Tatuaje Cojonu 2015, El Pulpo and 601 La Bomba Warhead Cigars

I love Daylight Saving Time, I just don’t like the change. I feel like I’m an hour behind today. I guess when you read this, it’ll be an hour later than usual. Anyway, I smoked three cigars that were new to me, or that I haven’t had in a long time. As I get older, I invest less time in smoking new cigars, I know, it’s not what “cigar media” is all about, but from the start this site was a journal of my cigar adventures. I will continue to seek out new or new-t0-me cigars and present my thoughts every Sunday. The first of which this week is a from a five pack I practically stole from a Smoke Inn deal, a Tatuaje Cojonu 2015, a 5″ x 55 robusto extra. I can’t remember not enjoying a Tatuaje Cojonu, so this was a $20 I had to spend. I don’t smoke enough Tatuajes and I really would like to. This cigar is made at the My Father factory in Nicaragua, has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binders and fillers. I think this is an exceptional cigar. I saw reviews with all kinds of flavors, I just thought it was delicious tobacco, maybe with some pepper to start and earthiness. I should have bought more, and the next time I visit Cigar Mojo near me I’ll grab some more Cojonus, they have a good selection of Tatuaje cigars. I get e-mails from Smoke Inn with these ridiculous specials all the time, would you like me to post them to the CigarCraig Facebook page? I can’t get the affiliate program to work, so I’m not profiting off it or anything, it would be a public service. Let me know what you think in the comments.

I stopped in my local CigarCigars shop last week and grabbed a few cigars, one of which was the Artesano Del Tobacco El Pulpo Toro Grande. This is another brand I’m late to the party on. I have only smoked a few of their Viva la Vida line, and this is the first I’ve seen the El Pulpo in the wild. Since changing owners, the selection at this store has improved greatly, and I can only assume the other stores have followed suit. These are made and (I think) distributed by A.J. Fernandez, and owned by the brothers who owned the Cigar Inn in NYC, which is now a Casa de Montecristo. Oddly, looking back thought my Facebook memories today, I see that 12 years ago I smoked on of their Cigar Inn house brands, the NYC Brooklyn that I had picked up on a visit there that year. Anyway, this El Pulpo was right up my alley. It has a San Andrés wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and fillers from A.J. Fernandez’ farms, made at the San Lotano factory in Ocatel, a bit north of Esteli. My initial thought is why are these in boxes of ten, when eight would make more sense, given that El Pulpo is Spanish for octopus? I got past that quickly. I liked this cigar a lot. It wasn’t your every day San Andrés maduro cigar, it had an interesting barbecue flavor off, smokey and woody, I also got some black coffee with a little spicy zing. Worth a try, and they have some really interesting shapes in this line I’d like to find, including a culebra.

Another cigar I picked up at CigarCigars was the Espinosa 601 La Bomba Warhead 11 LE 2025. The bomb shaped can that they are packaged in was on a high shelf and I almost missed it. I’ve long been a fan of the La Bomba line, going back to the EO Brands days when it was released. The Warhead series has also been a hit for me. This one is presented in a 6¾″ x 54 oval-shaped Figurado, and the band position screws with my CDO (which, of course, is OCD in alphabetical order, LIKE IT SHOULD BE!). I expect La Bomba bands to be on the foot, but this shape is confusing to my eye! I can imagine someone who is less obsessed with cigars lighting the wrong end of this, like you see people smoking Short Stories backwards., or leaving the cedar sleeve on…anyway, this is another cigar that is right up my alley. It is a puro, with a Nicaraguan Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Like the El Pulpo, it’s also made at the San Lotano factory. As one would expect by the name, this has an explosion of flavors, some espresso, some cinnamon, maybe some dark fruit. All three cigars mentioned here burned perfectly, I was very fortunate. This might be my new favorite Warhead, but I really like the 7 a lot. Packaging and presentation are amazing on this line.