Tatuaje T110 Reserva

Going through my redux humidor is oftentimes as much of a trip down memory lane as it is a search for a cigar to light up and write up. In the case of the Tatuaje T110 Reserva, it not only took me back a few years but took me to a previous place, as for some reason it made me think back to the announcement that the T110 was coming back, an announcement I remember writing up in November 2020 when I was living at my previous address.

I can still remember seeing Pete Johnson’s social media posts about the T110 returning and how I was going to make a concerted effort to get my hands on some since I missed out on the original, which was an exclusive for R. Field Wine Co. in Honolulu, Hawaii that came out in July 2009.

The T in the name was an abbreviation for thermonuclear, a cigar Johnson created as an exercise in making an ultra-strong cigar, but which was never sold. As for the 110, that referenced the cigar’s length in millimeters. It was rumored to be an all-ligero creation, something Johnson later corrected to say that it used a lot of high-priming tobacco, just not all ligeros, adding that he had never marketed it as such. Regardless, the potent Nicaraguan tobaccos came from Jalapa and Estelí for the limited release, with just 200 boxes of 25 cigars produced.

It was also a cigar that Johnson made almost as a joke, given its strength and the adverse reactions it was having on some people. However, that didn’t stop it from laying the groundwork for a new line from Tatuaje, as it would go on to spawn the Fausto line in the summer of 2011, and the Avion, a spinoff of the Fausto line that was released in three incarnations from 2011-2013.

It was April 2021 that the T110’s return would occur, and just about two months after, Johnson announced that not only would there be a new batch of T110s, there would be two new variations on it, the T110 Capa Especial, which used an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper instead of the Ecuadorian habano of the original, and this cigar, the Tatuaje T110 Reserva, which uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper.

Regardless of the version of the T110, all three cigars are short robustos that measure 4 3/8 x 52 and use the same Nicaraguan binder and filler across the three variations. Each came with an MSRP of $10 and were presented in boxes of 25 cigars, with 2,400 boxes of both the Broadleaf and Sumatra versions being produced, compared to just 1,000 boxes of the Ecuadorian habano version. For that latter cigar, 400 boxes were made exclusively for R. Field Wine Co. in Honolulu, Hawaii, and which are indicated as such by adding the store’s logo to the cliche.

The addition of the Capa Especial and Reserva versions was something Johnson was doing with a number of cigars he was bringing back in limited quantities. When Johnson announced the two new variations, he said that once the batch of T110s was gone, he did not plan on bringing them back for three to five years, as the T110 is part of the Tatuaje Limited Series, a group of cigars that Johnson said will rotate in and out in between production runs.

That said, in April 2022, Johnson had one more trick up his sleeve for the T110, announcing that there would be a T110 Tuxtla, a fourth variant that used a Mexican San Andrés-grown wrapper.

Here’s what I said about the Tatuaje T110 Reserva when I reviewed it in September 2021:

I was undoubtedly intrigued by the return of the T110, and the two variations certainly were intriguing enough on their own, let alone as part of the T110 trio. I’ve had the chance to smoke all three of the T110s, and much like with other cigars in the Tatuaje portfolio that use the three wrappers, the broadleaf wrapper is either its biggest strength or its biggest detractor. At its best, the T110 Reserva was the richest of the three for my palate, while also being the funkiest of the three when things aren’t at their best. It’s something I’ve noticed elsewhere, and leads me to wonder just what causes the variance of the broadleaf that is being used for these cigars. I would certainly still recommend trying the Tatuaje T110 Reserva if you have or can get some, but I would do so with a word of caution that I think you need to smoke a few of them to find all that the blend has to offer, and in doing so, you may just find one reasons why the T110 Reserva falls short of the other two.

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje T110 Reserva
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 4 3/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Short Robusto
• MSRP: $10 (Box of 25, $250)
• Release Date: July 2021
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,400 Boxes of 25 Cigars (60,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

The cigar looks good, though the two years or so in the humidor—and without any cellophane—seems to have resulted in the cigar looking a bit drier than I remember it. The cigar has a bit of crystallization on the wrapper, as I can see little spots that reflect the light like an incredibly small diamond might. It also has a good bit of fine grit texture to it, giving my fingers a fairly unique sensation. The wrapper is a uniform color of very dark brown, with some small veins, flat and nearly invisible seam lines, and a well-applied cap. It’s a dense cigar that doesn’t show much give, and given that it feels a bit dry, I’m not squeezing it too intensely. The foot’s aroma has a bit of pepper to it but largely reminds me of tobacco bales, a bit dry and definitely subtle. The cold draw is smooth and also subdued, with a bit more of the tobacco bale flavor, though now finished off by just a touch of sweetness, somewhere between simple syrup and a light maple syrup.

The first puffs of the Tatuaje T110 Reserva have a dry, medium-bodied profile with flavors that don’t immediately register on my taste buds, but subsequent puffs reveal lumber, fallen leaves, a bit of earth and just a sprinkle of pepper, all of which are on the dry side of the spectrum. Retrohales, meanwhile, have a bit of creaminess to them, as well as some more forthcoming pepper, though this is far from lighting up my nostrils. The Tatuaje T110 Reserva needs just a couple of puffs to wake up from its slumber of just over two years, as the earthiness clarifies what it’s trying to do. While Connecticut broadleaf can be known for delivering sweetness, it has yet to appear, but there is plenty of the earthy component that broadleaf is also known to provide. Just ahead of the midpoint, a more focused pepper note squares up with the top of my throat, while the earth takes on a bit more of a soil flavor as opposed to a more generic earth flavor. There are some food notes beginning to emerge, as through the nose I get a chewy cake donut sensation, while there is just a touch of Corn Flakes on the palate, but more specifically, something that has been coated in Corn Flakes and fried. I almost want to call it dry fried chicken, but that doesn’t feel quite right. Flavor is medium-full on average, with puffs on either side of that descriptor in the first half, while the body is medium-plus and strength is mild. Construction is fantastic thus far, as the draw is smooth, the burn line is even, and smoke production is solid.

The second half of the cigar continues to see the flavor wake up, though the rate at which it is doing has slowed a bit. The Corn Flakes note has yielded to some rockier earth, while pepper shines brightest via retrohales. As the second half continues to burn, I find myself eagerly awaiting some kind of change from the profile, yet as of the point where the bands would be, it has yet to arrive. I’d love to get some of the thick, jammy sweetness that broadleaf can deliver, or really any sort of sweetness to help counter the increasingly rocky note from the earth that has begun eliciting a real physical reaction from my throat. Other than that aspect, the Tatuaje T110 Reserva is quite good, staying pleasantly medium-full in flavor and continuing to burn beautifully. The cigar comes to its conclusion just shy of the two-hour mark, finishing medium-full in flavor, medium-plus in body, and medium in strength, with nothing of note detracting from construction.