It has been a long time since I had the opportunity to sit down and light a cigar without having all kinds of thoughts on my mind, so today I knew i had to make the time.
Today's smoke is the tatuaje Black tubo. A cigar that has created some noise and some not so positive comments.
Justified? Remains to be seen...
Appearance
The first thing that catches the eye on this cigar is how rough it looks.
It has a dark brown wrapper witch has some spots with barker or lighter shades of brown and an unfinished covered foot.
Legend has it that DPG uses as a wrapper a binder leaf on this cigar in order to get the taste profile Pete was looking for.
It feels a little dry to the touch and there is a small crack on the foot of the cigar maybe ¾ of an inch long.
Cut and cold draw
Cut was easy and thank God it didn't sound dry.
Cold draw is easy with some resistance and flavor is tobacco with some rather refreshing notes that I can't make out.
Light and first third
Lighting the cigar was easy but also caused the crack to get bigger and now is an inch long.
After two or three puffs it looks like there is going to be a problem keeping this cigar lit since it went out right away!!
The now longer crack, although threatening, does not stands in the way of how the cigar smokes.
Draw is good but the ash, especially where the split is, is flaky and weak.
Initial flavor is very strong pepper that after 1 ½ of an inch into it it mellowed out quite a bit and a very nice leather taste emerged.
Body is medium to full but I can feel that this cigar has a punch in it and the nicotine is there!
Burn is good now that I am over the crack, straight line without the need for touch ups so far.
Taste wise no big developments, just leather and some spice.
Second third
Into the second third and all I can say is that this cigar is something else.
Flavors change from spicy to leather to creamy and all this on an earthy canvas witch is great.
Burn is fantastic and razor sharp with a tight ash, no flakes, that is so tight that can hold the weight of the cigar standing on it!!
It has picked up in body considerably and slow puffing is required.
To be honest i was a little disappointed at the beginning and I was negative from all the comments I have read about this cigar.
The new black shares some points with the original release Corona Gorda that I had smoked last spring.
Draw has the correct amount of resistance.
Taste is good, not great but good. I have to say that although this is the first cigar I am having from the current release and i can say that it's promising.
Third and last part
On this last part the Tatuaje Black holds well with a great burn and strong earth and spice flavors.
It has become really strong( maybe too much??) but not harsh or hot.
It most certainly lacks some balance but I believe that with some age this can be a real gem.
Final thoughts
There has been to much noise around this cigar and the hype was very big and judging by the one I smoked NOT justified. Maybe many of us thought that it would be like the OR so we rushed into them knowing how hard they were to find. Not in this case!
Maybe not having so many trouble smoking it and keeping it lit had to do with the fact that I took all the cigars out of their tubes, placed then into another box open in my humidor for two weeks so they can absorb humidity better and I think it worked.
Price for this cigar, taking under consideration its performance, is very high and maybe this is one more reason for the disappointment many of us had when they smoked them for the first time.
Lets all have some faith and see how they will perform after some down time.
Besides Pete's creations usually improve with age.
It will be a good idea to stock up a couple of boxes if only we could find the at a lower price!!
