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by Craig Vanderslice | February 10, 2021 · 8:45 pm

Tatuaje The Michael Monster Series Cigar

Tonight I was on the Round Panel on the Kaplowitz Media network of podcasts again, which was a free-form discussion of sorts. Give it a listen, my sole contribution seemed to be neighborhood dogs (or wildlife of some sort) bleeding in. My dogs were quiet, I promise. I enjoy the panel, taking part in it is something I enjoy, I’ll try to contribute more. I have I guest spot coming up next week on the Smokin Tabacco podcast. Look for that on Wednesday, February 17. I enjoyed a fairly old La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros 750, which was outstanding. I have to see if there are any more of the three packs at one of the local shops. Anyway, last night I smoked another cigar that I bought from Scotty’s Cigars, a Tatuaje The Michael Monster Series.

Tatuaje The Michael was the 2017 release in the Monster Series, and is a 6½” x 52, most of the Monster cigars are Churchill or Double Coronas. I have only smoked a few of the series, The Krueger and the Wolfman, I think, and a few of the smaller varieties. I don’t chase stuff like this or collect, but I’ll pick them up here and there when the opportunity arises. Such an opportunity arose, and I picked up the Michael on a whim. This has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and wrapper and is made at the My Father Factory in Esteli. This cigar was a bit of a surprise to me compared with other cigars in the Tatuaje range. It seemed more creamy and floral than I expected, with some spice, but not the heavy Nicaraguan spice I would expect. I enjoyed it completely, it was well balanced and sophisticated, definitely medium bodied and quite tasty. Certainly well worth smoking and I’m glad for the opportunity, although it’s not something I’d yearn to have a box of in my humidor, which is probably a good thing, given it’s scarcity.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Michael, Monster, tatuaje

by CigarCraig | May 17, 2017 · 8:50 pm

Oscar Habano and Tatuaje Pudgy Monsters Mummy Cigars

Happy Wednesday everyone! Over the weekend I picked up a couple of the Oscar Habano cigars with the candela outer wrapping. I selected the Sixty for my Monday evening walk. It looks pretty ugly at first glance, the dry, green outer wrapping, a candela leaf taking the place of cellophane, but under that is a beautiful Ecuador Habano wrapper over a Honduran binder and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. This Sixty is 6″ x 60 as you would suspect. I got a toro as well, but had the time for the Sixty, so why not? I’m one of the oddballs in the blogging game that doesn’t mind a 60 ring cigar. This was a terrific cigar, almost worth the $13 price tag, although I expect a lot from cigars in that price range. It was smooth, rich and chocolaty with some woody notes. This is from the same factory that makes the Leaf by Oscar, which is fairly obvious given the presentation, but it’s a totally different smoke. I’m a fan of the Leaf line, most of the wrapper varieties, at least most of them, and this compliments that range quite well. It may be a little more suave than that line. I wasn’t disappointed.

Last night I went with another cigar from the Tatuaje tour pack that I mentioned last time. Included were three of the Pudgy Monsters selections, of which I selected the Pudgy Mummy. This cigar is presented in a 5¾”x 47 size, an eighth of an inch longer and one ring gauge larger than a traditional corona gorda. I rather expected the Pudgy series to all be robustos, so this one was a nice surprise. My experience with the Tatuaje Monster series is limited, I can only really remember smoking a Mummy a couple years ago, a Wolfman, and I have a Hyde floating around somewhere, I think. The Pudgy Mummy is a Nicaraguan Puro, with a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper, and I love a closed foot. I decided to try a V-cut on this one, once in a while I remember I have the Xikar XV and whip it out. I figure if the draw isn’t right I can always cut it again. In this case, it gave the perfect draw, and the cigar burned well, needing very few corrections. I thought it was a bit mellower than I’m accustomed to with the Tatuaje line, very smooth and dignified. This would be e nice cigar for someone who finds many of the Tatuaje offerings to be stronger than they like. It had some nice, cedary notes with a bit of spice. Nice cigar, I suppose it was reminiscent of the full size version. I can hardly wait to delve into the other two Pudgy Monsters examples, I believe they are the Drac and Wolf, although the Wolf band looks different from pictures I’ve seen.