Tatuaje Monster Mash Review Series - Wolf

If you haven’t read the first review of this series where I smoked the Frank, check it out here. There you can get some back story on this iconic series. My intention was to smoke these in order, however, when I got the Frank out for review, I accidently dumped the Drac, Face, and Wolf, then I put them back in without paying much attention. I then grabbed the second cigar in the box with the intent of smoking the Drac, but it didn't dawn on me till later that I accidentally swapped the Wolf and Drac and was smoking the Wolf… Insert Facepalm emoji...


Originally released as a large 7 ½ x 52 Box Pressed Torpedo in October 2011, the Wolfman was the 4th Monsters release by Tatuaje. Like the Frank, Drac, and Face that preceded it, there were 666 13 count dress boxes sent to the “Unlucky 13” retailers. Like the Face, an additional 1300 10 count boxes were released as well. I never acquired the 2011 Wolfman to smoke, but I am happy for the modified size of this Wolf. 7 ½ x 52 is a lot of cigar and I can’t sit still that long.


Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Vitola: 6 x 52 Box Pressed Torpedo

Price: N/A

Release Date: September 2021

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

Expectations 

I had to change this while the cigar was underway due to my stupidity in mixing up the Drac and Wolf. So this was written while I was smoking, but I was honest with what I would have expected if I had the specs right to start with. 

Based on my experience with this wrapper on Pete’s stuff and on other Nicaraguan cigars, I anticipate a bolder experience. Not a ton of complexity but a good profile of baking spices, wood, and some sweetness. I don’t anticipate as much of a strength kick as the Frank gave me, but something in the medium to medium-full range.

Prelight Characteristics

This cigar has a milk chocolate wrapper with some imperfections. The wrapper is a darker shade for Sumatra than most I have seen. The foot is unfinished for the first 1/2 inch or so. This much of an unfinished foot is always neat because you can focus on the filler and binder flavors, then pickup on what the wrapper adds to the profile when the burn line reaches it. The cigar smells of damp earth and cocoa. The cold draw is potent and provides notes of dates and pepper with some must. 

First Third

The first light is a blast of pepper with a bit of wood. If you have smoked the Tatuaje Jibaro line, this is starting quite similarly. I cut about half the taper off of this torpedo and the draw is perfect. After a handful of puffs, this is definitely full flavor. The smoke has a medium body. The pepper is getting into the back of my throat pretty quickly. There’s a creamy leather note that joins in once I get into the wrapper. After about an inch in, the flavor is down to medium with a pretty short finish. The retrohale is showing a little dark coffee bitterness and some saltiness. Nearing the end of the first third and the flavor, strength, and body are holding medium. The profile for most of this third has shown some complexity. The draw flavors are mainly the creamy leather with some wood and pepper. The finish is holding onto the pepper. The retrohale still has some coffee with the addition of pepper; the salt dropped out. The performance and draw have been perfect. 

Flavor - 2.5/4

Performance - 3/3

Experience - 1.5/3

Overall - 7/10

Second Third

The ash dropped to start this third. Quickly into this second third and this cigar is drying my palate out some. The draw has dropped the creamy leather in place of some pepper and slightly bitter charred wood. These hold on into the finish and linger between puffs. The retrohale has some undefined richness and some pepper to it. At the halfway point, the  burn was wavering a touch but managed to correct itself. This has not been as interesting a third as the first. Since the creamy leather was dropped, the cigar has been quite one dimensional and remains that way to finish the third. It performed pretty well with the exception of the wavy burn at halfway.

Flavor - 1.5/4

Performance - 2.5/3

Experience - 1.25/3

Overall - 5.25/10

Final Third

Moving into this third and the flavor and body are coming up to a medium full. The burn is running a touch but has again managed to correct itself. The draw is an oily pepper, still with a bit of char. The oil and char control the finish with some pepper in the throat. The retrohale is showing some dark fruit sweetness now. It’s beginning to require more frequent puffing to stay lit which is bringing everything up to full. It’s oily, peppery, has some bitter char, and the finish is distinctly a musty hay. The burn has been a bit wonky but it’s still self correcting. Approaching the band the flavors are a musty dark fruit and just a touch of hay now. The cigar held these notes until the end. Ending at medium-full in all categories.

Flavor - 1.5/4

Performance - 1.5/3

Experience - 1.25/3

Overall - 4.25/10

Overall Experience

Honestly, given how much I love the Sumatran wrapped stuff Tatuaje puts out, I am let down by this. It is not a bad cigar, but it was not a good flavor profile for me after the first third. The first third had more depth of flavor and was balanced nicely. The second and final third dropped the creamy leather and consequently lost some complexity and balance for me. I like some charred wood and pepper, but there has to be some other component in there for me or the cigar needs to hang around the medium range, otherwise my palate will get burnt out. Especially when I need to do more frequent puffing like what happened in the final third. The final third did show some promise with some dark fruit sweetness making its way in, but the musty hay fought it in making the third more enjoyable. I think there are plenty of people that are going to like this cigar, but I am fine with not having more of these.The final smoke time was an hour and 43 minutes. 

Final Score - 5.5/10

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 via email at trevor@whiskeyandwhitetails.com.


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