Smoked: Tatuaje Miami Cojonu 2003

Smoked at: Sharonville, Ohio

Tatuaje Miami Cojonu 2003 is a Nicraguan covered in a slightly rustic dark brown, fairly veiny wrapper. Not sure if this is the Broadleaf or the Corojo. 2003 is the year the Miami Cojonu was blended. You’d be hard pressed to find a better looking cigar. This things just looks and feels world class. Let’s fire it up and see if the taste lives up to the window dressing.

Spice leaps out. Let’s call the next flavor spicy sweetness. Is that a Wolfgang Puck term or a Mrs. Fields? Wood, pepper, nuts and dark chocolate join in, followed by earth and leather notes The earthiness includes mineral notes like slate and chalk. I’m also picking up a faint hint of berries or cherries in the background. Flavors are moving forward, interacting, then receding and making way for other notes – some of which I find difficult to describe, but that I like. Nice transitioning and complexity. The wood flavors are changing into the aroma of a campfire dying. This cigar is bold and robust with a rich amalgam of flavors. This stick has a lot going for it.

I’m calling it medium-full bodied and strength. The only drawback is a dryness to the earth and pepper prevalent in the retrohale that also parched my palate during the final third – not bitter, but a tad harsh to close out.

Construction couldn’t be better - good draw, generous smoke output, the burn line is spot on even and solid light grey ash is holding well up to almost an inch.

After some bad luck with the Tatuaje Miami Reserva J21, it was good to find, as The Osmonds once sang, One Bad Apple don’t spoil the whole bunch. (An awful #1 song from 1971,) THIS is what I expect from a Tatuaje. Rack is up on the big board – 5s straight across.