Tatuaje TAA 2023

After more than 20 years in the cigar business, Tatuaje has come to be known for a number of things, from its Monster Series that comes out ahead of Halloween and draws on famous movie monsters for inspiration to its Saints & Sinners club and a vast portfolio of cigars and brands.

One thing that Tatuaje might not be as well known for is its support of the cigar industry’s trade associations, the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) and the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA).

In the case of the TAA, which is a membership group that includes approximately 80 retailers and roughly 40 manufacturers, Tatuaje has been producing a limited edition every year since 2011. The cigar gets offered to those retailers during the TAA’s annual gathering, which includes not only a discussion of issues facing the industry and retailers but also a trade show. In contrast to the PCA’s annual trade show, the TAA’s is a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

The Tatuaje TAA 2023 measures 6 3/8 inches long with a 54 ring gauge, making it a bit thicker than what might be considered a typical toro, while the length sits between the 6 and 6 1/2 inch marks that generally define the size. It’s also the same size as the 2013 release, the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Grand Chasseur TAA 2013.

The blend is highlighted by a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, while Nicaraguan tobacco is used for the double binder and fillers, though specifics about those leaves have not been disclosed. The cigars are made by My Father Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Each cigar is priced at $15, while a box of 20 cigars has an MSRP of $300. Production is limited to 2,500 boxes for a total of 50,000 cigars. From that $15 per cigar MSRP, Tatuaje is donating 50 cents per cigar sold to the TAA, for a total of $25,000 for the organization.

The list of companies that made cigars for the TAA in 2023 is an extensive one: Alec Bradley, CLE, Crowned Heads, E.P. Carrillo, Espinosa Premium Cigars, Ferio Tego, Forged Cigar Co., General Cigar Co., Gurkha, J.C. Newman, Joya de Nicaragua, Kristoff, La Palina, Miami Cigar & Co., My Father, Plasencia, Quesada, Rocky Patel and Tatuaje all produced cigars for the group as part of its Exclusive Series Program. While many companies produce exclusive lines for the organization, some companies take a different approach by offering exclusive sizes of existing lines, or previews of lines that will get a larger release in the future.

Tatuaje also produced a similar cigar for the Premium Cigar Association (PCA), although that cigar—the Tatuaje PCA 2023—used an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. It was released in February 2024.

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje TAA 2023
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: NIcaragua
• Filler: NIcaragua
• Length: 6 3/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $15 (Box of 20, $300)
• Release Date: April 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Tatuaje TAA 2023 is a beefy, oily cigar with a fairly dark and veiny wrapper, looking like what I imagine is the connotation of what non-cigar smokers think all cigars look like. There is some oily sheen on the leaf, and from the wrapper and some texture from the leaves, I can feel some oiliness on my fingers. The cigar is rolled to a firm density, meaning that I notice the occasional soft spot, which is far from soft but instead shows just a bit of give. The cigars all look good visually. The larger veins on the backsides of the three cigars, don’t bother me, if anything, those veins lead to bumps on the seam line when the wrapper crosses over a vein and thus doesn’t lay flatly. The covered foot has a surprisingly mild aroma. There’s a cool, damp waxiness at first sniff, then some crisp black pepper, then a light mix of wood and damp soil. My first cold draws are firm, showing more resistance—or friction—than I would like on the first cigar, but I think the covered foot is a factor, as it’s much better in the other cigars. The flavor is mild as well, with a bit of lip tingle the first thing that I notice from the experience, then some firewood with a touch of sweetness kind of glazing that flavor.

The first puffs of the cigar have an impressively creamy body that seems to soften the underlying flavors just a touch and provides an introduction to the Tatuaje TAA 2023 that I find very enjoyable and easy to latch on to. As expected, there’s pepper in the profile, but it takes a second to develop, starting mellow and then opening on the finish and retrohales. Firewood and a bit of earthiness make up the rest of the profile. It’s just shy of an inch in where the cigar’s profile finds traction and takes off, adding in some earth and barnyard, the latter in the best sense of the word and which really livens up the aroma. There is still some creaminess, and while I don’t generally make a lot of notes about the body of the smoke, in this case, it catches my attention both for how it contributes to the flavor and delivers a pleasant mouth feel. The woodiness in the profile has a tendency to sharpen up with each puff, standing out as the dominant flavor and sensation on the finish. Retrohales are lighter and brighter in their body than I might expect from an average Tatuaje, thanks to white pepper and chalk that guide the experience. At the end of this section, retrohales introduce an interesting and engaging mint-like sensation that has me wondering just where the cigar is headed. Flavor in the first third is medium-plus, body is medium-full and strength is mild.

Those retrohales carry me into the second third of the Tatuaje TAA 2023, as they are the more vibrant expression of the blend at the moment. The flavor has settled and smoothed into a flavor that has me thinking of a chocolate milkshake, while the finish picks up some earthiness and pepper while holding onto some creaminess. It’s a profile that doesn’t change much as the burn line makes its way through this section, which it seems to do at a bit quicker pace than it did in the first third. The final puffs and retrohales bring about some heartier black pepper, giving the flavor some character and edge it hasn’t had for the bulk of this section. Flavor is closer to medium for this section, while the body has dialed back to medium and strength is still mild. Construction remains fantastic with no issues in any category, but most importantly no need for any relights or touchups.

The final third of the Tatuaje TAA 2023 starts with a profile that puts the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper into the spotlight, with a lighter earthiness, touches of both sweetness and chalk and then black coffee that appears on a retrohale. Once again, the flavor doesn’t seem to want to make many changes once it gets into this section, which leans more heavily on earth and pepper than it did earlier and has shed all of that chocolate milkshake flavor and the creaminess from earlier. There’s more chalk and some mineral as this section progresses, a steady progression that continues as the burn line progresses, and one which would be about the only detractor from the profile, but it’s tame enough that I’m not willing to call it that.

Final Notes

• This is definitely one of the best-constructed and combusting cigars I have smoked recently, as I found no issues with any of the three cigars.
• Tatuaje has generally stuck to a band design for its TAA releases, with a singular primary band featuring the TAA’s logo. The Tatuaje TAA 2023 deviated from that by going to two bands, one of which is the Tatuaje Limited band, the other uses the Tatuaje Exclusive band design with the TAA logo in the middle. I’m not quite sure which one I like better, as I thought Tatuaje’s branding was lacking from the previous design, though it did become fairly identifiable after the first year or two.

• When I took the bands off of the first cigar, I noticed what appeared to be a pretty sizeable patch on the wrapper:
• I tend to think of a Tatuaje cigar as offering some nicotine strength, and when adding in a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, I’d almost place money on getting a nicotine buzz. Yet the Tatuaje TAA 2023 didn’t offer any strength in my experience.

• The company lists these as a 6 3/8 x 54 toro. The numbers above are the measurements we found for the three cigars used for this review.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 45 minutes on average.
• Site sponsor Corona Cigar Co. carries the Tatuaje TAA 2023.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.