Vitola: A- 9.25” x 47 ring gauge
- ~$35 (2-pack)
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I had pretty well exhausted all the material I picked up at the Tatuaje event earlier this year. I reviewed the Pork Chop and Pork Tenderloin. I published a 2-part look at some of the sticks from the big Broadleaf Collection. I reviewed the new regular release, Negociant, and the hard to find event-only stick, Halloween. And I published some pictures from the event itself. I almost forgot…but there is…one last thing…
As a “Saints and Sinners” store, I was able to purchase one of the SnS club exclusive coffin boxes that were also made available at the event. These coffins include two “A” size sticks that are rolled only for these boxes and only SnS members are allowed to buy them…one Fausto and one Mission du L’atelier. I decided to present them as a couple “Cigar Extra” length posts…
La Mission du L’atelier was introduced in 2015 by Tatuaje’s “brother company,” L’atelier Imports. Each vitola is named after a year in which a specific wine achieved a perfect rating…though this vitola appears to be named “2020,” so maybe the Brothers Johnson know something we don’t know…maybe the stole a Wine Spectator from the future ala Marty McFly. The cigar uses Nicaragua fillers, including Sancti Spiritus (L’atelier’s signature leaf), a Nicaragua binder, and a Mexican San Andres wrapper. I’ve said it before…this is the best thing with a Mexican wrapper to ever emerge from Nicaragua’s My Father factory.
Notes
In “real time” it was just yesterday that I lit up and failed to finish the Tatuaje Fausto A size. I decided to take a different approach to this cigar. While I smoked the Fausto on my front porch, while reading, playing video games and listen to music (my normal thing for reviewing), I thought I might have a better chance to finish this cigar if I took it to work and burned it during a long afternoon at the Downtown shop…it’s never that busy on a Wednesday afternoon Downtown.
The La Mission 2020 had a rich, pleasantly earthy aroma to the wrapper and the foot. The cold draw was a mix of wet earth, dried berries, cedar and natural tobacco. On lighting up, I got a tartness, along with tons of earth and pepper spice. In the middle of it all was a mild sweetness and the retrohale burned strongly with pepper.
The ring gauge on this A size was just about perfect. Basically it’s the same as a standard Churchill size and in this format allows enough sweetness to please, while allowing enough earth, wood and spice to come through to provide an excellent balance and complexity along the way.
The La Mission burned evenly and fairly quickly down to its end, providing a really great experience over the course of about 2 hours…the time at which I got tired of the Fausto A size. It got a little hot toward the end, but that’s natural on something with a smaller ring gauge. This is one I might do again, though not frequently…I simply don’t have this kind of time every day.
So…good to be part of the SNS club now. If you aren’t already a member, keep an eye out for membership sign-up next May. It’s $150 and you get a pack of cigars and some other goodies as part of the deal. I’m looking forward to receiving my sticks…and I’ll share the experience with you as I am able.
