Tatuaje MBS FK

In 2020, Tatuaje Cigars introduced a new permutation of the Monsters Series known as the Monster Bomb Squad (MBS). MBS was released in a single blend known as the MBS FK that was based on 2016’s Tatuaje – The Krueger blend. As many know, the Monsters Series pays homage to various classic and contemporary horror movie characters, and The Krueger pays homage to Freddy Krueger (thus the FK) from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise of films. MBS is sort of a mashup between the Monsters Series and the Tatuaje M80 project. The Tatuaje M80 was a cigar that was a 4 x 50 Robusto with a long thin fuse tucked under the band. With the MBS FK, that is exactly the size, shape, and format of the cigar. “Monster Bomb Squad” makes reference to the connection with the M80. The cigar was released this past June and was a limited release. Today, we take a closer look at the Tatuaje MBS FK.

The grid below maps each monster/horror film character blend to the cigar that was released in each of the Monster Series collections. A blank indicates the blend was not released in that collection. The Little Monsters, Pudgy Monsters, Skinny Monsters, Skinny Monsters Cazadores, and Skinny Monsters Lancero were released in samplers. The Skinny Monsters releases were also made available in individual 25-count boxes. As mentioned the Tatuaje MBS FK is the only cigar in the MBS series.

Character/Collection	Full Monsters (The +) -Annual	Little Monsters	Pudgy Monsters	Skinny Monsters	Skinny Monsters Cazadores	Skinny Monsters Lancero	MBS
Frankenstein (2008)	Frank	Frank Jr.	Frank	Frank	Frank	Frank
Dracula (2009)	Drac	Lil’ Drac	Drac	Drac	Drac	Drac
Leather Face (2010)	Face	Baby Face	Face	Face	Face	Face
The Wolfman (2011)	Wolfman	Wolfie	Wolf	Wolf	Wolf	Wolf
The Mummy (2012)	Mummy	Mini Mum	Mummy	Mummy	Mummy	Mummy
Jason Voorhees (2013)	JV13		Jason	Jason	Jason	Jason
Dr. Jekyll (2014)	Jekyll			Jekyll	Jekyll	Jekyll
Mr. Hyde (2015)	Hyde			Hyde	Hyde	Hyde
Freddy Krueger (2016)	Krueger						FK
Chuck (2019)	Chuck		Chuck	Chuck	Chuck	Chuck
Tiff (2019)	Tiff		Tiff	Tiff	Tiff	Tiff
Michael Myers (2017)	Michael
“The Bride” (2018)	Bride

Without further ado, let’s break down the Tatuaje MBS FK and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Krueger uses a Mexican San Andres wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. The MBS FK is said to be a tweaked version of The Krueger blend.

When The Krueger blend was released in 2016, this was the second Monster installment to use a Mexican wrapper joining 2010’s The Face.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars SA

Vitolas Offered

While The Krueger was a box-pressed vitola, MBS FK is a rounded Short Robusto. As mentioned, the blend of the MBS FK has been tweaked.

MBS FK: 4 x 50
The Krueger: 7 1/4 x 48 (Box-Pressed Vitola)

MBS FK is also packaged in ten-count cellophane bundles. It was the first permutation in the overall Monsters Series to use a bundle format.

Tatuaje MBS FK and Packaging

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Tatuaje MBS FK had a chocolate-brown color with some oil on the surface. There were some visible veins and some thin wrapper seams. The cigar features a coveted footer. Finally, as mentioned above, the MBS FK features an extended fuse off the cap, which is tucked under the cigar band.

The band of the Tatuaje MBS FK is the same as found on Tatuaje – The Krueger. The script font is a red/orange color on a forest green background. To the left of the “Tatuaje” scripting is the text “HALLOWEEN” in the red/orange font. To the right of the scripting, it says “MONSTER” in the black font. There is one red/orange pinstripe above the text and one below the text. There is a black Tatuaje “tattoo” logo on the far of the band.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

As opposed to pulling the pig-tail off the Tatuaje MBS MK, I opted to place a straight cut into the cap. This essentially put a cut into the pig-tail that was draped down from the cap under the band. I left the pig-tail inside the band for most of the duration of the smoke.

The cold draw delivered a mix of cocoa powder, leather, and cedar. I found this to be a satisfactory pre-light experience. At this point, it was time to light up the Tatuaje MBS FK and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Tatuaje MBS FK started out with notes of cocoa, earth, and black cherry. Early on the cocoa notes emerged as the primary note. The earth and black cherry settled in the background with the black cherry occasionally coming into the forefront. Meanwhile, there was a layer of red pepper on the retro-hale. Later in the first third, the red pepper emerged on the tongue.

During the second third, the cocoa notes remained in the forefront with the black cherry floating in and out of the forefront and background. As the MBS FK moved through the second third, the cocoa notes morphed into a black coffee note. The red pepper and earth remained in the background with the red pepper notes slowly increasing in intensity.

By the last third, the coffee notes remained in the forefront. The pepper notes were a close secondary note with the black cherry and earth notes in the more distant background. This is the way the Tatuaje MBS FK came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Tatuaje MBS FK performed quite well on the burn. This was a cigar that required minimal touch-ups and maintained a straight burn path and straight burn line. The resulting ash was tight and firm with a silver-gray color. Both the burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Tatuaje MBS FK

Draw

The draw of the Tatuaje MBS FK had a touch of resistance to it – which is something that I like. At the same time, this was a cigar that was low maintenance to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, the Tatuaje MBS FK delivered a medium to full strength, medium to full-bodied experience from start to finish. There was a slight increase in the intensity of both attributes along the way, but in the end, both attributes still remained in the medium to full range of the spectrum. Both the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Very simply, the Tatuaje MBS FK is a better cigar than its predecessor The Krueger. The blend seemed to click in the Short Robusto format. One additional thing is that the cigars that were assessed had about 3 plus months of age on them. I also found the MBS FK was a cigar that responded well to aging – and one that also aged better than the original Krueger. One thing I find with Mexican wrappers is that they can at times overpower the blend – not the case with the MBS FK. Given that this cigar is on the bolder side, I recommend it to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. Although this cigar was pretty much only sold in ten-packs, it’s one I’d still say garners bundle worthy consideration. It’s a cigar I’d smoke again – and it’s one that hits the 90 point mark which is the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Coffee, Black Cherry, Earth, Red Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent