moki
el Presidente
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2003
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Tatuaje la Maravilla (5 5/8" x 46)
This past Sunday, I was treated to the privilege of smoking a prototype version of an upcoming cigar blend/vitola from Tatuaje: la Maravilla. Tatuaje (which means "tattoo" in Spanish) is a favorite boutique cigar maker of mine, started by Pete Johnson of the Grand Havana Room.
For the various cigars in the Tatuaje line, they use tobacco grown on small farms in Nicaraguan, blended by ex-Cuban factory manager Pepin Garcia, and rolled by Cuban ex-pat rollers in Florida. The results are exquisite puros that are well-constructed, offer a reasonable range of tastes from line to line, and deserve your attention if you are a lover of the leaf.
The Maravilla (which means "the miracle" or "the wonder" depending on the colloquial Spanish) is a Punch Punch-sized cigar at 5 5/8" x 46. The wrapper on this prototype is dark oily, and flawless, with the wrapper covering the foot of the cigar, similar to Tatuaje's "Gran Cojonu".
The viso wrapper brings a pleasant spicy tingling sensation to the lips, and the cigar itself is extremely well balanced between deep, rich flavors and peppery spice. While the blend in the cigar itself is in theory similar to the Cojonu in taste, to me it was earthier, exhibiting the pleasant semi-sweet hints of dark chocolate and raw cocoa bean, with unique undertones of roasted chestnuts.
The cigar doesn't have the same nuttiness/chocolate/coffee extremes that you might find in the Padron 1964/1926 lines, but it does lean that way more than other Tatuajes I've had. Perhaps this is a result of the unique fermentation process that is used on the cigars: they are rolled, then wrapped in foil to seal in the flavors, and aged in that form, similar to how some Cuban cigars are aged wrapped in burlap.
All in all, I'm impressed with this cigar. The cigar itself is firmly medium-bodied: you aren't going to be overwhelmed by the spice, but nor are you going to need to work hard to taste what the cigar has to offer. The cigar also offers an indeterminable taste overtone that I'll just have to characterize as "Tatuaje tobacco"; it's quite pleasant, and unique to their cigars.
If you've enjoyed the Tatuaje Cojonu, you will enjoy this cigar as well, it is a smaller, earthier-tasting cousin that doesn't disappoint.