Monster Mash Review Series: Creature

Following Frank, Wolf, Drac, Face, Mummy, Jason, Jekyll, Hyde, Kreuger, Michael, Chuck, Tiff, and Bride, the original 13 Monsters, Creature is an addition exclusively to the Monster Mash box. This cigar pays homage to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The blend details have not been disclosed for this cigar, beyond the Nicaraguan Double Binder. 

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.

Wrapper: Undisclosed

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Undisclosed

Vitola: 5 ⅜ x 48 Britanicas Extra

Release Date: September 2021

Company Website: https://www.tatuajecigars.com/

Expectations 

Given there are not really any specific blend details given, I have to base this off of the company, factory, concept, and feeling. With that, I am saying this is going to be full in body and flavor with a lot of earth, charred woods, pepper, and I, for some reason, am expecting some minerality or saltiness. I imagine the strength will be around medium.

Prelight Characteristics

This cigar may have my favorite band - black on dark gray. I really like the look and feel this gives the cigar, and I love this vitola. The wrapper is darker brown with a slight red hue. It is quite veiny and textured with some rough seams. It looks like it may be Habano Oscuro or a Dark Sumatra. The cigar smells earthy, and a bit like ammonia. It’s reminiscent of a wet barn. The cold draw has some cinnamon, cherry, and dark cocoa notes. 

First Third 

First light boasts very full bodied smoke and flavors. There is a definite toasty, slightly tannic wood up front with some gritty earth and pepper into the finish. The retrohale has a fair amount of pepper heat and flavor, with some sweet earth and cocoa. Midway into the first third the wrapper has one side that wants to run, but then corrects itself. The flavors are relatively unchanged except there are less tannins. I do end up touching up the run. Coming to the end of the first third the performance has been great besides the small touch up. The flavors are staying true, with just a little tannins coming back in.

Flavor - 2/4

Performance - 2.5/3

Experience - 1.75/3

Overall - 6.25/10

Second Third

The second third, so far, is very much like the first third. The earth is a bit more prominent, but there is still some toasty wood, a bit of tannins, and a little pepper. The retrohale is also still in line with what it was in the first third, except there may be a little bit of leather on the finish. At halfway I had to do another touch up to the running wrapper. At this point, pepper is becoming the primary flavor. Something came up that pulled me away for about 5 minutes, and upon return, the cigar was still rolling along. This doesn’t necessarily mean much, but I always like that quality in a cigar. The second third comes to a close with the wood coming back to the forefront to match the pepper. The performance has been great besides the small touch up.

Flavor - 2/4

Performance - 2.75/3

Experience - 2/3

Overall - 6.75/10

Final Third

The final third starts requiring another small touch up. I don’t think much of these types of little touch ups, but they’re worth mentioning. About a half inch into this third there’s some baking spices making their first appearance. The smoke also has a very creamy texture with a bit of a cream flavor that goes nicely with the baking spices, earth, and wood. Hitting the band point there is still a lot of baking spices and that creamy texture, but with less creamy flavor. The pepper has also picked up a notch. Coming to an end here, the creaminess of the smoke has died down, along with the baking spices. The cigar closes out with primarily pepper and earth. The performance has been great down the stretch and the strength has crept up to medium-full.

Flavor - 2.25/4

Performance - 2.75/3

Experience - 2.5/3

Overall - 7.5/10

Overall Experience

This was a great way to close out the Monster Mash Series. I thought this blend offered a bit more dimension than I was actually anticipating. The final third was especially enjoyable with the introduction of baking spices and cream. I would be curious to know what the undisclosed components, and/or what the base blend was for this as I would smoke these again, or something similar. 

Final Score - 6.83/10

Concluding the series, my ranking is:

Mummy (8.83) > Bride (8.5) > Michael (7.75) > Frank (7.5) > Jason (7.08) > Hyde (7) = Krueger (7) > Creature (6.83) > Chuck (6.75) > Tiff (6.67) > Face (6.5) = Drac (6.5) > Wolf (5.5) > Jekyll (5.17) 

This Monster Mash box was purchased by me through UpDown Cigar in Chicago. Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or visit my website www.guitarsandcigarsfarm.com.


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