Tatuaje Havana VI

This was my New Years Eve smoke. The last cigar of 2010. Cigar number 162 since I started getting serious and blogging my cigars in May.

December has caused my smoking to be cut in half. It has been too cold to regularly smoke outside and I have been traveling a lot. But I had to get this one last smoke in for the year. I have been wanting to try this cigar for awhile so I picked one up the last time I was at Holt's. It set me back $7.25.

This was a fairly short cigar but since I was smoking with some friends during a New Years Eve party I didn't want to be too antisocial and be out on the deck all night.

It was a very warm New Years Eve, around 50 degrees, so smoking outside was pretty comfortable. I brought a couple of Quorum's for any friends that wanted to join me. I had two takers, Ed and Jim. They seemed to like the Quorum's.

This Tatuaje was very nice. A nice mellow taste with lot's of smoke. A bit milder than my past Tatuaje's but I think this blend is supposed to be on the lighter side. It still had plenty of flavor and was a finger burner. I would definitely buy it again, maybe a bit longer size though.

Happy New Year!

From Holts.com:

Length: 4.5 Ring: 49

Our good friend Pete Johnson is taking the cigar industry by storm! For the past year or so, Tatuaje has been the hottest thing since sliced bread. Now Pete is looking to bolster an already potent arsenal with his brand new Havana VI! This is a cigar manufactured in Nicaragua from 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. It features a gorgeous chocolaty Corojo wrapper and a tasty binder and filler blend. The Havana VI is a completely different animal than the regular Tatuaje. It is blended in traditional Cuban fashion, but does not possess the strength and firepower often associated with the Tatuaje name. Instead of coming out with a cigar stronger than his previous one, Pete decided to flip the script and offer customers a lighter fare. The Tatuaje Havana VI is a medium-bodied cigar with rich earthy flavor and smooth subtle spice.

Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium to Full
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Tatuaje Miami 7th Natural

I Purchased this cigar from Holt's in Philly for $9.00. It had a perfect burn and a great taste. Full flavor and full strength. I straight cut it and smoked it at Shelly's Backroom in D.C. while pairing with Bud light. This was smoked after a meal with Mike and Dave at Capitol city brewery. Awesome cigar

From CigarsInternational.com:

A high-end, quality super-premium.

Tatuaje Miami is a highly sought after 90-rated blend made in Miami by Don "Pepin" Garcia. Made entirely of 1st generation Cuban-seed tobaccos grown in Nicaragua, expect a robust, medium to full-bodied smoke that’s leathery in character and loaded with earthy, woody undertones and pepper on the finish.

Tatuaje is made in extremely limited quantities in order to maintain its ultra-high level of quality and consistency, making this one of the rarest cigars on the market. Get’em while you can.

El Triunfador Lancero

I headed over to Shelly's Backroom after a day of meetings in D.C.. I met up with Evan and Brett.

I smoked this cigar after eating my favorite meal at Shelly's, the Roast Beef dif.

Evan gave me and Brett one of these cigars each. Brett smoked his while I ate and he raved about it. I couldn't wait to finish my sandwich and smoke it. It did not disappoint.

I paired it with Bud Light and cut it with Evans straight cutter. The construction was fantastic and it had a perfect draw with zero burn issues. The flavor was medium to full and the strength was medium.

I smoked it down to a finger burning nub and enjoyed every minute of it. I would definitely buy this one.

It was a great night with great conversation.

From Cigar Inspector (More Info):

Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Lancero
Size : 7.5" x 38
Ring : 38
Wrapper : Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$10 each

Tatuaje Cabaiguan Maduro

This cigar was given to me by some great guys that I met on Twitter and then had the pleasure of meeting in person at Shelly's back room when I was on a business trip to D.C. last week. @thisisnotevan @sboyajian @DaByrdman33 @jcruz @DCsPeoplesChamp @stogieguys #TatCrew101. If you're on Twitter they are definitely worth the follow. Thanks for the hospitality guys! You made me feel like one of the crew while there.

I smoked this cigar on my deck, which as of tonight I am calling "The Smokey Wood Cigar Lounge". There is a long story to go with this name and if you ask I will share the story with you some time.

I straight cut it and paired it with my usual, Bud Light. It was a warm October night. A perfect night with just a slight breeze.

The construction of this cigar was perfect and had a nice heavy feel, especially for the size.

From the initial lighting to the 1/2 way point this cigar had a very pleasant taste. My untrained pallet could not pick out any specific flavor notes and I would not call it a complex taste, more on the smooth side for me. An enjoyable smooth but full taste with a medium finish.

The ash was firm with a mostly whitish color with some flakes of pepper. The burn was perfect and I didn't have to correct it despite smoking it outside with a breeze. The draw was firm, but not too much so as to require a lot of work to smoke. The first 1/2 yielded a moderate amount of smoke.

During the second 1/2 the draw became more open and it started producing a ton of smoke and picked up with a more complex taste with a bit of a pepper.

Overall, this was a perfect cigar for me and left me with a nice mellow buzz.

I usually don't rate my cigars like this, but I would give this cigar 5 stars and would definitely buy it again.

Thanks #TatCrew101. I'll have to see if I can pick up some more of these.

From http://www.newhavanacigars.com:

Another Pete Johnson brand and part of the Tatuaje Family, Cabaiguan is a staple among Tatuaje fans.

Cabaiguan - pronounced kah-bei-gWAHN, is named after a city in northern Sancti Spiritus province of Cuba. It is a medium bodied cuban style cigar, but we would consider it even stronger - especially towards the finish. A Connecticut seed Shade Grown Ecuadorian wrapper gives this cigar a burst of flavor and spice before lighting and mixes with the Nicaraguan blend of filler for an extremely flavorful smoke. Pepin's son, Jaime, worked with Pete during the blending process to produce this beauty. Four vitolas (along with the Petit) provide another source of conflict between your friends over which one is their favorite. We like them all!

Cabaiguan line is "Cuban Made in Miami". Guapos are made at the My Father Cigars factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.