Vitola: No. 4 (Petite Corona)- 4.125” x 46 ring gauge
- $8.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Back in March I reviewed the Négociant No. 3, a then-new blend wearing the Tatuaje label, but marketed as a collaborative project between that company and L’atelier. The No. 3 was, at that time, the smallest ring gauge version of the blend and I ended up smoking it with some regularity since. When we put together the “show order” at Burns, we did check the box for the new size of Négociant…and forgot about them until they showed up with items from a different order last week.
To review, like all Tatuaje (and L’atelier) cigars, Négociant is made at the My Father factory in Nicaragua. It uses Nicaraguan fillers, dual Nicaraguan and Mexican binders and an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper.
I smoked one of this size (and several of a variety of other sizes) before this review sample, which I bought at Burns Tobacconist.
Prelight
Nothing has changed in regard to the packaging of the Négociant since the last review…except the box is smaller this time. I still like the gold foil, white and black bands used on these. The wrapper leaf of this sample could have been better…it was dusky in places with a couple green spots. I know it doesn’t affect flavor, but it just doesn’t look as good as the cigar I reviewed earlier this year. For that one, I remarked it was almost “Davidoff-quality in appearance”…this one doesn’t rise to that level. I feel a little bad for knocking off half a point from the “Prelight” section for this, but what are the points for when a new cigar in a series doesn’t rise to the bar set by a previous entry.
The aroma from the wrapper was pretty much the same, though…clean hay and grass. The foot of this cigar was very much like I described the earlier one: “earth, wood and cocoa powder.” After clipping I got a very good cold draw that tasted of molasses with touches of hay, earth, and cedar.
Flavor
The Négociant No. 4 started off smooth and sweet, with a creamy texture to the smoke and honey notes up front. Darker earth and cocoa powder notes followed in close behind that with a clean grassy finish and a touch of citrus snap. The retrohale had a good amount of pepper spice, something that was in very limited supply on the palate.
As I got into the second third, there was a definite dry grassiness along with citrus sweetness on the palate. I got a little pepper in the mix, too; it was on the palate by now, but still stronger on the nose.
The last third of the Négociant saw the body ease up to the medium range with more earthiness and a slight bit of cedar and pepper. The sweeter notes faded a bit in the process.
Construction
I had to make a couple tiny touch ups to the burn line, but the draw was fantastic and the ash was as solid as I could ask for.
Value
The price tag is a little much for the size, but on the other hand, it’s not out of sight in this day of FDA regulations. It was a great smoking experience, so I think it’s worth it.
Conclusions
This Petite Corona vitola of Tatuaje’s Négociant was surprisingly long-lasting and tasted great. I prefer the taste of this size over the No. 3 by a bit…although they ended up scoring the same because of the .5 point I took off at prelight. The more I smoke this blend, the more I like it. At this point I put it right up there in my Top 5 Connecticuts and will be revisiting it (and this blend especially) on a regular basis.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
