In 2008 Tatuaje Cigars released the La Riqueza line. After 9 years, and 13 vitolas, the line was removed from their price list, though not completely discontinued. In March of 2022 Tatuaje released a new vitola, and slightly tweaked blend, of this cigar under the name La Riqueza SE. I have seen that cigar getting plenty of hype, and I guess it was stuck in my mind when I grabbed my cigar for review today. I dug up a 2014 La Riqueza No. 7 I had in my humidor. I actually stumbled upon some of these that were buried in a B&M’s humidor, though I never actually smoked a fresh La Riqueza. I have had some tremendous luck with aged Tatuaje cigars, so I am excited to light this up.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: 5 ⅞ x 54 Toro Grande
Release Date: 2014
Company Website: www.tatuajecigars.com
This La Riqueza had yellow cellophane, but not it was not as dark as you might expect. The wrapper is medium brown and quite rustic looking. I kind of like the simplicity of the La Riqueza bands, but I do think they’re a bit cheesy. The cigar is a tad spongy, but quite heavy. It smells of damp pine and pepper. The cold draw is dark fruit and spices. First light is full of pepper, gritty earth, and some slightly tannic wood. It’s medium-full in body and full in flavor. The wood is pretty distinctly cedar to start with and there is also some deep sweetness to the earth. About a half inch in the tannins have faded. There’s plenty of earth and pepper still on the palate. I need to do a slight touch up to one side of the burn. Halfway into the first third there’s a prominent salted chocolate on the draw now with a lot less earth and pepper going into the finish. The retrohale has some chocolate up front but with a sweet pepper matching it. The second third is rolling along with a bit more salt than the chocolate, but the combination is still prominent. The performance has been great since the touch up early on. Hitting halfway I have to do another small touch up to one side of the burn. The profile is still carrying the salted chocolate. Moving into the final third the salted chocolate is still prominent, but it’s creamier now, almost like a mousse. There’s a bit of wood showing up on the finish. The retrohale is tangy chocolate and a little pepper. Near the band point, the pepper and earth are stepping up in the finish. Passing the band the chocolate is almost completely gone and the profile is earth, pepper, and a little creamy sweetness. Coming to an end at an hour and 45 minutes the performance has been great and the profile has become more earthy with plenty of wood and some pepper with the salted chocolate being virtually nonexistent.
Overall Experience
Overall I thought this was a very good cigar. It’s been awhile since I’ve smoked something with this much distinct chocolate, and I really liked the saltiness that accompanied it. The earth, wood, and pepper added some nice dimension to the experience. Unfortunately I never smoked one of these fresh to be able to attest to how age impacted the profile, however, I feel fairly confident in saying that it allowed the chocolate and cream notes to take prominence over the more robust earth, wood, and pepper notes. If you find some of these older La Riqueza, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab them. I think I need to pay a visit to that B&M soon…
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