Torpedo/Tubo, 6.125" x 52 ring gauge, $15.95Pete Johnson released the first Tatuaje cigars in 2003 and has expanded his initial line to several label colors and blends, as well as adding new lines to what is rapidly becoming "Pete Johnson Cigars," not just Tatuaje. Information on the Black is hard to come by, but I first remember hearing about them a couple years ago and that they were sold in jars at the time. I had never actually seen a Tat Black "in the wild" until the recent release of the Tubos. They are blended, as usual, by Don Pepin Garcia and are Nicaraguan puros--this time meant specifically to replicate a blend Pete came across while in Cuba.
Rustic is a mild word for this stick's appearance. Word is that they used a binder-grade leaf for the wrapper and judging by the rough, toothy and veiny appearance, that is very easy to believe. Even though it was oily, this leaf was rough. It ended in a shaggy, unclipped foot to complete the ultra-rustic look. The aroms from the body was and barnyard; the foot did not give much more because of the "shaggy" finish, but I did get an extra not of chocolate there. The prelight draw was great and the flavors were fairly faint--some cocoa, some coffee, some sweet tobacco were all there, but just not very strongly. A couple notes before moving one: First, despite it rather ugly appearance, I will not deduct points from appearance for this cigar because it is actually intended to be ugly and rustic. Second, I'll just come right out and say it: the tube looks like it should be battery-powered. 'Nuff said.
Initially the flavors didn't add much to what I experienced prelight--there was some dark black coffee and roasted nuts, but they were not particularly strong. The retrohale was intense, however, and burned with black pepper. The first third of the stick was mostly a dark-roasted coffee flavor--fairly bitter and quite full-bodied. There was also quite a bit of chili pepper spice in the back of the mouth and top of the throat and a healthy dose of black pepper through the nose. There was a slightly uneven burn that corrected itself pretty quickly.
The second third started off with a decrease in the volume of smoke. After tapping ash a second time, I saw that there was a slight tunnel forming. Nothing so serious that I would throw out the stick, but disappointing at such a premium price point. The flavor was still mostly of coffee although there was some cocoa powder mixed in there, too. The spice had also diminished significantly.
The final third was a pretty abrupt change from the first two: the flavors changed to earth and leather in the lead roles with coffee playing a minor supporting one. There were also some notes of roasted nuts and dark chocolate from time-to-time. In the end, this was an interesting, fairly complex full-bodied smoke, but one that I probably would not revisit with much frequency. It just was not as full of flavor as I would expect from a stick costing this much. It was not bad, but neither was it great, and just "good" doesn't cut it when the price is over $15 per stick.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 0/1
Total: 7/10
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