. Whenst toasting, it's hard to not char more of the foot than I want, regardless of how far away I flick my Bic. First hot draw is big black pepper sauteed in leathery oils. I have a feeling I'll be saying "leathery oils" a whole bunch. Behind that is a creamy yet delineated hickory with an inherent sweetness which seems led by a cocoa vibe. Under-belly is barnyard and black rich top-soil.
Finish is a long peppery affair, heavy but with a nice under-current of nigh sunny sweetness. Second hottie is retro-haled to heightened and more coarsely ground black peppers. Leathery oils. Hickory. Hint of cocoa. A nice tobacco and pepper tingle sets in on a mouth-feel of perfected moisture levels. Third hottie is a continuation of first two and a building of chew on a still climbing body which never was too low.
Burn is dead-even, tho the line is a tick thick on account of the top-leaf a' choice. Burnt-offerings are silvery pale grey ladder-rungs, Evenly and closely spaced. Draw is a smooth medium+ tension with an even and quite full satiation of smoke-hole. Smoke off the foot is -full and its room-note is much the same as its draw. Sits in the air softly and invitingly, but too, robustly. Zero insofar as softening of pack off lighting. All systems seem go, go, go --
ACT I
Of all the overt hickory nuances, earthen play, and pepper array which now includes both red and white being added to black -- of the greatest interest is the inherent sweetness. It has shifted to the tobacco itself in complexities of cocoa, caramel, nuttiness, and a heightening coffee and cream. Heightening and now separating into its own espresso drink. Very complex, very nuanced, very satiatingly full this Tatuaje. Profile is a -full, to be exact. Strength is a medium and rising. Verily Don Pepin Garcia, but also a bit more playful and thoughtful than that.
Hand-feel gets a tick more rough on somewhat lesser sheen. Ash is heavy and solid with a bit of a brownish tint coming on. Burn-line sees a slight waviness now, but not at all egregiously. Pack hath softened some, anbout 3/4" ahead of char. Draw holds. Seams hold. Pacing is wonderfully slow.
At the end of the opening act, sweetness puts the pedal to the metal and in floods a darkly deep maple syrup note. Mouth-feel sees its tingle chased away as peppers soften into the, you guessed it gentlepersons, leathery oils.
ACT II
I roll off the entire 1/3 of ash into my $0.99 Walmart tray, and it don't wanna let go. It's dense, oily, and cool to my fingered finaglings. I hold up a Dollar Store mirror in front a' me and pull... very evenly lit twit wrapper/binder/filler. Fillers seem a tick hotter. Truckloads of syrup. Anise. Fennel. Earthy lead of the opening act takes a backseat to this all, but loses none of its own muscle.
Strength seems to rest at a medium+. Body is a chewy -full as are flavors. A retro-hale now is as sweet as it is spicy and heady as all get-out. Oak joins hickory as a bracing bit. Burn ribbons some now, no re-touch in sight -- I just need to nit-pick. It's my job, gentlepersons. Barnyard is flexing with the espresso going thattaway. There's a toasted citrus hint of a vibe at the corners of my tongue. Some molasses. Ash flakes a bit, darkens half a tick. Line widens. Palate is a bit more dry, yet not dry per se. More maple syrup. I'm sensing pancakes via a yeasty chew. Fancy buckwheat pancakes.
I haven't said leathery oils in a bit. Now I hath. Draw loosens to medium tension'd affair.
ACT III
Earthiness rebounds as it draws in hickory and oak wood notes. Very nicely balanced up-top with the syrupy sweetness. It's all up-top, really -- braced high by lingering nuances dripped down to a far beneath barnyard goodness thru a mid-point of top-soil. Enveloped in earth, ya might say. Pack softens another tick, but seams and draw hold. Under my tongue is a bit of fatigue, but I'm a notorious lightweight. Whilst outside of my preferred wheelhouse, I can completely appreciate and enjoy this Tatuaje blend.
At the secondary band, a distinct cinnamon flows in warmly. Warmly as to taste, only, and to be clear. Smoke itself stays cool and lush. A faraway grapefruit nigh buried in them leathery oils and topsoil-cum-compost, shows me the door. I feel I've stayed a long time, enjoying the languid burn-rate... tho I've by no means overstayed. Wasn't I wearing a hat when I got here? I'll get it when I come back. I purchased this stick outta pocket. Paid a pricey price. Will do so again, gentlepersons. Worthy of each and every shekel.
PAIRINGS
Cherry Manischewitz with a bit of seltzer. "Manipagne!"
SMOKE TIME
120mins
FINAL GRADE
****A****