Tag Archives: tatuaje

January 11, 2026 · 9:47 am

Crowned Heads, Sinistro and Tatuaje Cigars

The new year is off to a start, and I’m still managing to find new-to-me cigars to smoke. Over the last couple weeks I’ve stopped in to a few local shops and bought cigars.  Now I’m forgetting where I got what!  One of the cigars I picked up was a Crowned Heads Coroneta Maduro Baron, their 6″ x 56 toro.  This cigar is made at Casa Carrillo by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, uses a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper over a Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania fillers.  It’s a diverse blend for sure, and it’s not uncommon to see Ecuador Connecticut over a San Andrés binder, but vice versa is a little unique.  This cigar came out in May of 2024, so I guess I’m not that far behind.  I have an affinity for Carrillo cigars, have since the old La Gloria days, and this was no different.  I was a little disappointed in the aesthetics, the cap was pretty sloppily applied, but it made no difference in the burn and draw, which were perfect.  It had some dry cocoa and a nice depth of flavor, very satisfying.  The band annoyed me, the pointy part hit my lip so I took it off.  I hope this is one that they are rebranding.  It seems I keep finding Crowned Heads cigars that I’ve overlooked, maybe because I was turned off to them early in the game and I just haven’t paid much attention to them. A few discussions I’ve had with Miguel Schoedel have made me take a second look. 

 

I was surprised to find some Sinistro cigars in one of the shops I visited last week, which has more of a traditional selection.  I picked up a Sinistro The Last Barbarian to give a try.  Naturally, I got the Toro, which is 6″ x 54, why wouldn’t I?  This has a Dominican Maduro wrapper, Cameroon binder and a Ligero heavy filler blend including Dominican, Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania Ligeros and a Nicaraguan Seco.  These are made at the El Artista factory. I met the Sinistro guys at the Smoke-onos event last year, and I’ve known the folks at El Artista for a long time. I’m going to make an effort to smoke more of their stuff. This one was really good, right up my alley.   It started chocolaty with some spice.  It was very rich, and well behaved and not as strong as one might expect given the amount of high priming leaf in the blend. This is a winner, and I seem to remember it wasn’t stupidly priced. 

 

Yesterday we painted our family room, one wall of which extended into the kitchen and dining room. Lots of moving stuff around, taping, painting and cleaning up. I really don’t like painting. It looks really good now though and needed to be done. While waiting for the walls to dry so we could put things back, I took a break with a cigar.  I chose a 4½” x 60 Tatuaje Sextooth William Blake.  This is a strange name for a cigar.  It’s named after a track on musician Andreas “Sextooth” Contogouris EP Smoking Mirror.  The Sextooth line consists of four sizes which are all priced in the $5.50 – $8.50 range, made at the My Father factory.  They have an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. I don’t know what a “Sextooth” is, but I thoroughly enjoyed this little guy. It had kind of a caramel sweetness, and no issues with the burn and draw. This is a line I will be further exploring.  

 

I still have to get Ron’s winnings shipped, I’ve been carefully curating a selection of cigars for him.  I hope it makes it out in tomorrow’s UPS. I should have gotten it out last week, but I’ve been a slug. It’ll be worth the wait, I think.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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December 21, 2025 · 9:43 am

Tatuaje, Knuckle Sandwich and a Don Emmanuel Cigar

Happy Winter Solstice!  While I generally don’t like that today is the shortest day of the year, it gives me hope that for the foreseeable future the days will be getting longer! I prefer sunlight to darkness. Anyway, its uphill from here!  Perhaps I have seasonal defective disorder or something.  Anyway, I still smoke cigars, thank goodness for electricity! This week some of my “new to me” cigars aren’t really new, but this time of year one can’t be picky.  I’ll start with the Tatuaje Avion 12, the smallest size in the Avion line, 5 5/8″ x 52, a cute little perfecto by today’s standards!  I know I’ve smoked the Avion 13, which has a broadleaf wrapper instead of the Ecuador Habano that this and it’s larger sibling, the 11 has.  The Habano surrounds Nicaraguan binder and filler.  Something makes me think the Avion is an offshoot of the Fausto line, but in perfecto shapes.  I like the shape, and I believe these are reasonably priced. That this cigar has been on the market for 13 years and this is my first go around with it is a failing on my part.  There’s a sweet, dark fruit flavor I get, and it’s a fairly loose draw so I take care not to oversmoke it. I think it’s a really good $9 cigar.  

