Tatuaje Face – Part of the Pudgy Monsters Series
The Tatuaje Face is a part of Tatuaje’s Pudgy Monsters series that was released in mid 2014. This is the second sampler series based on Tatuaje’s Monsters Series – a line released on an annual basis that pays homage to a different monster / horror movie character. In 2012, the Tatuaje Little Monsters would be the first sampler series released – providing smaller and thinner versions of the original Monster Series releases. While there are two all new blends in the new Pudgy Monsters Series with the Tatuaje Chuck and Tatuaje Tiff; the remainder of the set provides another set of smaller monsters.  With these other Pudgy Monster cigars, for the most part they will have the same ring gauge as the original and same length as the Little Monsters. Today, we take a look at the Tatuaje Face, a shorter version of the Tatuaje – The Face and a thicker version of the Tatuaje Baby Face. The cigars with this blend pay tribute to the Leatherface character of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Overall, I have considered this to be an excellent blend in the Monsters / Little Monsters line.  Now the Pudgy Monster installment continues the excellence of what this blend brings to the table.

The Pudgy Monsters series consists of 10 cigars. There is one cigar per blend that has previously been released in the Monsters series. The new blends, Chuck and Tiff contain two cigars.

(Pudgy) Frank (Based on the 2008’s Tatuaje Monster Series – The Frank)
(Pudgy) Drac (Based on 2009’s Tatuaje Monster Series – The Drac)
(Pudgy) Face (Based on 2010’s Tatuaje Monster Series -The Face)
(Pudgy) Wolf (Based on 2011’s Tatuaje Monster Series – The Wolfman)
(Pudgy) Mummy (Based on 2012’s Tatuaje Monster Series – The Mummy)
(Pudgy) Jason (Based on 2013’s Tatuaje Monster Series – JV13)
(Pudgy) Chuck – New Blend
(Pudgy) Tiff – New Blend

Without further ado, let’s break down the Pudgy Monsters’ release of the Tatuaje Face and see what this cigar brings to the table:

Blend Profile

Of all of the Tatuaje Monsters / Little Monsters / Pudgy Monsters releases, the Face blend is the only one to feature a Mexican wrapper.  In general, Mexican wrappers are not common on Tatuaje releases.

Wrapper: Mexican
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

For completeness we include all of the vitolas with The Face blend.  Like the previous releases in this blend, the Pudgy Monster Face features a fuma style cap and a covered footer.  Also like the previous releases, the Pudgy Monster Face does not have a cigar band, but instead feature a piece of jagged-cut natural tobacco wrapper creating a band effect – and also paying homage to the Leatherface character.

The Pudgy Monsters Face has the same length as the Baby Face and same ring gauge as The Face.

Face: 4 3/8 x 56
Baby Face: 4 3/8 x 50
The Face: 6 3/8 x 56

Appearance

The Mexican wrapper of the Pudgy Monster Face definitely has a leathery look to it. The wrapper is a dark brown coffee bean color with an oily complexion. There are a few veins and some visible wrapper seams. The foot is covered.  The fuma cap almost resembles a covered pigtail (although it really isn’t one). As mentioned, the Tatuaje Face does not feature a paper band. Instead, a piece of jagged natural tobacco wrapper is used to create a band affect.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

I opted to go with a straight cut to remove the fuma cap.  Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw.  For whatever reason the dry draw of the Tatuaje Face was far superior than the Baby Face or The Face.  Despite the closed foot, I got some nice flavors on this draw as I detected notes of earth, coffee, and a slight pepper twang.  Overall I was quite pleased with the pre-light draw of my Pudgy Monsters Face.  At this point, I was ready to light this cigar up and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

One difference with the Pudgy Monster Face compared to the Baby Face and The Face was in the spice.  Out of the gate, I detected a black pepper note with the Pudgy Monsters Face.  The other vitolas had produced more of a red pepper note, but this one definitely seemed different.  Notes of earth and coffee joined the black pepper notes.  I also detected the black pepper on the retro-hale.

Throughout the first third, the earth and pepper notes were primary flavors.  I found the coffee notes floated in and out of the forefront.  I detected distant grass and cream notes in the background.

In the second third, I found the coffee flavors took center stage.  The coffee notes had a rich roasted coffee flavor with a slight mocha flavor.  The pepper notes were a very close secondary note.  The grass notes had grown more prominent and the cream was now more distant.

By the last third, the pepper notes returned to the forefront joining the roasted coffee flavors.  While the pepper was not overwhelming there was a slight pungent sharpness to it – something I often get from Mexican wrapper cigars.  The grass notes were a close secondary note and the cream notes were gone.  This is the way the flavor profile remained until the end.  The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Quietly, the Face features two vitolas in a 56 ring gauge – the largest ring gauge of any of the Monsters / Little Monsters / Pudgy Monsters releases. This did not seem to impact the burn or draw one bit of the Pudgy Monster Face. The original “The Face” had an excellent burn and draw and the Pudgy Monster Face is no exception.  I found the burn to perform quite well. There was a slight curvature in the burn line and some minor flaking early on, but overall this burn did not need a lot of tlc to burn straight.  The resulting ash was tight with a nice white color.  The ash came off the cigar in nice clean chunks.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of Tatuaje Pudgy Monsters Face

The draw was outstanding.  It was not too loose, and not too tight.  I found this cigar produced a nice amount of thick smoke.  Overall I found the Pudgy Monsters Face was a pleasant cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

In terms of the attributes of strength and body, I found the Pudgy Monsters Face to be at the point where the Baby Face was when I recently had given it another smoke.  I assessed the Pudgy Monsters Face as being a medium to full strength, medium to full-bodied smoke from start to finish.  In terms of strength versus body,  I found the two attributes countered each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Of all of the Monsters / Little Monsters / Pudgy Monsters blends, I find The Face / Baby Face / Face blend to be the most underrated.  This is a blend that has always delivered an excellent smoke for me – and its a blend that ages real well.  For the most part, I tend to be critical when it comes to Mexican wrapper being too overpowering on a blend, but in this case the whole blend is allowed to shine.  In terms of the Pudgy Monsters Face, I like the 56 ring gauge.  It seems to offer more in the way of complexity.  This is a cigar I would probably steer toward an experienced cigar enthusiast, but would not discourage a novice from trying.  As for myself I enjoyed the 4 3/4 x 56 incarnation of the Tatuaje – The Face.  It’s a cigar I’d smoke again and its certainly worthy of a box purchase.

Summary

Burn Excellent
Draw Excellent
Complexity High
Strength Medium to Full
Body Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0 – Box Worthy
Score: 93

References

News: Tatuaje Pudgy Monsters Released
Price: ~$9.50
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a