Tatuaje Exclusivo Zona Del Este (East Coast release)
Being such a Pepin whore I was excited to get my hands on one of these new release Tatuaje’s. This cigar came from an event hosted by one of my local B&M’s that featured Pete Johnson. Three cigars were presented to each person in attendance for tasting, the Tatuaje Unicos (brown band), the Havana VI Hermosos (red band), and the new East Coast Release Havana VI (another red band). Unfortunately due to work I was not able to attend this event, but the owner of the B&M graciously agreed to hold one of these new cigars for me.
Size and cigar construction are taken from tkoepp’s thread announcing the release of this new cigar.
Another quote taken from tkoepp’s thread….
The cigar…..
This cigar was constructed with the same perfection that the rest of the Tatuaje line employs, no surprise there. Being a 54 ring gauge this cigar is a little thick for my smoking preferences. Prelight draws showed signs of fresh tobacco and what promised to be a nicotine packed cigar. With a slightly tight draw I started to think this cigar needed some humidor time. Believing that cigars should be ready to smoke when purchased, and knowing that this came out of a well maintained humidor that is kept at a steady 65%ish Rh, and temperature controlled environment (B&M’s owners Aristocrat kept in his office) I decided that this cigar needed to be smoked.
Lighting this cigar turned into somewhat of a chore. This is something that always puts a damper on my smoking experiences. After getting the cigar lit I had no problems keeping it lit and very little burn issues, at one point it started to burn a little erratic but eventually corrected itself. The flavors were full on tobacco from the beginning.
Half way point.
I am still waiting on this cigar to develop some more complex flavors. But so far it’s been pure tobacco, while this is not a bad thing it isn’t what I wanted from this cigar, or any cigar that carries the price and packaging I believe this cigar is going to receive. At this point I’m not sure if it’s the youngness of the tobacco, the Ligero that was introduced into this blend, or a combination of both but this cigar is starting to leave the back of my throat and mouth a little sore. Trying to slow down the pace of the smoke to take away some of the harshness the cigar ends up burning out.
After relighting I smoked this cigar down to where the second band was and its quitting time for me.
Summary
Young, this cigar definitely needs some age to mellow the harshness of the Ligero. With some age this might become a very good cigar. It is hard for me to tell, as I don’t have much experience with the differences between aged and young cigars of the same brand and vitola. This cigar was all tobacco all the way, while waiting and hoping for some complexities to come through it never happened for me. Not a complete disappointment but not something I will be rushing out to get my hands on. Basically it seemed like a young brown label that is going to command a higher price tag than the regular Havana VI line. While not quite as strong as the brown label it did have a harshness that I have not experienced in that line. I am going to save some money and pick up a few boxes of Padron 3000’s. I look forward to others thoughts and comments on this cigar, and its West Coast sibling as they become available.
I apologize in advance for spelling, and grammatical errors. And lack of quality pictures.
Nate
Being such a Pepin whore I was excited to get my hands on one of these new release Tatuaje’s. This cigar came from an event hosted by one of my local B&M’s that featured Pete Johnson. Three cigars were presented to each person in attendance for tasting, the Tatuaje Unicos (brown band), the Havana VI Hermosos (red band), and the new East Coast Release Havana VI (another red band). Unfortunately due to work I was not able to attend this event, but the owner of the B&M graciously agreed to hold one of these new cigars for me.
Size and cigar construction are taken from tkoepp’s thread announcing the release of this new cigar.
Another quote taken from tkoepp’s thread….
The cigar…..
This cigar was constructed with the same perfection that the rest of the Tatuaje line employs, no surprise there. Being a 54 ring gauge this cigar is a little thick for my smoking preferences. Prelight draws showed signs of fresh tobacco and what promised to be a nicotine packed cigar. With a slightly tight draw I started to think this cigar needed some humidor time. Believing that cigars should be ready to smoke when purchased, and knowing that this came out of a well maintained humidor that is kept at a steady 65%ish Rh, and temperature controlled environment (B&M’s owners Aristocrat kept in his office) I decided that this cigar needed to be smoked.
Lighting this cigar turned into somewhat of a chore. This is something that always puts a damper on my smoking experiences. After getting the cigar lit I had no problems keeping it lit and very little burn issues, at one point it started to burn a little erratic but eventually corrected itself. The flavors were full on tobacco from the beginning.
Half way point.
I am still waiting on this cigar to develop some more complex flavors. But so far it’s been pure tobacco, while this is not a bad thing it isn’t what I wanted from this cigar, or any cigar that carries the price and packaging I believe this cigar is going to receive. At this point I’m not sure if it’s the youngness of the tobacco, the Ligero that was introduced into this blend, or a combination of both but this cigar is starting to leave the back of my throat and mouth a little sore. Trying to slow down the pace of the smoke to take away some of the harshness the cigar ends up burning out.
After relighting I smoked this cigar down to where the second band was and its quitting time for me.
Summary
Young, this cigar definitely needs some age to mellow the harshness of the Ligero. With some age this might become a very good cigar. It is hard for me to tell, as I don’t have much experience with the differences between aged and young cigars of the same brand and vitola. This cigar was all tobacco all the way, while waiting and hoping for some complexities to come through it never happened for me. Not a complete disappointment but not something I will be rushing out to get my hands on. Basically it seemed like a young brown label that is going to command a higher price tag than the regular Havana VI line. While not quite as strong as the brown label it did have a harshness that I have not experienced in that line. I am going to save some money and pick up a few boxes of Padron 3000’s. I look forward to others thoughts and comments on this cigar, and its West Coast sibling as they become available.
I apologize in advance for spelling, and grammatical errors. And lack of quality pictures.
Nate
