Vitola: Robusto- Received as part of 2021 SnS Member Kit
Background
I made a guess on last week’s installment of this series that the SnS 2021 #3 was a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro. Now that I take the #4 out of the cellophane and get ready to fire it up for this article, I find myself second-guessing that assessment…because this also seems very likely to be a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro and it’s pretty unlikely that the good folks at Tatuaje would put two of them side by side in these Saints and Sinners Club packs. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, the only way to get these cigars is by becoming a Saints and Sinners Club member…and the only way to become a member is to be invited by another member during the annual enrollment period. So if you love Tatuaje Cigars and know someone who is a member, beg or bribe them to give you their single annual invitation. Then don’t forget to sign up and pay up for your membership…I’ve given my invitation to at least a couple people that didn’t pay in time…they didn’t get considered for my invitation the following year. Just saying.
Notes
The wrapper on the #4 was a dark chocolate brown, oily to the touch, but also slightly rough under my fingertips. The aroma from it was earthy with touches of ultra-dark chocolate. The foot was a richer earthiness, with a little bell pepper and cocoa powder mixed in.
The cold draw was excellent and had a rich mix of dark chocolate, cedar, earth, and leather. I fired up the #4 and got a lot more wood notes than I had anticipated, with earth, tea, and bell pepper following on the palate. The retrohale had red pepper flake and espresso bean note, but overall, the cigar started off much more medium in body that I would have thought from the way it looked, smelled, and tasted pre-light.
I paired this cigar with some of my Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel…some of the last of the whiskey that I had left from my birthday bottle!…as well as some work that needed to be done. When you own a business your work is never done…I am full owner of one and co-owner of a second, so my life gets overall full some days. But I’m fortunate to have a great place to sit and smoke a cigar while I work.
Another addition to my smoking time this evening was a Stephen King hardcover. I had been reading Kindle books pretty much all the time for the last 4 or 5 years, but recently I was talking to a friend about the joys of “dead tree” books. The conversation convinced me to give it a try rather than buy another digital copy. When I needed something to read, I pulled Just After Sunset from my bookshelf and started in on the first of the collection of short stories…and fell in love with the experience all over again.
