Wrapper Type: Nicaraguan Corojo 99

Color: Colorado Maduro

Binder / Filler: Nicaraguan / Nicaraguan

Size: 7.62 x 47  Churchill

Price: $13.50

The Tatuaje line is a complex line. For every cigar sold, there is a different opinion. This stick is a Nicaraguan puro and is in the Med/Full bodied range.

The Tatuaje Reserva SW is part of the Selección de Cazador line of Tatuajes. This is also referred to as the Brown Label or Tatuaje Cabinet.

The SW stands for Sir Winston Churchill. Subtle? No. But point taken.

This 7.62×47 stick is a muddy, dark brown color with small veins, firmly packed, and with just the right give. This is not a toothy cigar so it feels very smooth to the touch. Also included for your $15 is a gorgeous triple cap that is beautifully seamless.

Like most Tatuajes, the blend is overseen by the Garcia family. And as such we can expect the trademark pepper bomb at the beginning. I like that. Wakes you the fuck up.

The cigar is produced by master rollers in Little Havana, Miami.

The prelight sniff-a-rama is a bit of spice but mostly graham cracker. It’s sweet and delectable.

Instead of clipping the end, I use my Montecristo pen with a punch to break the cigar’s hymen. I use one of my Xikar lighters to carefully toast the foot…..and remember…never put the end of your cigar into the flame. If you have a good torch lighter, you can hold the tip of the cigar back several inches. And that’s good. You don’t scorch the tobacco.

I don’t get a blast of pepper, but rather, a slow build. It is starting off very smooth and sweetly. I can taste the graham cracker. Like smoking a cookie. The burn line is absolutely perfect. And let’s face it, if we are going to spend 15 Clamerinos on a cigar, it should not only be perfect in every way, but get down on its knees and lick your…..hmmmm.

The flavor is very woodsy and creamy. There are flavor profiles of coffee as well…the creaminess brings that out. The buttery smoothness creates a long finish. You can almost taste the oiliness of the butter in your mouth.

At the one inch mark, the cigar is trying to tell me something. Like stop playing with your penis while typing….or watch out….I’m going to surprise you with my flavor profile as the cigar withers and dies.

This is a very slow burning cigar as a result of the tight packing. Tight, yes, but draws beautifully.

It’s taken 30 minutes to get to the 2” burned mark. This baby won’t be rushed. The flavors are ramping up now. The spice is beginning to really tickle the tip of my tongue while also applying layers to the inside of my cheeks. Like a first coat.

The woody flavor is high on the list, but so is the coffee and cream. This is no longer a Pepin Garcia cigar. The layering of textures is highly complex. Very sophisticated for the experienced palate.

It’s easy to see why this cigar ain’t cheap. It’s not just a couple hours distraction or enjoyment, it’s a Jimi experience. Are you experienced? It’s purple haze to the max.

As I finish the first third, this stick is beginning to kick my ass like a soccer ball star.

I know I should have eaten breakfast but I thought….fuck it. Light ‘er up! And damn the torpedoes!

Well as my head began to spin, I thought prudence should prevail and had a small bowl of Grape Nuts….yes, those horrible little pebbles. But I’m diabetic and don’t consume concentrated sugar of any kind.

And to my surprise, this skinny little bitch of a cigar stayed lit the entire time my feedbag was on….that’s entertainment!

I’m close to the halfway point and the spice is there, the coffee is there, the creaminess is there and the cookie like flavor is there. And in addition, this is a highly complex cigar.

It reminds me a bit of the La Palina Family Series. But those are in the $20-$30 per stick range.

I am experiencing a very nice buzz from the stick. Not the spins, but an actual pleasant buzz. That’s never happened before. Maybe the opium in the cigar is why it’s not cheap.

The second half begins with all the same flavors but they get deeper and richer. Man, this is some cigar experience.

To be honest, I would never smoke this cigar in the company of others. I would want no distractions. I want to be comfy at home, alone, and listening to some fine jazz. And yes, my pants would be pulled up and tied off.

I am just blown away by this stick. Rocky’s sell these sticks in a box for $269.99. Unless you are bucks up, you want to be selfish with this cigar. This cigar is a mood changer.

No kidding. I’m happy.

During the last third, all hell breaks loose. It gets spicier. The coffee and cream give me the sense of Starbucks. The deep, rich complexity is bombarding me with contentment. I don’t want this to end.

I nub this baby out. I know fellow brothers and sisters of the leaf that this cigar ain’t cheap but it’s worth every cent, if not more. This is a true 10 in my book.

Remember to go out there and enjoy your day and smoke to your heart’s content.

And now for something completely different:

I have gone on and on and on about my exploits playing rock n roll. It’s now time for another chapter in my life. The Eddie Munster Chronicles.

I became Butch Patrick’s manager and father (although I'm only 3 years older), back in 1982. And that lasted just over 2 years. Butch was brought to my recording studio in Long Beach, CA by a mutual friend.

I had a partner, but he was a embezzling slime bucket. Anyway….Butch had an idea for a song called Whatever Happened to Eddie? Using the theme from the show, we added our own lyrics. I put together some fine players, myself included on bass, and we did the thing. Butch can’t sing a lick. So it had to be Milli Vanilli.

The phony band was called Eddie and the Monsters. Only two of the Monsters actually recorded on the single. The drummer and the vocalist.

Having been fucked by several record companies, I decided to seek out a production package where I produce everything and hand over a finished project to a record company that only has to produce the singles and distribute and market them.

That way, I got 25 cents back on every record from the first one sold.

What I didn’t know was that Butch liked to drink. It ran in his family. So he was a victim of his genes. Butch had something like 6 or 7 fathers and about the same amount of mothers growing up. Real stable family life.

I got us a record deal with the infamous (Will explain that another time) Rocshire Records out of Anaheim. They were ex-Warner Bros people who formed a new company and funded it by the owner’s wife embezzling over $15 million from Hughe’s Aircraft.

The project eventually sold over 200,000 units. We did well. We also did a lot of TV and radio across the country.

There was also a lot of drinking and drug usage because if you want to get played, you better be prepared to pay for it in cash and drugs. That’s the way it’s always been. Nothing has changed.

So, in segments, I will tell the tale of me and Butch and Eddie and the Monsters and how we averted death dozens of times and all the horrifically funny stories that accompanied the project. It truly deserves a book written about it because every day was a real mind fuck. Show biz. It ain’t Ethel Merman.

To be continued……