Skinny Monsters: Chuck

• Vitola: Petite Lancero
• 6” x 38 ring gauge 
• MSRP $85, as part of Skinny Monsters collection
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

So, for those who have been disconnected from cigar shops and social media for the last decade, here’s a short recap…in October 2008, Tatuaje released 666 boxes of 13 sticks in the first of the “Monster Series.” It became an annual tradition, with production increased in subsequent years, though the number of “dress boxes” remains at 666. In the spring or summer of 2012, the first “Specialty Monsters” box was released…this was “Little Monsters,” which included 2 each of 5 blends (the first 4 regular Monsters, plus a preview of that year’s Mummy). 2014 saw the release of the Pudgy Monsters set; for that one, each cigar had the ring gauge of the original release, but the length of the “Little” release. There was only 1 of each of the 6 released blends, plus 2 each of 2 new blends…Chuck and Tiff…that were destined to not be released in a full-size. 

Now for 2016, we have been presented with “Skinny Monsters.” The box contains 10 cigars, 1 each of the first 8 Monster blends, plus Chuck and Tiff again. For the first time, all the cigars share the same vitola…a Petite Lancero at 6 inches long by 38 ring gauge. I will be smoking through each of these blends and giving some thoughts on them over the next few weeks.

For part two of this series, I smoked “Chuck,” named after the serial-killer-possessed-doll from the Child’s Play movie series. Thinking about it now, it’s amazing how original and horrific that first movie was at the time. Sadly, they kind of overplayed their hand with all the sequels until it was more of a horror comedy, much in the vein of the later Nightmare on Elm St. movies.

Chuck uses Nicaraguan fillers and binder, along with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf. Ecuador Habano comes in many colors and strengths, but this is on the darker side…it reminded me of the wrapper used on Crowned Heads’ La Imperiosa.

Chuck & Tiff Together Again!

Notes

Skinny Chuck was dark chocolate brown in color with minimal veining and a very rich earthy aroma. I got more earth and a little espresso aroma from the foot. The cold draw was very good and had notes of cocoa powder and earth.

The cigar lit up with a strong earthiness, along with undertones of espresso bean and cocoa powder. There was a slight sweetness in the mix, but almost too slight to be noticed right away. The retrohale had more cocoa powder and a white pepper burn to it.

As I continued on, Skinny Chuck proved to be full in body and fairly strong, with tons of earth and espresso flavor, with a bit of sweetness in the mix for balance.

In the end, Skinny Chuck smoked a lot like Pudgy Chuck with a little more power. It was very earthy with a lot of coffee overtones and just enough sweetness to balance it. Surprising that there wasn’t more pepper in the mix.