Tatuaje The Wolfman (Prerelease)

Released right before Halloween every year, the Tatuaje Monster Series is one of the most anticipated cigars to hit the market each year. Each year, a different classic movie monster is immortalized with a different blend. The box and cigar are supposed to be representative of the monster character it is named after.

Says Sean “Casper” Johnson:

The blend (of the The Wolfman) is based off the Cojonu series but with a twist and of course a different wrapper.

To date, there have been four Monster Series releases. 

• Tatuaje The Frank (7 5/8 x 49) — 2008 — Named after the Frankenstein — 666 Dress Boxes of 13 Cigars (8,658 Total Cigars)
• Tatuaje The Drac (6 3/4 x 52) — 2009 — Named after Dracula — 1,300 Dress Boxes of 13 Cigars (16,900 Total Cigars)
• Tatuaje The Face (6 3/8 x 56) — 2010 — Named after Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre — 666 Dress Boxes of 13 Cigars & 1,300 Plain Boxes of 10 Cigars (21,658 Total Cigars)
• Tatuaje The Wolfman (7 1/2 x 52) — 2011 — Based on the monster from The Wolf Man (1941) — 666 Dress Boxes of 13 Cigars & 1,300 Plain Boxes of 10 Cigars (21,658 Total Cigars)

For the newest release, dubbed The Wolfman, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars chose to use the same basic type box as The Frank, a blood spattered coffin box. However, unlike any of the other Monster Series so far, it looks as though the cigars in the The Wolfman will be wrapped in silver foil.

As with The Frank and The Face, only 666 Dress boxes with 13 cigars each will be produced. About two thirds of them, 403 boxes, will be sold through 13 different Tatuaje Retailers. The Drac was the only release with more than 666 dress boxes, it had 1,300 dress boxes of 13. However, as with last year, due to the trouble that people had getting The Drac two years ago, Johnson is also releasing 1,300 simple boxes of The Wolfman with 10 cigars in each one. The simple boxes will be plain and say “Tatuaje Halloween 2011 No. 4.” If you are counting, a total of 21,658 cigars will be released, same as the The Face. The numbers for the The Frank and The Drac were 8,658 cigars and 16,900 cigars respectively.

Now, as part of the membership benefits of joining the Tatuaje Saints & Sinners club, S&S members were given an early look at the list of the Unlucky 13 retailers that will have the 13-count dress boxes this year. The list was eventually posted in public.

Havana Connections Richmond, VA 804-364-5711

Casa de Montecristo Countryside, IL 708-352-6668

Rain City Cigars Seattle, WA 206-767-3619

Castro’s Back Room Nashua, NH 603-881-7703

Belle Meade Premium Cigars Nashville, TN 615-297-7963

Holt’s Cigar Company Philadelphia, PA 215-732-8500

Tinder Box #208 Charlotte, NC 704-366-5164

Monte’s Pueblo Pipe Shop Albuquerque,NM 505-881-7999

Pheasant Cigars Las Vegas, NV 702-368-1700

Ruben’s Smoke Stack Hackensack, NJ 201-498-0332

Just For Him Springfield, MO 417-886-8380

Good Karma Cigar Amarillo, TX 806-373-8116

Gloucester Street Cigars Boston, MA 617-424-1000

Most of these retailers have already sold out of their allotment of dress boxes, but they may have waiting lists in effect. Each of the above retailers will receive 31 dress boxes and 13  non-dress boxes in the next two weeks. The rest of the dress boxes (263) will be sent to other Tatuaje accounts (most likely one or two at most) closer to Halloween.

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje The Wolfman
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 7 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Torpedo
• MSRP: $13.00 (Boxes of 13, $169.00)
• Date Released: October 2011
• Number of Cigars Released: 666 Dress Boxes of 13 Cigars & 1,300 Plain Boxes of 10 Cigars (21,658 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 1

The cigar itself is an almost perfect specimen, extremely attractive and well rolled, with a dark cinnamon brown wrapper that is extremely smooth to the touch. There is a noticeable amount of oil present, and the whole cigar has an obvious box-press, although on my sample, it ended up being more of an oval then a box-press. There is just a bit of wrapper overhang at the foot of the cigar, just enough to give it a unique look without going overboard, i.e. Viaje Summerfest Torpedo. The wrapper smells of sweet wood, leather, and nutmeg.

The cigar starts off fairly mild, most likely due to the fact that you are smoking filler for the first quarter inch. The filler has a nice woody note to it, but not much else is going on. As soon as the burn line hit the wrapper, the flavors explode on the palette. Flavors of sweet leather, oak, barnyard, and milk (sweet) chocolate. Very little spice on the palate at this point, but I do get some pepper on the retrohale.

The second third continues to get more complex with sweet floral and chocolate notes mixing together, along with some oak, dry toast and a bit of earth. The cigar is getting stronger, but still no more then a firm medium. There is also quite a bit more spice on the tongue then in the first third, and it only seems to be getting stronger.

The final third continues the wonderful ride, with maple, cedar, chocolate and a great nutty note combining into an excellent finish. Still no stronger then a solid medium, but the burn and draw continue to be perfect.

Final Notes

• Next year’s Monster release is scheduled to be The Mummy again based off the classic movie monster.
• Johnson has said many times that he does not consider the The Boris to be part of the Monster Series. Having said that, the The Boris is a better cigar than the “The Wolfman,” despite the fact that both use a Sumatra wrapper.
• Since my sample was a prerelease, it did not have a band on it, but there will be a band which, as you can see in the photo of the box above, will be brown with red writing.
• Like The Face release last year, I appreciate how Johnson made two separate boxes for the same release. Same cigar in both, but he kept the 666 dress boxes of 13 and added 1,300 plain boxes of 10 for non-collectors. Like last year, anyone who wants to try the The Wolfman or buy a box of 10 should have absolutely no problem getting ahold of as many as they can buy.
• I love the Sumatra wrapper that Tatuaje used on the The Wolfman has been using on some of its newer releases, such as the NHC Capa Especial, although I was less impressed with the 7th Capa Especial, and can’t wait to see what other blends it is used with.
• Interestingly, the The Wolfman had some similarities with The Face from last year. However, The Wolfman was more complex, sweeter on the palette, and not as strong as the The Face.
• While this is a 52 ring gauge cigar, I was surprised and elated with how easy it is to smoke. It did not feel like a 52 ring gauge when I was holding or smoking it, due in equal parts to the torpedo cap and the box press that it has.
• The ash is a nice, very light gray color, interspersed with black.
• The burn and draw were perfect, I had no problems with either one for the entire smoke, and did not have to touch up the burn even once. Great burn line.
• The final smoking time was was just over two hours.