MSRP $150- Purchased from Burns Tobacconist
Background
Along with Tatuaje’s Monster Series being an October tradition in the cigar industry, October is also the month in which my birthday lands. For a lot of years, I celebrated quietly among just family and maybe a couple friends, but the last couple years it’s gotten to be a party again. Maybe I’m just feeling joy of being alive…maybe I’m wanting to be around my friends as much as possible while we’re all still in good health and this is an excuse. I pulled these two cigars this past weekend right around my birthday so I thought I might weave a few thoughts on the proceedings into the ruminations about the stogies.
The Face was the third Monster Series release and it was the time that my home store, Burns Tobacconist, got named one of the Unlucky 13. Pete Johnson came to Chattanooga for an event surrounding the release of the cigar and I split a box of The Face with a friend. I made them last a while and I recall them aging extremely well. I also still have the original “dress box” of The Face, signed by Pete. One of the few collectors’ items I’ve got.
As I recall, the Mummy was based on the Tatuaje Black Label. That would make it all Nicaraguan…filler, binder, and wrapper. The dress box for this one was one of the most interesting, in my opinion. While they were designed as coffins of sorts, this one used an Egyptian motif, making it a really cool sarcophagus. As I wrote this intro and was looking up information, it struck me that this pair of cigars represents the thickest and thinnest of the regular Monster Series releases.
Face
(4.875” x 56 ring gauge)
The original Face release had this funky “Sleestak” cap…I always called it that because it reminded me of the way the heads of the creatures in “Land of the Lost” looked. The Monster Mash version retains that cap style, but changes the band, which was originally just a piece of lighter-color tobacco, to a traditional Tatuaje band. The wrapper leaf was the color of milk chocolate with some rough toothiness along with plenty of oiliness.
The aroma from the wrapper was mildly sweet earthiness, while I got more cedar and earth from the closed foot. The cold draw was excellent and provided milk chocolate sweetness, espresso bean, wood, and earth flavors. Once fired up the Face had gritty earthiness, semi-sweet chocolate, cedar, and coffee notes. There was black pepper on the palate and red pepper on the nose.
I got some Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel for my birthday and wanted to pair this with some of that…but I had tried it the day before at 120 proof, it was pure fire. I elected to do a mixed drink instead at this point, pouring the whiskey over an ice ball (the maker another birthday present) and filling the glass up with Coke Zero (the old black can version, which is superior to the “new and improved” version). Good cocktail, really…especially since the very high proof makes sure it doesn’t get too diluted.
Friday began with my business partner taking me out to lunch at my favorite restaurant in Chattanooga. If you’re a burger fan and ever get to town, you owe it to yourself to try the burger at Main Street Meats…really, it’s a show-stopper. After lunch I went to Burns to spend time with friends, both new and old, while we sipped adult beverages and smoked premium cigars. Last year I had a “big party” for my 50th, but this was just about perfect…everyone was chill and relaxed. Everyone enjoys getting presents for their birthday—and I am no different—but the biggest deal was that I got to spend several hours just hanging out with the best friends a body could ask for.
The Face lasted forever it seemed like, but it was really great. I wish I could get some more of these in the original ring gauge size like this. As I mentioned before, the originals aged really well.
Mummy
(6.25” x 47 ring gauge)
For whatever reason, the wrapper color of the Mummy always seems lighter to me than I remember the Black Label’s being. I put them side-by-side, though, and…they’re pretty much the same. Probably the light gray label throwing me off. This wrapper is a medium-brown with tons of red in it. It was oily to the touch and smelled off hay and cedar. The closed foot didn’t allow anything else to come through. The cold draw was hay and wood and natural tobacco flavor.
Fired up, the Mummy had tons of cedar, followed up by natural tobacco and hay notes, before being finished off with citrus and white pepper. The retrohale was woody with a more intense pepper. I poured more of my Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel, this time just over a large ice ball. There was a good amount of sweetness and the slightly melted ice added enough water to the mix to not be too fiery.
Somehow I got it into my head that a “fun” way to spend my birthday would be with a physical challenge. Some may know that last year I lost 70 pounds and became an avid hiker. I’ve kept the weight off and tried to keep hiking, but the change in job status has made the second part a struggle many weeks. Then I started having stomach pain a few weeks ago. It mostly went away, but it caused me to miss most of two weeks of all physical activity. So what better way to commemorate 51 years on this earth than by walking and hiking 15 miles? Sounded great and went great for the first 9. I went in 3 segments at three different locations, increasing the “hike-ness” and elevation gain each time. The next 3.2 went pretty well, too, but the last few miles turned into a real chore. More elevation gain than I had intended and I took the wrong trail, making my overall length longer than I needed. God’s “Happy Birthday” to me was that when I finished and added up the 3 segments, I came up with exactly 15.51 miles…15 miles for 51 years. I celebrated with a “breakfast burger” and a couple beers at Monkey Town Brewing Company, followed by Chattanooga Whiskey and a Davidoff Chef’s Edition. So it was a great day, after all.
The Mash Mummy wasn’t quite as good as I remember the originals being…or as good as recent Black Label samples I’ve had. It could just be “young” and need some extra time…but there’s no time like the present! It was still good and the whiskey made it even better, so nothing really lost.