 

Another cigar I smoked this week is a Knuckle Sandwich Maduro Robusto.  This is a cigar that Espinosa Cigars makes for Guy Fieri, the TV cook dude.  This is the most successful celebrity cigar todate, with Guy actually doing events to support it.  This guy (can you call guys named Guy guy?), is a super busy guy, who recently injured himself requiring surgery, and still makes it to events. It’s good for cigars to have a celebrity, who nearly everyone with a TV knows,  show cigars in a positive light.  OK, the core line Knuckle Sandwich Maduro uses a Sumatra wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  While it’s different from the Red Meat Lovers cigars, it’s definitely in the top two of culinary themed cigars.  There’s rich cocoa and nutty flavors and I like it a lot.  I can’t remember where I got this, it might have been in one of those Smoke Inn samplers I keep buying for n0 apparent reason.  I really like these Knuckle Sandwich cigars, there’s a whole bunch of Limited Edition cigars in this line I haven’t tried, and probably won’t. I’m sure they are good, I just never seem to see them.  

 

Gabe Piñeres, PR guy to the stars, send me a flight of the Don Emmanuel cigars, Toro, Robusto and petite corona to sample.  These cigars are blended by Eladio Diaz, who was the blender for Davidoff for many years.  The “about” page on the website says that Don Emmanuel is a cigar sommelier, apparently world renowned,  who I haven’t heard of.  Eladio Diaz I’ve heard of.  I could do some digging if I wanted to.  They debuted at this year’s PCA show, and have one line so far, the Don Emmanuel Annunaki, a name which appeals to my affinity for the Ancient Aliens show.  If there’s a TV celebrity more well known that Guy Fieri, it has to be Giorgio Tsoukalos, right?  OK, he’s a nut who’s made a name for himself, I get it, I should be so lucky. The Anu (which I believe is some sort of fertility god in the Sumerian lore) is the toro, which I smoked.  The wrapper is Dominican with a Mexican binder and Dominican fillers.It’s a interesting flavor profile.  I want to say cedary, with some bitter flavors.  Maybe there’s something mushroomy in there, but that could be a preconceived notion.  These are flavors that don’t line up with my preferences, but they do for others. No complaints on the construction, it was well behaved.  It’s a $16 cigar, not terribly by today’s standard, and it worth a try if you like cigars that I don’t! Not saying it’s a bad cigar, just not one for me (it happens!  ask Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne). Maybe I’ll like the robusto and petite better.  

 

The next few weeks have Christmas and New Years falling in them, so please temper your expectations for the next few Sunday posts. Not that any of them are spectacular, but maybe the next few will be shorter, ’tis the season.  Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Saturnalia, etc, to those who celebrate.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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November 2, 2025 · 8:58 am

