“Overall I found this to be a stellar release and one that will go down as one of the better blends in this (Monsters) series.”
Coming in at #18 is the Tatuaje Jekyll. This is the seventh installment into Tatuaje’s annual Monsters Series. This cigar becomes the second Tatuaje release to make this year’s countdown. It also becomes the third installment of the Tatuaje Monsters series to make the countdown.
Each year the Tatuaje Jekyll is one of the most anticipated releases in the cigar industry. It was on the November 2013 Stogie Geeks that Jekyll and Hyde, the characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” would be the installments in the Tatuaje Monsters Series. The Tatuaje Jekyll is the 2014 release while the Tatuaje Hyde is slated to be the 2015 release.
At the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show, Tatuaje showed off the dress boxes for both Tatuaje Jekyll and Tatuaje Hyde. When placed together, the two images form a single image. There were 666 Jekyll dress boxes made available to thirteen retailers known as the “Unlucky 13”. The remainder of the Jekyll cigars are packaged in simple cedar boxes.
The Tatuaje Jekyll was released in one size – a 7 x 49 Churchill. The unique thing about this blend is that Pete Johnson used Sancti Spiritus wrapper. This was the first Tatuaje blend to use this wrapper. Sancti Spiritus is a Criollo / Pelo d’Oro hybrid that is meant to be a replacement for Pelo d’Oro. It is much more resistant to mold. Previously Johnson had saved this wrapper for blends for blends for his other company, L’Atelier Imports.
The Tatuaje Jekyll starts out with notes of pepper, cedar, natural tobacco, and black cherry. There is quite a bit of both sweetness and spice early on, but a chocolate / cream flavor emerges in the first third that smooths things out and makes the cigar experience quite pleasant. This became the dominant flavor as the cigar progressed. This was a medium strength, medium-bodied smoke, and the construction was excellent.
Click here for our detailed assessment of the Tatuaje Jekyll.
Blend Profile
Wrapper: Sancti Spiritus (Ecuador)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (My Fathers Cigar SA)
Vitolas Available
The cigar was released in one size a 7 x 49 Churchill
Recommended Vitola: Churchill (7 x 49)
Assessment Rating: 4.0- Box Worthy
Score: 94 (11/25/14)
For more information on our vision and criteria for the 2014 Cigar of the Year countdown, see our December 2014 Editor’s Corner.
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