Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 (5.5 x 52). I wanted to find something to contrast with the La Aroma De Cuba Edicion Especial No. 5 in that last review. This one hits a radically different note for me and I think is an excellent example of a well-balanced blend. I was poking around on my "beer shelf" wondering what to pair it with and I saw I had a Paulaner Salvator Double Bock hiding away in the back. That one is a little sweet for my regular taste, so it's been sitting there for a while. Probably at least three years, really. (Just never felt like grabbing it.) But I thought it would be a good match so what the hell, let's give it a go and see how it tastes now. Turns out, that it was a excellent pairing and I enjoyed it quite a lot.
The cigar has almost no dry smell at all that I could detect. It's got that silent and mysterious start (Is there a word like "silent" but for smell?). The wrapper and construction quality is excellent. No flaws to speak of, the wrapper is really tight and the cigar feels really firm and even. A little prelight draw and there's a lot of flavor there. Which might be surprising for the lack of smell. Started up great with a really full flavor, but not a super strong body. If you prefer a medium body, there's nothing to fear here. This thing is a smoke machine and has a really pleasant aroma. The burn doesn't really stay even and I needed to touch it up a couple of times, but nothing serious that affected to smoke. The ash is a dark gray, but really brittle (not the dust explosion of the La Aroma, but still not solid.)
The draw is excellent and each puff is joy. I find myself taking it a little extra slow, just to let it last a bit longer. Although the cigar got a bit soft in the final third, the flavors really filled out. The ending was great and kind of reminded me of the kind of full savory smoke from a good BBQ pit (but obviously not that literal flavor!) No question, the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 is an easy favorite.
Related threads:
The cigar has almost no dry smell at all that I could detect. It's got that silent and mysterious start (Is there a word like "silent" but for smell?). The wrapper and construction quality is excellent. No flaws to speak of, the wrapper is really tight and the cigar feels really firm and even. A little prelight draw and there's a lot of flavor there. Which might be surprising for the lack of smell. Started up great with a really full flavor, but not a super strong body. If you prefer a medium body, there's nothing to fear here. This thing is a smoke machine and has a really pleasant aroma. The burn doesn't really stay even and I needed to touch it up a couple of times, but nothing serious that affected to smoke. The ash is a dark gray, but really brittle (not the dust explosion of the La Aroma, but still not solid.)
The draw is excellent and each puff is joy. I find myself taking it a little extra slow, just to let it last a bit longer. Although the cigar got a bit soft in the final third, the flavors really filled out. The ending was great and kind of reminded me of the kind of full savory smoke from a good BBQ pit (but obviously not that literal flavor!) No question, the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 is an easy favorite.
Related threads:
- CRQuarto reviews the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 (Aug 2009) <- He said "This was an outstanding smoke, and I can certainly say that if the next few perform as solidly as this one, I will be making it a regular in my humidor." No disagreement from me at all. While CRQuarto found just about every flavor under the sun in there: "milk chocolate", "leather", "vanilla" and "straightforward coffee bean", I'm just going to stick with "delicious."
- joselastra asks people to compare the 03, 06 and 09 Cojonu (May 2009) <- I don't know if the blend is different or not (maybe someone can jump in with a definitive answer?), but the vitola definitely makes a big difference in the flavor here.
- Kingantz reviews the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 (Aug 2009) <- He said "I swear the taste I’m getting in the cold draw is that of a can of pears in heavy syrup" and I agree that the prelight draw flavor was really striking. Not peaches, and not really even that sweet to me, but big nevertheless. (He made sure to let us know that he didn't get any peach flavor in the smoke though!)
- wtrfwler1 asks about the differences between the Cojonu 2003 and 2006 (Mar 2007) <- Brickhouse is quick to point out that's just the year that the vitola was introduced initially, not when they were rolled. And a new vitola comes out every three years. Of course this leads to debate on which one is better and fetterjohn jumped in with, "I have smoked a couple boxes worth of the '03 and they are just better, more refined, more subtle and elegant but in you face changes..."
- cigardawg reviews the Tatuaje Cabinet Reserve Cojonu 2003 (Apr 2005) <- He liked the previous Tatuaje that he had and wanted to enjoy this one as well but he felt that "The Cojonu 2003, however, was a disappointment." and that "Overall, I rate this cigar a B-." Interestingly, his description of some of the problems with the smoke were very close to my experience as well (soft in the last third, not burning evenly, brittle ash) but I think I tend to forgive quite a lot when I enjoy the flavor this much.
- MilesMingusMonk put together this Tatuaje Reference thread (Mar 2006) with size charts and pricing, along with lots of pictures.
- Tatuaje Reference on Vitolas.net which has been referred to by quite a few people. There's some good info there, although I find the strength chart a bit dubious.