New Cohiba Rubicon, Tatuaje Mummy and JFR 20th Anniversary Cigars

This may not be as wordy as usual, for some reason I cant seem to think of a lot to say about the three cigars I smoked for this week’s blog post.  Let’s just jump right in to the first one.  General Cigar Co. is very generous with samples, something I appreciate very much. I’ve had a good relationship with them since 2010, although there’s only a few people left there that I know anymore. they share a lot of Cohibas with me, many of which I wouldn’t buy because they are priced over my personal spending limit.  You will rarely see me spending more than $15 on a cigar.  Frugal to some, cheap to others, but I’ve come a long way from the days I was hard pressed to spend $8.  The newest Cohiba is the Rubicon, made at the HATSA factory in Honduras and all three vitolas are under $10.  This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, U.S. Broadleaf binder, and Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.  Sounds like it should be good, right?  It’s better than the Cohiba Blue, and not a bad cigar. It started with a citric acid bite, which calmed down pretty quickly, and turned out to be a pretty nice smoke. No real flavors jumped out at me, it was just a pretty good cigar.  I feel like Cohiba should stick to the luxury space, and leave the budget offerings to the myriad of other lines in the portfolio.  I love the Riviera, although I’m picking the $15 lancero over the $20 robusto just based on price, and several of the other cigars in the line are good.  Take the Spectre out of the equation because it’s so expensive, but really very good.  I’m not sure why the Rubicon was needed.  Do they still make the Blue? They shouldn’t.

 

Friday was Halloween,  and for the last 30 years I’ve been smoking a cigar while handing out candy (the first few years I smoked a cigar while taking my kids out).  I always put the cigar in the ashtray when I see kids coming.  Nick did a nice piece on this topic on a Cigar Pulpit episode last week.  I did the cliché thing and smoked a Tatuaje Mummy Redux 5 this year.  Back when Pete Johnson started tis series, $13 was a pricey cigar, now it’s practically reasonable.  I wonder if the quality is going to go down in the future, or if rising prices are going to make him end this tradition?  This cigar is 7½” x 47, so a little longer than a Churchill. I like the size, especially when I have two hours to kill! This cigar lasted closer to two and a half hours!  The Mummy Redux has a Nicaraguan Criollo and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  I am typically not a Criollo fan, which explains why my first impression was something along the lines of “what am I tasting here?”.  There was some very subtle sugar cane sweetness, and good, light tobacco flavors. I really quite enjoyed the cigar, and if I see more I might pick a couple up. It was a little confusing to me though, as it wasn’t really like any other Tatuaje cigar I’ve had, it was on the verge of mild. Full disclosure, I really haven’t smoked too many of the Monster Series, and I don’t smoke as many Tatuaje cigars as I’d like.

 

Like the Tatuaje, the JFR 20th Anniversary Super Toro is a cigar I picked up on one of my recent forays to the Wooden Indian.  I had been wanting to try this one.  I’m about 50/50 on cigars I like from Aganorsa, and the JFR line is usually one I like.  I can’t believe these have been around for twenty years. I think I remember when they came out, pushing the Just For Retailers thing, which I tink means for the brick and mortar retailers, but really anyone selling cigars is a retailer, right?  Am I not supposed to smoke this because I’m not a retailer?  Am I being too picky? Asking too many questions?  The JFR like is generally a budget friendly line, with a lot of larger ring cigars.  The 20th Anniversary has a pigtail cap, a closed foot, and is box pressed, they stopped short of putting a figurado in the range. I picked the Super Toro because I like toros and a super one has to be pretty great.  I also wasn’t prepared for a 70 ring cigar, of which they offer two in this line.  It’s box pressed, might not be horrible.  This has a San Andrés wrapper over Aganorsa grown Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.  Other than the burn meandering a little, it was quite enjoyable. It had some interting baking spices, while I was expecting more of an earthy, chocolaty profile.  I put this down to go inside to watch the first period of the Flyers game, and finished up between periods.  I liked it, might go back and try one of the obnoxiously large sizes for kicks.  

 

I managed to be more verbose than I thought! That’s all I have to today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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October 26, 2025 · 10:16 am

Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

I had occasion on Wednesday to hang out at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, so, of course, I bought some more cigars to smoke.  I don’t smoke a lot of Crowned Heads cigars, I like Miguel there a lot, and do actually like a lot of their cigars.  Jon has always been cordial to me, but one time he blew me off at a trade show left a bad taste in my mouth.  I don’t think I ever made that public.  Anyway, the Broadway line intrigued me, so I picked one up and smoked it there in the Wooden Indian’s Liga Privada Lounge.  Of course, I smoked the toro, which is 6½” x 54.  This cigar has a beautiful, oily broadleaf wrapper, over  a Jalapa binder and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua.  It’s made at NACSA, which is where Saka makes Mi Querida, Umbagog, and the Red Meat Lovers Club cigars.  This factory has a steady supply of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  My expectations were exceeded, as this cigar was absolutely delicious. I may like this more that the Mi Querida Blue, which I like a great deal.  Construction was perfect, the flavors were smooth, rich cocoa and coffee, right up my alley. my only regret is that I only bought one, and I considered picking up a few more before the shop closed. I want to thank Dave at the Wooden Indian for letting me hang out in the members lounge after the shop closed, I very much appreciate it!  By the way, the Crowned Heads website is in dire need of updating.  

 

The Tatuaje T110 Corojo is a 4 3/8″ x 52 short robusto with a Corojo wrapper.  I smoked the Cohete (4″ x 50) back in August and really liked it, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I have smoked the T110 in the Broadleaf and Tuxtla wrappers and enjoyed them.  This one I didn’t care for, and there aren’t many Tatuaje cigars I don’t like.  It started out with a sourness, and skirted the line between sweet and sour through out the whole smoke. It was disappointing, but I always look at situations like this as a learning experience, what do I like in a cigar and what don’t I like, and how can I avoid it in the future?  It’s money well spent,  as long as I remember what I don’t like and don’t spend money on it again?  This one had been in the humidor for a a couple months. 

 

Another cigar I selected from the vast humidor of the Wooden Indian was the A.J. Fernandez New World Decenio in the toro size. This cigar commemorates a decade of the New World line, and made in the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.  I was hoping to pick one of these up a week or so ago when I saw Laurel at another nearby shop, but I either didn’t see them, or they didn’t have them. They had a really expensive 20th anniversary cigar, which may have distracted me (I didn’t bite). I adore the New World Dorado, and the rest of the New World line are really very good.  This cigar is 6½” x 54 with a box press that makes it seem thinner.  It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. I expected a good smoke, and I got a good smoke.  This started out spicy, no surprise there, really.  It moved to sweet, dark coffee, which is a combination I really like. I also really like that bonus half inch on a toro, more of a good thing.  This was a really good smoke, and, dare I say, worth the $14 I paid.  This is another anniversary cigar for a budget brand that is higher in price, like the Rocky Patel Edge and the Foundation Charter Oak. 

 

My name was mentioned on yesterday’s Cigar Authority show which was about the cigar inventors.  I’ve been on the show a couple times and I’ve known these guys for a long time.  It’s humbling to be mentioned, and it gives me some credibility, I guess, to be recognized by them, but I want to set a couple things straight.  I, in no way, created anything or was the first of anything.  When I started this there were a lot of cigar blogs,  I just happened to have outlasted a lot of them. Certainly Stogie Review (which is making a comeback with the Smoke & Steel podcast) was one of the first, and Casas Fumando has stood the test of time.  I take some pride in being mentioned by my peers (I got a nice mention by Kevin on a recent El Oso Fumar show too, TY).  I’m still just a guy who writes stuff about cigars.  

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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September 7, 2025 · 10:25 am

