This is Part 4 of 5 of my look at Tatuaje’s Little Monsters release.
5.5" x 48 ring gauge
For the fourth installment of the monster series, Pete Johnson introduced the Wolfman, and declared it was a cigar that was supposed to look ugly, from it's toothy, mottled wrapper to the shaggy foot to the brown and red band that seems designed to make your eyes hurt. The truth is...it's not that ugly. The shaggy foot is elegantly done, the wrapper isn't that rough or veiny, and it does have plenty of oil to the touch. The band...well the band is ugly, so he did accomplish the goal there. For this Monster, we once again see all Nicaraguan filler and binder; this time Pete used a new favorite for wrapper: Sumatran (seen just before the Wolfman on the 7th Capa Especial and just after on the Cojonu 2012 Capa Especial). With other new cigars coming out using Sumatran leaf, will this Capa become this year's Ecuadorian Habano? Who knows...and that's not what I'm here to talk about anyway.
The wrapper had a sweet hay aroma and foot had a rich earthy note. The cold draw was good and the flavors of cedar, hay and spice came through. The shaggy foot lets you taste the cigar without the wrapper's influence at the beginning. I noted a strong coffee and pepper spice flavor at this point. That lasted 7 or 8 puffs until the wrapper started to burn, too. As soon as the Sumatra leaf got fully ignited, I noticed a metallic note that it seems is part of the Sumatran profile. This is not a flavor I like a whole lot, so how much I like or dislike a Sumatran wrapped cigar is dependent on how well this flavor is balanced with other flavors. On the full size Wolfman, I can honestly say I was not crazy about the flavor. Here it seems better, though, and it keeps getting better as the Wolfie continues to combust.
As I progressed into the second half metallic notes were subdued more cedar and spice. Overall, I enjoyed this vitola of Wolf more than the full size one. I actually have about 4 or 5 full size left and would gladly trade a few of them for Wolfies at this point. Fans of what Pete has done with Sumatran wrapper lately will surely enjoy these.
Love these little series your doing, I have 3 of the big Wolfs I haven't tried yet guess it time I break these out.. do you have a favorite so far of the Little ?
ReplyDeleteAfter having smoked all of them twice (I went through a whole box, but thankfully I have two untouched one waiting), the Frank Jr. really stands out above the crowd to me. Really liked the Lil Drac also.
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