Vitola: Box-pressed Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- $11.99
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Since 2015, one of my most anticipated releases every year has been the Tatuaje release for the Tobacconist Association of America. That 2015 version had a combination of blend and vitola that was pretty much perfect, and even though the blend has not changed much (if any) since then, the size changes every year, which causes it to smoke slightly different. That and other factors have caused me to like (but not love) the 2016 release and love (but not enough to buy a box) the 2017. So here we are again…another version of the Tat TAA.
Last year there was confusion because of FDA labeling regulations and the cigar shipped with “2014” on the band, even though it was a 2017 release. It was the same size as the 2014, though, so it was understandable to push it out with that on there. There was a lot of thinking that the 2018 release would be the same as the 2015, but that did not happen. Instead we pretty much got a box-pressed Robusto size.
Like other Tat TAA blends, this cigar features Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper. It comes in boxes of 20, wet-packed in foil, and each cigar has a closed foot. It was officially announced as the “50th” in April and is meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the TAA. Previous years Tat TAA releases shipped as late as August or September. Last year, they shipped in late June, if I remember correctly, and this year they shipped in mid-May, with boxes that had early April box dates stamped on the underside.
I have smoked about 6 or 8 of these so far, all of which I purchased at Burns Tobacconist.
Prelight
As usual, the Tatuaje TAA release features the company’s “Exclusive Series” band, which has a white circular front that gets stamped with information cogent to the particular release. The band has plenty of gold foil and embossing, along with red, white and light blue stripes on the arms of the band. The white center of the band features the TAA logo and “50th” underneath it, instead of the year.
The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown with a slight oily sheen in the light. It left a nicely oily residue on my fingers when I rubbed it. The aroma from the wrapper leaf was a rich earthiness along with a bits of cocoa powder and coffee bean. The wrapper was closed around the foot so sniffing the foot didn’t really change anything.
The cold draw was a little tight, but I was thinking that would probably come down to the closed foot. The flavors I got prelight were of earth and cocoa powder, with touches of pepper and cedar.
Flavor
I fired up the Tatuaje TAA 50th and got immediate flavors of cedar and anise and earth. There was a slight sweetness that came in behind in the form of semi-sweet chocolate, along with a matching peppery heat. Once the cigar was fully lit and the closed foot had burned through, the draw opened up quite nicely. The first third was smooth and rich, with an increasing sweet chocolate note mixing with espresso bean and earth. The pepper settled into a mellow burn on both palate and nose.
As I got into the second third, the woody notes were coming off as a more cinnamon note, which increased to a leading role, bolstered by cocoa and coffee flavors. The retrohale yielded a little pepper, but more of a leather and coffee bean note.
The final third of the Tat TAA 50th was more cocoa powder and coffee flavor with a nice balancing sweetness and a continuation of cinnamon notes in the background. Pepper heat had a nice resurgence, as well.
Construction
Build quality has been excellent on all of these that I’ve smoked. The one thing I would caution you about is the draw on a newly opened box. These cigars are wet-packed, which keeps them at a higher humidification level during shipping. They don’t start drying to normal levels until they’ve been released from the foil and left in a regular humidor situation for a few days.
Value
This cigar is smaller than last year’s, but with the same price tag. That represents an unfortunate price creep. On the other hand, it is an outstanding cigar so I still say it’s worth the price.
Conclusions
I thoroughly enjoyed the 2018 release of the Tatuaje TAA. The 50th anniversary release has a medium-to-full body with a nice complexity that showcases that Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper quite well. In the end, though, I didn’t like it quite as much as the 2015 version. I think it’s the best release in the series since 2015, but only edges out the 2017 version by a hair.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
