L’Atelier Racine ERB

From 2013-2017, L’Atelier Imports released an annual limited edition under the Extension de la Racine name. Each cigar was made entirely of Nicaraguan tobaccos, including the Sancti Spiritus varietal that is L’Atelier’s signature and wore a red version of the L’Atelier band.

There was no Extension de la Racine in 2018 and I can’t say I’ve thought much about the line until I saw that there was a new Racine shown off at this summer’s 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show. I suspect the stoppage in 2018 is no coincidence, since that’s the year that L’Atelier Imports went from being its own operation to being folded fully into a part of Tatuaje’s operations. This year, there seems to be a renewed focus on the L’Atelier brands, including another new release that marks the first new Surrogates blend in quite some time.

As for that new Racine, it’s called ERB, which stands for Edición Racine Britanicas. The “Britanicas” part of the name is a reference to the viola’s name: in fact, this specific perfecto vitola is referred to as “Britanicas Extra” in the Cuban cigar naming system. It’s a 5 3/8 x 48 perfecto with softer curves than some salomones and it’s a size that Tatuaje has used for roughly a half dozen different releases. As for the blend of ERB, it is a Nicaraguan puro with a criollo wrapper over a Sancti Spiritus binder and fillers that also include the Sancti Spiritus tobacco.

There are currently six releases in the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine line:

• L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER13 (5 7/8 x 52) — September 2013 — Undisclosed
• L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER14 (6 1/8 x 52) — October 2014 — 1,350 Boxes of 20 Cigars (27,000 Total Cigars)
• L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER15 (6 3/4 x 43) — September 2015 — 1,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
• L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER16 (4 7/8 x 50) — September 2016 — 1,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
• L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER17 (5 7/8 x 52) — August 2017 — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• L’Atelier Racine ERB — August 2022 — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)

• Cigar Reviewed: L’Atelier Racine ERB
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Criollo)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Sancti Spiritus)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Sancti Spiritus)
• Length: 5 3/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Británicas Extra
• MSRP: $11 (Box of 20, $220)
• Release Date: August 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The wrapper on the L’Atelier Racine ERB has a deep mocha color that has a great amount of reds when the light hits it. There are lots of visible veins and beyond them, I can really see the texture of the wrapper in a way that isn’t regularly common on most cigars. When I pick up the cigar I can feel the oiliness of the wrapper, but I can’t say I notice all that much of it with my eyes. I’m a big fan of this size, which Tatuaje is also using for two other new cigars this year. One cigar has what appears to be a tiny patch job right around the cap, but otherwise the cigars appear to be rolled well. The aroma from the wrapper is medium-full with a core of acidic barnyard over some citrus, admittedly not the most appetizing smell. I’m not able to detect that many flavors from the feet of any of the three ERBs. There’s some mild red woods, chocolate, a candied coffee flavor and some pepper. Cold draws have a semi-sweet cocoa over hoisin sauce, some mint, a less aggressive acidic barnyard and a touch of oatmeal. One cigar has a pretty open draw while the other two are normal.

The L’Atelier Racine ERB begins with some bright woods that remind me of freshly split logs, some bitter cantaloupe flavors and a generic berry sensation that comes in towards the finish. One of the cigars tastes a bit Cuban at the start thanks to the specific type of woody flavors, though I wouldn’t describe the other two that way. Once each cigar has burned through the tapered foot, I taste a flavor that reminds me of a pile of damp fall leaves over brown sugar, cumin and a mild amount of terroir. The woody flavors come and go, but they are never a consistent part of the profile. The finish has leather, earthiness, fall leaves, brown butter and funkiness that borders between an herbal flavor and a cheese flavor. There’s some black pepper that builds slowly and consistently as the cigar burns and saltiness adds itself right near the second third. Retrohales have nuttiness, raisins, sourdough bread and some more of that wet leaves flavor. Once the smoke leaves my nose, the finish has an herbal flavor that transitions into something that reminds remarkably like broccoli. That fades pretty quickly and is replaced by graham cracker and some generic harshness. I find the flavors of the retrohale to be lighter and crisper than what I can taste in my mouth. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium. The one cigar that had an open draw during the cold draw continues to have an open draw. It’s better than the cold draw, but it’s still causing problems with smoke production, which forces a touch-up on that one cigar.

A Pringles-like potato flavor and nuttiness take over as the leading flavors of the second third. Depending on the cigar and where in the cigar I am, those two flavors can taste separate or more intertwined. Secondary notes include a less acidic than before barnyard sensation, red apple, leather, white pepper, pizza crust and some mild black pepper. I’m not entirely sure how much more black pepper there is than before, I’m led to believe that it’s probably less intense than it was. The finish has a chalky earth profile, some herbal flavors, an unsweet vanilla sensation, charred pepper and some peanut butter. Retrohales have an earthy core accented by floral flavors over white pepper, peanut butter and some blueberries. There’s a lot of straw-like flavors that build towards the back of the throat before a generic starchiness—like a roux—takes over. There’s also some very sharp horseradish-like pepper, though it’s quite mild, and pink salt on the side of my tongue. Flavor remains medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. An open draw remains a major annoyance for one cigar and all three cigars need touch-ups to help keep them burning without going out.

That straw flavor that I found in the finish of the retrohale moves to the forefront of the profile during the final third of the L’Atelier Racine ERB. It joins a mixture of brown rice, muted creaminess and some milder coffee accents. Black pepper has flashes where it is really strong, but then it retreats back to barely being an afterthought. The finish has straw, pine, some touches of raspberry and an occasional big hit of black pepper. It seems that the creaminess that is present—I can’t taste all that much of it as an isolated flavor—tend to mute everything else that is going on. Retrohales have nuttiness, white pepper, grassiness and  sourdough bread. Without the creaminess, it seems like the flavors are able to shine through more, though they are still obviously muted.  The finish has white pepper, paprika, creaminess and some herbal flavors. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. From the halfway point on, I really struggle to keep the L’Atelier Racine ERB from going out. I manage to avoid having any of the cigars completely go out, but smoking faster doesn’t fix the problem alone, so I’m forced to use my lighter to continually touch the cigars up. The one sample with the open draw is substantially worse in this regard than the other two.

Final Notes

• There are very few times I’ve smoked three Tatuajes with this many construction issues. One cigar had an open draw, which caused other problems with smoke production and touch-ups. But the other two cigars, which had superb draws, also had issues staying lit. None of the cigars were unsmokeable due to construction woes, but after the first third, the construction issues were quite obvious.
• The flavor profile of this cigar was odd. I was able to detect plenty of unique flavors, but I felt like it was always one step away from fully hitting its full stride, sort of like if the cigar was mumbling. There were some exceptions—like when the pink salt hit the side of my tongue after a retrohale—but most puffs seemed to be just barely not there.

• I don’t really care about patch jobs, if that’s what this is. Things happen and as long as it doesn’t affect how the cigar smokes—which I rarely find they do—I don’t really care. That said, if given the choice between a wrapper with no issues or a wrapper with a minor issue, I’ll take the former over the latter each and every time.
• Tatuaje used this size more than eight years ago, if not earlier. While there have been other Tatuaje cigars that have used this size since then, it’s interesting that in 2022 there’s now suddenly three new iterations.
• It’s been years since I last smoked a Racine. After smoking the ERB, I want to go dig through a humidor and find an older one to see how it’s smoking. The Racine is either my favorite or second favorite L’Atelier blend. The competition would be La Mission.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• I noticed the cigar burned much quicker after it got through the first third. Final smoking time averaged around one hour and 40 minutes.
• Site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co. carries the L’Atelier Racine ERB.