Some Saint Luis Rey Cigars, a La Riqueza, a DBL and a Shop Visit

Yesterday I did one of my most favorite things to do, as relates to this blog.  Usually when I have giveaways, the winner is in some far flung place, this time he was in the same county as I am!  Of course, I save $20 in shipping, and spend triple that at a cigar shop, but it’s so much more satisfying!  I get to meet a friend I hadn’t met yet, and visit a new shop!  More on all that later, first I want to talk about a sampler I picked up from Best Cigar Prices last week.  I had some birthday points or something, can’t really remember why I ended up shopping there, but does it matter?  I have been trying to expand my experiences with Altadis products, so I settled on the Saint Luis Rey “Battle of the Titans” sampler.  This had three each of the Natural and Maduro SLR Titan size, which is 5½” x 60, and was right around $40 delivered.  Six cigars for $40 isn’t bad. Back around 2017 I was smoking one of these and took an unfortunate stumble and fellow my face, smashing the cigar.  To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if it was a natural or maduro, so I figured a side by side comparison was worth doing.  I also like the folks at BCP, and it wouldn’t hurt me if you used the links on my site to buy some stuff from them, this sampler seems to be available in limited qualities.  These are good smokes.  They both started off with what I consider to be a bitter wood, or maybe like peanut skins, if that makes sense.  They both sweeten over time, with the maduro hitting that sweeties sooner than the natural.  Both had a good burn and draw, I smoked a couple of each to compare.  This is one of the few cigars in the Altadis portfolio that isn’t made by A.J. Fernandez thatI like!  These are made in Honduras, quite possibly by Plasencia, so maybe it’s just stuff from Casa de Garcia in the DR that doesn’t trip my trigger?  Obviously, more research is necessary. 

 

Last week I grabbed some Tatuaje cigars that were in the “new-to-me” category, turns out a couple are pretty recent, this one goes back to last November. This was the first time I’ve seen the La Riqueza  Tuxtla LE 2024, so I bought one. Back in 2010 I made a brief visit to the New Orleans IPCPR show, and Pete Johnson was the first guy I ran into, and he gave me a La Riquza Lancero.  I haven’t smoked enough of this line for some reason!  I guess I don’t see them on shelves that often.  This is a 6 3/8″ x 44 Lonsdale or Cazadores size, which is a very cool size that doesn’t get enough love.  This guy starts out strong, and it’s immediately apparent that I need to take my time with this (the case with any small ring cigar, smoke them slow or they overheat!).  It was earthy, with some dark dried fruit and espresso notes.  I’ll be putting a few more of these in the humidor, or it might just be a go-to when I stop in Cigar Mojo – The Grove for a smoke!  

 

Yesterday I took a drive to the western side of my county, to a shop that I’ve been hearing about for a year os so, but hadn’t gotten out there to visit.  When I found out that last week’s giveaway winner lived out that way, it seemed like a greet way to combine some of my favorite things, visiting a new shop, meeting a reader, and saving shipping!  I hesitate to mention the name of this shop.  I can imagine a very prominent retailer causing this new, and very nice, cigar shop a load of trouble, as the guy I’m thinking of, rightly so, is very protective of his trademarks.  The last thing I want to do is cause the proprietor any problems.  The shop is located in Cochranville, PA at the intersection of Rts 41 and 10, most folks would say it’s in the middle of nowhere. This is fairly accurate because I used to live not far from this location, and it is, indeed, in the middle nowhere.  All that said, the shop seems to be doing well, the humidor is well stocked with a great variety at great prices, and the lounge is clean and has really good ventilation.  As I expected, Jeff W. was a great guy and I enjoyed spending a cigar getting to know him!  He was very kind and gifted me a cigar on the way out, a DBL 12th Anniversary Toro. He had seen this rated a 99 on Stogie Press and smoked one there and was impressed.  I gave it a smoke when I got home and was equally impressed.  This is a 5 7/8″ x 56 toro, I guess, with a Mexican Habano wrapper, Organic Corojo ’99 Cuban seed grown on the DBL Tobacco Farm binder, and Organic Criollo ’98 Cuban seed, Organic Carbonell, and DBL T-13 fillers.  That’s a lot of words I copied and pasted!  It’s box pressed and has a cedar sleeve.  Nice looking presentation.  This cigar smoked well, I got some citrus tang that I originally thought was an exotic spice, but then  it mellowed out.  It was a very nice smoke, even after giving Jeff a pretty large box of goodies, I felt like I owe him another cigar!  I enjoyed the day, good cigars, nice lounge, good company.  

 

I’m just noticing that some of my older content is disappearing, something I need to ask my web host about, I guess. It’s possible I only have so much database space, and older stuff scrolls off.  I’m going to try to put some stuff back, but it’s not going to be easy! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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