Tatuaje Outlaw

In June of 2010, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars announced he would be releasing another one of his sting store limited edition, now known as the Exclusivo Series.

This time for Outlaw Cigars in Kansas City, Mo., and its Bad to the Bone event. Despite quite a bit of research, I have not found an official name for the cigar, so I will call it the Tatuaje Outlaw. The cigar contains a custom blend that is based on the Verocu line of cigars, and topped with an unknown Pepín wrapper. Pete Johnson said, “the blend is similar to the Verocu east but with a wrapper that we had very little of from last years crop from one of Jaime and Pepíns farms.”

The size of the cigar (6 x5 2) is a size that Tatuaje did not make up until this point, and it was produced at the request from the owner of the Outlaw, Kendall Culbertson, who loves that size and ring gauge.

There were only 2,000 cigars rolled of this blend, they were sold in 100 boxes of 20, and according to Johnson, it is a one time production made for the event. You can only buy them at The Outlaw South location, and as of publication they do have a few left. You can call them at 913.814.9000.

The cigar comes unbanded, in cello, and the boxes look like this:

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje Outlaw
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• Est. Price: $11.00 (Boxes of 20, $220.00)
• Date Released: July 2010
• Number of Cigars Released: 100 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

The cigar itself is a nice looking stick with a dark brown wrapper that is not rough or toothy, but not exactly smooth to the touch, sort of in between the two. There are some veins visible, but they do not hurt the look or the feel of the cigar. The wrapper smells quite a bit like hay and leather, I was reminded of a leather tack store that I used to visit as a child on a farm. The cigar is quite firm when squeezed, but not overly so, and it feels very good in your hand. The cold draw brings flavors of chocolate and leather.

The first third starts out with just the tiniest bit of spice, so little that I was a bit shocked, knowing I was smoking a Tatuaje. There are quite a few flavors present, including leather, dark chocolate and cedar, and each one of the flavors are quite distinct, which is not always the case with cigars. However, about halfway through the first third, or about an eighth of the way through the entire cigar if you prefer, the spice that was present, and it is quite nice, seems to cut off, almost as if someone had flipped a switch.

The second third continues where the first third left off. Extremely mild and muted flavors, almost like I was smoking through a cheesecloth. I could still taste notes of chocolate, leather, cedar, and hay, but much milder than before.

The last third is pretty much the same as the second third. Not much change at all in the core flavors, although I did think that it turns just a bit more creamy near the end, but it could have been my hopeful imagination.

Final Notes:

• This would be a perfect cigar to throw into a blind review series, as nobody would think this is anything close to a Tatuaje.
• This is going to be one of those cigars that some people will love, and some people will think is just an okay smoke. I could taste a bit of the Verocu line in it, but not enough for it to make much of a difference. I will definitely not be calling it the “Verocu Outlaw.”
• The burn was okay, I had to touch it up a few times, but nothing major, but the draw was a bit loose for the whole smoke. Not so much to be a problem, but definitely noticeable.
• The first third of the cigar was where most of the flavor was. If you smoked just that first third, then pitched the cigar, you really would not miss out on much.
• The final smoking time was one hour and 30 Minutes.