Assessment Updates will be posted on this web-site to: 1) Assess
“pre-review” cigars that were not given a rating or score (typically
pre-release cigars); 2) Provide numeric ratings to cigars previously
assessed prior to the implementation of the numeric scoring system.
Today, we assign numeric ratings to two previously assessed cigars- the Tatuaje Fausto and the San Lotano Oval.
Tatuaje Fausto (FT 153)
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| Tatuaje Fausto FT153 |
The Tatuaje Fausto finished in our 2011 Cigar of the Year Countdown as the #20 Cigar of the Year. This was a new core line that was released by Tatuaje Cigars in 2011.
The Fausto derives its strength from using higher primings of the tobacco. It consists of an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. This results in the Fausto being a full strength cigar.
Complementing the strength of the Fausto are full-bodied flavors. The flavors consist of notes of chocolate, cocoa, pepper, sugar cane, earth, and hay notes. Overall, the Fausto delivers a highly complex smoke. The strength and body of the Fausto balance each other very nicely.
The construction is outstanding as well – providing excellent scores for both the burn and draw.
There are four core vitolas that currently make up the Fausto line. There is a fifth vitola that is intended to be an annual limited edition size called the “Avion”. This assessment and score does not include the Avion 11 (the 2011 version) as we felt that provided a very different experience. This assessment update is geared for the FT153 (Toro) vitola.
Click here to read the original assessment of the Tatuaje Fausto. If you are interested in reading some thoughts on the Tatuaje Avion 11, click here.
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 93
San Lotano Oval (Second Assessment Update)
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| San Lotano Oval – Petit Robuso |
Prior to the introduction of the numerical scoring system on Cigar Coop, I did an “assessment update” for the San Lotano Oval. This was because I had smoked a pre-release sample. There were many online review sites had this ranked among the top cigars for 2011. Given there was a lot of competition in 2011, I felt this one fell a little short. Specifically, I wrote:
When I sampled my IPCPR sample, the cigar started awesome, but by the
end it left me underwhelmed. The cigar had good flavors – cocoa,
coffee, caramel, cedar, and even some exotic spice. In fact toward the
end, I even detected some tea notes. The flavors I felt never fully
reached the potential and depth they could have reached. My follow-up
experiences were very similar. This is still a good cigar, but falls
short of being in contention in cigar of the year.
The one vitola from this line that I had not sampled was the petit robusto. This cigar delivered a far superior smoke than the other four vitolas in the blend. It still comes with its Brazilian Habano 2000 wrapper in its unique oval shape. It also consists of a Nicaraguan binder as well as a combination of Nicaraguan, Honduran, and “AJ Fernandez Secret Filler” for the filler.
While the petit robusto had the same flavor profile as we described above, this vitola did a much better job keeping its robust flavors from start to finish.
Click here to read the pre-review of my initial impressions of San Lotano Oval. Click here for the first assessment update.
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 89
