In June Nice Ash Cigars launched a mysterious promotional site that teased us with one letter a day for five days, until the full word “whore” was spelled out and it was revealed that it was getting a store exclusive from Tatuaje Cigars. While the term “The Whore Cigar” was plastered all over the site, it was clarified that the official name of the cigar was actually Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015.

If you’re curious where the name for the cigar derived from, somebody called Rob Roth, owner of Nice Ash Cigars, an “internet whore” in front of Pete Johnson, so from then on out whenever Johnson would see Roth he would say “Hey, it’s Rob, the internet whore”. With a cheeky store name like Nice Ash Cigars, it’s no surprise that Roth got with Johnson and requested a cigar nicknamed The Whore.

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 Box 1

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 Box 2

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 Box 3

As for the cigar itself, it’s a 6 x 52 belicoso using an Ecuadorian Sumatra rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s the third of five planned single store releases for Tatuaje in 2015, formally known as the Tatuaje Exclusive Series.

Tatuaje Exclusive Series 2015

  • Tatuaje Drinking Age (5 1/2 x 54) — April 2015 — Anthony’s Cigar Emporium — 300 Boxes of 21 Cigars (6,300 Total Cigars)
  • Tatuaje The Rumbo (7 5/8 x 49) — May 2015 — Club Humidor — 500 Boxes of 15 Cigars (7,500 Total Cigars)
  • Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 (6 x 52) — August 2015 — Nice Ash Cigars — 1,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Rosado
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Belicoso
  • MSRP: $11.99 (Boxes of 10, $119.90)
  • Date Released: Aug. 17, 2015
  • Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

The first thing that obviously catches my eye is the band, which I have to say is a pretty cool-looking Exclusive Series band, since most just feature text. The Sumatra rosado wrapper is a beautiful medium brown that has been applied quite seamlessly. It has a luxuriously soft feel to it with just the slightest bit of supple oily feel as well. The cigar is quite firm, but not hard, with just a tiny bit of give when squeezed. There is a very earthy barnyard aroma to the wrapper, definitely more towards damp earth than hay, along with a touch of leather and that’s about it. While the wrapper’s aroma wasn’t very complex, the cold draw certainly is with tons of spice, peppermint, leather, earth and a touch of pepper.

The first third starts out much more delicate that I’ve come to expect from Tatuaje cigars, with little to no pepper, even in the first few draws. Instead there’s a huge spice note, along with some cinnamon, leather and earth, which makes for a very solid but not overly bold profile. Draw is ideal, and the burn starts out nice and even. Some milk chocolate develops, giving the profile a bit of sweetness that was lacking before, but that fits right in with the spice, cinnamon, leather and earth.

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 2

The profile has shifted slightly again as I move into the second third, with more spice, cinnamon, leather and earth, but the milk chocolate has gotten quite creamy and smooth, still adding a sweetness to it. A smooth cedar note has also shown up, though it’s somewhat in the background at the moment. The one thing that has impressed me so far is the extremely strong ash retention, which I’ve only rolled off twice so far, but the resistance it gave leads me to believe I could have made it halfway through the cigar without ashing it at all.

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 3

The final third continues with a very similar profile of spice, cinnamon, leather and earth. The milk chocolate has faded to almost nothing, though it did leave behind the creamy and sweet aspect in the flavor mix. The burn has started to get a little jagged and there is a need for a slight touch-up, but otherwise it continues with the mostly even burn line that I’ve enjoyed throughout the cigar. Finishing up the final inch, sweet cinnamon and spice are shining bright, with leather, earth and a touch of pepper more in the background.

Tatuaje W Nice Ash 2015 4

Final Notes

  • In a video Roth and Johnson did for the cigar, Johnson stated that the W was a unique blend like all his Exclusive Series are, but “if I had to put it close to any release that I did, it would like a be a baby CQ1.” Looking back at my review of the Mission Pipe Shop CQ1 Belicoso from two and a half years ago, the profiles do seem fairly similar. The one thing I did notice in my notes is there was more pepper in the CQ1, so the smoother profile of the W would explain why Johnson said it was a “baby CQ1”, since the W is physically a larger cigar.
  • If you’d like to watch the video they did, it’s odd but amusing—and pretty NSFW.

  • The W on the band underneath the bustier looks like a garter belt – which I’m sure was intentional.
  • When this was initially teased, I recognized Johnson’s voice in the extended clip by day two. After doing a little digging in the source code for the site, there was a link to www.tatuajecigars.com in it. Johnson confirmed to halfwheel that he was involved in the project, but wouldn’t divulge any info about it until Nice Ash Cigar’s official announcement came out three days later.
  • To continue Roth’s cheeky sense of humor, he had shirts made up that said “My Whore Tastes Great” on the front, with “And I Have a Nice Ash” on the back.
  • I find the inside joke of calling Roth an internet whore slightly amusing, since the common term I hear for Tatuaje Cigar fans are “Tat Whores.”
  • Nice Ash Cigars sent halfwheel some samples for review, halfwheel purchased additional cigars.
  • Final smoking time averaged right around two hours.
  • You can purchase the cigars here.
92 Overall Score

Since the comparison was made by Johnson to the CQ1, looking back at that review it makes sense that I enjoyed the W Nice Ash 2015 so much. With a very similar profile, but lacking the pepper of the CQ1 and some more delicate and subtle notes added into the mix instead, it makes for a complex and flavorful cigar that changes just enough to keep you on your toes the entire time. With the fact that I love the 52 ring gauge belicoso size, it was obvious pretty quickly that this was going to be a hit in my book. As of now they’re still showing in stock, but with only 1,000 boxes made, they won’t be around forever. I can easily suggest you jump on these now, regardless if you’re a “Tat Whore” or not.

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Brian Burt

I have been smoking cigars since 2005 and reviewing them as a hobby since 2010. Initially, I started out small with a 50-count humidor and only smoking one or two cigars a month. Not knowing anybody else that smoked cigars, it was only an occasional hobby that I took part in. In March of 2010, I joined Nublive and Cigar Asylum, connecting me with many people who also shared an interest in cigars. Reading what they had to say about brands I had never heard of, I quickly immersed myself in the boutique brands of the industry and it was then that cigars transformed from a hobby into a passion.