Cigar Review: Tatuaje 7th Capa Especial

Corona Gorda, 5 5/8" x 46 ring gauge / $9.99, Maxamar's

It seems like this cigar has generated a lot of discussion around the internet and blogs recently so I thought that now was a good time to review the cigar. This is one of the latest pre-IPCPR releases by Pete Johnson. This is the latest continuation of the 7th line. This cigar is comprised of a Nicaraugan filler and binder all wrapped in a Sumatra leaf. The cigar comes in one size and is regular production item. This was the fourth cigar I smoked.

The first thing I notice about this cigar is the toothy dark chocolate brown wrapper and how it contrasts nicely with the regular brown Tatuaje band and the gold and white second band. The wrapper also had a good amount of darker mottling to it. The wrapper is fairly oily and has medium veins. When I gave the cigar a squeeze I got a slight amount of give with no soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I noted the aroma of cedar with barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping it with my MTX and taking cold draw on it I got the tastes of cedar an spice with a slightly tight draw.

As soon as I lit the cigar up I got an intense red pepper spice on the tongue and retrohale. The cigar tasted of chocolate with a bit of wood thrown in. The draw continued to be pretty tight, which was something that I didn't have problems with on the previous samples I smoked. The burn was also slightly wavy. Towards the end of the first third the tastes of leather and earth with a sweet and creamy finish showed up. The dark, almost black ash held on for about an inch before needing to be tapped off.


The draw in the second third did open up a bit and started to produce more smoke. It still wasn't to the point I liked or how the other ones I've smoked were. The main tastes continued to be leather, wood, earth, and chocolate. The spice did lessen as well. I would call this cigar medium in body and strength. By the end of the second third the burn had almost evened out.

The final third saw the spice ramp up quite a bit, almost to the level it was at the beginning. The main flavors were of cocoa powder and leather with a slightly creamy finish.

Overall this was quite an enjoyable cigar! I was slightly disappointed that this sample didn't have the excellent construction qualities of the previous samples I smoked, but every once in a while you get an off cigar. Just so people don't go attacking me about my review, I did purchase a box after the first one I smoked because I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. I can highly recommend this cigar to pretty much any one, although it might be a little too strong for the smokers who only enjoy mild cigars.


Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 6/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10

Thoughs...comments...leave them below!