2 Sides: Tatuaje Anarchy

6.125" x 48-50 ring gauge / $10 each in box of 15

Dave Said:

It has been another "big-buzz" story of 2010-what the heck is "Tatuaje Anarchy?" The name surfaced early in the year and there has been much speculation concerning what it was all about. Some enterprising people with a lot of time on their hands went so far as to start searching for trademarks on the U.S. Patent Office website and unveiled the person/company that registered the trademark. Another mystery presented itself a few weeks ago when I (and several others) receiving e-mails from "Si Cigars" asking us to review their new sticks. Never being one to say "No" to a new cigar offered freely, I provided my address. A week or so later, I got a box in the mail from "SI CIGARS" and was very surprised to find the Tat Anarchy inside. According to the letter sent with the cigars, the wrapper "is a very special proprietary crop of Ecuadorian Habano leaf that Pepin and Pete chose personally for the project. The Binder and Filler are Nicaraguan, and blended to perfection." Smoke Inn will be debuting these cigars officially on December 10, but they sent us two samples for this dual review; the cigars were allowed to rest a week or more in our own personal humidors after their travel time.

This was an interesting-looking stick-a very mildly-shaped perfecto with a very tight pigtail and an oily, dark wrapper with several medium-to-large veins. The band has the Anarchy symbol in red on a black background on the front of the band, the PJHC logo on in red on the back, and "Tatuaje" blind embossed on either side. I got a very earthy aroma on the wrapper, along with more earth and cocoa powder on the foot. The stick seemed to be pretty well-packed. I used my Xikar XI cutter and it produced a clean cut with a smooth, open draw; prelight, I got dark chocolate and earthy flavors primarily, but there seemed to be a bit of dried fruit sweetness in there, too-very subtle, but definitely there.

Once lit, I got cocoa powder with a chili pepper spiciness on the tongue, along with an earthy, spicy retrohale. It is easy to be dubious of store-exclusive cigars-there is enough only-only garbage available to make the discriminating smoker very wary-but it does not seem like Pete took the easy way out by throwing in a lesser blend or just adding his name to a cigar to make extra money. So far, this could easily fit in with the other Tats on retailer shelves-fairly strong and very flavorful right from the start. After the spiciness wore off a bit, the first third continued to display a chocolatey sweetness along with plenty of earth in a medium-to-full bodied smoke.

By the end of the second third there was no spice left, but the earth and chocolate remained, joined by a very pleasant undercurrent of dried fruit. Construction was spot-on, with an almost perfectly straight burn line and an immaculate draw. The body tipped over into the full range-barely-by this point.

After the absence of spice late in the second third, I was surprised-and pleased-to get a nice cayenne burn early in the last third. It was a great addition to the cocoa powder note that had evolved from the chocolate, as well as the overall earthiness. The nicotine strength of the Tatuaje Anarchy started to show up as well-definitely not a cigar for newbies. At the end of the day, this was simply a fantastic cigar and maybe may favorite to issue from the collective consciousness of Johnson and Garcia this year. This is currently listed as a "limited edition" cigar, implying that it will not be around long. That would be a shame, really. After spending nearly a year hyping this cigar's release, including a totally new website and a video with Pete, it seems a big waste of time and energy to sell one new cigar until it sells out (presumably fast) and have it disappear. I am hoping that will not be the case. Maybe the Tat Anarchy will be a limited "regular" release, with several thousand made each year, or maybe they will release a new size once or twice a year. Whatever the case, I hope they are able to make this a regular part of the Tatuaje family.

Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 8/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 10/10 

Keith Said:  

I don't think I've ever see this shape cigar with the Tatuaje name on it.  It was tapered at both ends like a perfecto.  The wrapper was the color of dark chocolate with some light speckling towards the foot of the cigar.  The cigar had a fairly smooth wrapper with almost no visible veins and as slight amount of tooth.  The pigtail cap was the most complex I've ever seen.  It reminded me of a sticky bun.  It was fairly firm to the touch and had no soft spots when I gave it a squeeze.  Putting my nose to the wrapper I got notes of barnyard, and barnyard and chocolate from the foot.  After clipping the cigar and taking a cold draw I was able to detect notes of chocolate with a good draw.  One thing to note about the cap is that because it is large and looks like it has a lot of vegetable glue holding it together; it made it a little difficult to get my Xikar MTX under it to cut off the small amount I usually like to clip.  I did have to clip a bit more off than I normally would so as not to rip the wrapper.

The first thing that hit me when I lit this cigar up is a fairly intense spice on the tongue and retrohale.  As I got a few puffs in I was able to get the taste of chocolate and leather.  The draw opened up to near perfect after it burned through the shoulder at the foot of the cigar and it produced a large volume of smoke.  Exactly like Dave experienced the spice toned itself down as I progressed through this third.  The flavors of earth, sweetness and a creaminess came through in the first third.  The ash was a white with some black flecks in it and needed to be tapped off after an inch.  The burn did start of slightly wavy, but it no way a problem.

As I got to the beginning of the second third the spice was completely gone.  I was left with the very enjoyable flavors of cocoa, leather and a hint of sweetness on the finish.  The burn evened itself out without any help.  The draw continued to be great producing a large volume of sweet smelling smoke.

Again as Dave experienced the spice came back with power as I moved into the final third.  While the flavors hadn't changed much I was still really enjoying my time with this cigar.  The cigar definitely isn't for the new smoker or someone who doesn't like strong cigars. 

I agree with Dave that it would be a shame to have this cigar be a once and done.  It is a cigar with near perfect construction and great flavors and in my opinion needs to be part of a regular, maybe limited, production.  In any case I'm going to pick up a couple to make sure I have some in case they don't do that.

Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10

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