Tatuaje Petit Reserva

I found out through some of the forums online about a very limited Tatuaje stick being sold over at New Havana Cigars, the Tatuaje Petit Reserva, which uses the same Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper as a few of Tatuaje’s other limited sticks. They run about $3.15 a stick (in boxes of 50), and the rumor is that there were only 40 boxes made.

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje Petit Reserva
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 4 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 32
• Vitola: Petit
• MSRP: $3.15 (Boxes of 50, $157.50)
• Date Released: 2009
• Number of Cigars Released: 40 Boxes of 50 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)

It is a extremely small stick sans band at 4 1/2 Inches and a RG of 32, about twice the total size of a cigarette, and the wrapper is a very nice dark reddish brown with a smell of cinnamon and tobacco. My prelight draw tasted of spearmint, and after lighting up, the draw was a little tight.

As with almost every other Tatuaje, there was a spice kick right off the bat from the first draw, but it was a bit less than other Tatuajes, either due to the size or the blend, I don’t know. Dominant flavors for the stick were a strong leather, cedar and pepper. I finished mine in 35 minutes flat, and it never got harsh at the end, even when I burned my fingers on the nub…

Surprisingly to me, for it’s size, this is a VERY strong cigar (but not overwhelming), and while I did not feel woozy or anything, I definitely felt the effects.

Brooks Whittington

I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.