The Jackal by Tatuaje

• Vitola: Torpedo
• 6.75 x 54 ring gauge
• $13.99 (when purchased in 10-count box)
• Provided by Casa de Montecristo

Background

Casa de Montecristo has garnered a reputation across the country as being one of the finest, most upscale cigar shops in existence. Although I have no plans to go to the Chicago area anytime soon, I do hope to actually visit the shop one day so I can see it for myself. Until that time, I was happy to make the acquaintance of manager Craig Wingbermuehle. He contacted me about the launch of Casa’s online home, CDMCigars.com and offered to send me some review samples of some of their exclusive releases.

First up is The Jackal from Tatuaje. The official story on the Jackal is that it was a cigar three years in the making, starting with using the Sancti Spiritus wrapper most often associated with L’Atelier brands, the proceeding to test out various combinations of fillers from the famed Tatuaje Halloween/Monster releases until they came up with just the right blend. The inspiration for the project was a trip to Egypt where the Jackal “stood out as a figure of prestige and mystique.”  The Jackal is a god and a protector, symbolized by Annubis, who is half man, half animal.

The Jackal ended up with all Nicaraguan fillers and binder, along with the Ecuadorian Sancti Spiritus wrapper. It is packaged in 10-count boxes with 2,000 boxes total being made. As noted before, the only place to get them is Casa de Montecristo in the Chicago area, or at their online store.

Prelight

The look of this cigar and the box it comes in is not unfamiliar to anyone familiar with the Tatuaje Monster Series. The box could definitely double for one of the annual “coffin dress boxes” while the cigar itself immediately evokes a memory of The Wolfman monster cigar for me, with the torpedo tip and shaggy foot. Unlike Wolfman, though, this cigar is not box-pressed…and since it has a totally different wrapper varietal, it’s a different color as well. The band is a black and gold foil design that is relatively simple but nice…which describes most of the early banding efforts for the brand.

The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown with a significant amount of lumpiness hidden underneath it. The leaf was smooth and oily to the eye with a rich earth and leather note. The shaggy foot had a mix of earth and cedar aromas with a bit of bell pepper.

I went for a fairly small amount clipped off of the torpedo with my Xikar Xi cutter and got a nice open draw with sweet hay and earthy flavor notes.

Flavor

The shaggy foot of The Jackal allows for initial flavors to be just of the filler bunch with no wrapper influence. I got a good deal of natural tobacco, hay, and earth, with lesser notes of citrus and red pepper. Once the wrapper started burning, too, the whole flavor profile gained some sweetness in the form of dried fruit, along with a touch of leather. The retrohale was nutty with a strong red pepper component.

As the first third concluded and the second third got going, the flavors morphed into a cedar-forward profile with undertones of earth and hay. The pepper notes faded a bit on the palate and nose, but didn’t completely disappear. The dried fruit sweetness faded quite a bit, as well.

The last third was woody, earthy and salty. Pepper still danced around the edges of the flavor profile and there was a bit of balancing sweetness in the mix.

Construction

While the initial clip gave a good draw at first, it tightened up so that I had to re-clip before the first third was done. I consider this part of the reason I don’t generally like torpedo-shaped cigars. After the second clip everything was good. The burn line was generally even and the ash held on for over an inch at times.

Value

As with all limited edition cigars, this one is a bit pricey. If you’re comfortable with the normal prices of Tat Monster cigars, this one won’t be a stretch.

Conclusions

The Jackal was a very interesting cross between a Tat Monster series stick and a L’Atelier. There was plenty of earth and cedar in the medium-to-full-bodied mix along with the richness of the Sancti Spiritus wrapper leaf that added spice and sweetness. Tatuaje fans will definitely want to get in on this, at least for a 5-pack.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 4/1
Total: 9/10