Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $11.99
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
It’s become a tradition among cigar smokers nationwide, especially those who enjoy Tatuaje’s brand of Nicaraguan blends…every year in the spring (or early summer), Pete Johnson releases another limited edition cigar just for Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) stores.
I have personally smoked releases every year, being privileged to have been a patron of Burns (a TAA store) long before I worked there, but it wasn’t until the 2015 release that I became officially obsessed. That year’s Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro release was nothing short of amazing in all but a few of the close to two boxes I smoked through (everybody is entitled to a cigar that is less-than-stellar…especially when it could have just been me and what I was doing on those days). The 2016 and 2017 releases were great, but couldn’t quite measure up to the 2015. The 2018 release was a Broadleaf Rosado wrapper that, for me, really fell short…I liked it, but not enough to smoke through even a box of them. I was a little shocked to hear the news of the 2019 release, which would be only the second Tat TAA to not have a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of some sort (the first was the 10th Anniversary Tat TAA in 2013).
This year’s TAA release from Tatuaje features a Mexican San Andres wrapper, something that has been seen rarely on either Tatuaje or L’atelier blends. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few: The Face (Monster series, along with different sized versions), La Mission, and the Mexican Experiment. That last one is one I haven’t had the opportunity to try before…and it’s what this year’s TAA release has been compared to a few times that I’ve heard.
They are reportedly making 60,000 Tat TAA’s this year, which is 10,000 more than last year. They are available nationwide at TAA stores. Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga is one…and there are about 75-80 others. I’ve smoked about 3 of these before this review sample, all of which I purchased at Burns.
Prelight
Pete decided to shake things up visually this year, as well as blend-wise. The box looks identical to previous years, with the light wood and slide top. The cigars are packed in foil inside the box, also identical to previous years. But tear open the foil and you’ll be face with a band that you didn’t expect. Instead of “Tobacconist Association of America” with the familiar Indian-head logo, you now see “America” scratched out with “Mexico” written over it. Instead of the Indian-head, we get a cactus wearing a sombrero, sunglasses and mustache…at least one person I know felt the reimagined logo was a little racist…but maybe he was just a little snowflake. The arms of the band have red, white and green stripes, aping the Mexican flag instead of the traditional red, white and blue. Finally, there’s the “epic typo”…or just the attempt to make everyone sound like Mike Tyson when they say the name of this cigar: 51th.
The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate shade of brown with a nice oiliness to it and veins that were visible, but fairly flat under my fingers. The cap was slightly lifted on one side, like it hadn’t had enough glue to keep it applied properly. The aroma from the wrapper was heavily earthy with additional notes of strong espresso and subtle anise. The closed foot prevented me from getting anything of note from the foot of the cigar.
After clipping, the draw was very good, although just a bit tight, but I put that down to the closed foot. Cold flavors were of cocoa powder and espresso bean with a touch of red pepper.
Flavor
Firing up a closed foot stick takes a minute or two, but nothing unusual. Once lit, the Tat TAA 2019 had abundant notes of semisweet chocolate, dark roast coffee and earth, along with a substantial amount of both black and red pepper heat. The retrohale was mostly red pepper heat with more coffee and earth. As the first third burned along, I got more earth and coffee flavor, along with an introduction of cedar as the semisweet chocolate morphed into more of a cocoa powder note. All was accented by continual spicy heat.
The second third had a bit of anise showing up, while the coffee and cocoa powder notes diminished slightly. Earth and wood notes continued on as they had before. I also noted a significant drop in pepper heat as the third went on.
The last third continued very earthy. Cocoa powder continued on at its diminished rate, while the anise dropped out about as suddenly as it showed up. Cedar dipped and pepper was a constant low-level burn.
Construction
I had a good draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
The price point of these hasn’t moved in a couple years, which is a good thing. I would say this year’s is definitely worth the cost of admission.
Conclusions
All-in-all, I think the Tatuaje TAA 2019 is a very good installment in the series, although I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Broadleaf Maduro versions from previous years. The Mexican wrapper shows a nice sweetness and mix of earthy, cocoa powder and coffee notes, without hitting me with the bitterness that some Mexican leaf shows. While I will smoke these on a regular basis while they are available, I do hope next year sees a return to the Broadleaf Maduro wrapper that the series has become known for.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
I thought the wrapper on this cigar delivered an old school dirty grit kind of San Andres quality. It wasn’t bad but was not as refined as many other current cigars with San Andres wrappers. I think that was Pete’s intent.