Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Tatuaje Monster Mash Drac. This is a cigar blend previously assessed in several sizes, most recently back in October 2016 in the Skinny Monsters format.
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Monster Mash Drac: 5 1/4 x 52
Today we take a look at one of the cigars in the Tatuaje Monster Mash Sampler, the Monster Mash Drac. The Monster Mash sampler is the latest incarnation of the Tatuaje Monsters Series. The foundation of the Monsters Series is that each year from 2008 to 2018 (around Halloween), Tatuaje would release a cigar blend that paid homage to a classic or contemporary horror film character. In addition to the annual Halloween releases, there have been various samplers released containing different sizes of the various Monsters blends. In the case of the Monster Mash, this would be the seventh sampler released. The Monster Mash cigars would be the same ring gauge as the Halloween released “monster,” but each Monster Mash cigar was 1 1/2 inches shorter than the Halloween release. In this case, the Monster Mash Drac is based on the popular Count Dracula character.
The chart below shows the complete history of the Tatuaje Monsters series and what is offered in one sampler. Note the Tatuaje Monster Mash includes a new “monster” known as “The Creature.” It does not have a corresponding Halloween character and at press time is exclusive to the Monster Mash series.
| Character/Collection | Full Monsters (The +) -Annual |
Little Monsters |
Pudgy Monsters | Skinny Monsters | Skinny Monsters Cazadores |
Skinny Monsters Lancero |
MBS | Monster Mash |
| Frankenstein (2008) | Frank (*) | Frank Jr. | Frank | Frank | Frank | Frank | Frank | |
| Dracula (2009) | Drac | Lil’ Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | |
| Leather Face (2010) | Face | Baby Face | Face | Face | Face | Face | Face | |
| The Wolfman (2011) | Wolfman | Wolfie | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | |
| The Mummy (2012) | Mummy | Mini Mum | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | |
| Jason Voorhees (2013) | JV13 | Jason | Jason | Jason | Jason | Jason | ||
| Dr. Jekyll (2014) | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | |||
| Mr. Hyde (2015) | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | |||
| Freddy Krueger (2016) | Krueger | FK | Krueger | |||||
| Chuck (2019) | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | ||
| Tiff (2019) | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | ||
| Michael Myers (2017) | Michael | Michael | ||||||
| “The Bride” (2018) | Bride | Bride | ||||||
| “The Creature (from the Black Lagoon)” (2021) | Creature |
- Re-released as Redux in 2021
The Monster Mash Drac uses the same tobacco components as the original Tatuaje The Drac blend. This consists of an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper over all-Nicaraguan fillers. Like the original Drac, the Monster Mash Frank is a belicoso, but it is shorter at 5 1/2 x 52. The belicoso shape is meant to represent Count Dracula’s fangs.
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Drac opened up with chocolate, wood, orange peel, mixed pepper, and floral notes. The wood notes moved into the forefront and some cedar notes developed. There was an additional layer of black pepper and orange peel on the retro-hale. By the second third, the cedar notes displaced the wood and took over as the primary notes. In the background, the chocolate notes morphed to earth notes and the orange peel notes diminished. By the last third, the pepper notes increased and closed in on the cedar notes in the forefront. In the background, there still were orange peel, earth, and floral notes. As the Monster Mash Drac came to a close, it finished with a slightly soft, but cool nub.
The Monster Mash Drac seemed to be one of the bolder releases in the Drac blend. This is a cigar that started out with medium to full-bodied flavors before progressing to full-bodied in the final third. These flavors were countered by medium to full level strength. Construction was excellent and this was reflected in the burn and draw. The burn was low maintenance requiring minimal touch-ups. Meanwhile, the draw had a touch of resistance – which is ideal in my book.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
While I have had enjoyable experiences with the Drac bends before, the Monster Mash Drac fell short. I found the flavors to be muddled through the whole smoking experience, and there really wasn’t any wow factor in what was delivered. At press time, the only way to get this is with a sampler and that will cost you $150.00. In the end, I’m not sure there is enough going on with the Monster Mash Drac going on to make me want to buy the sampler, so it’s going to be some of the other cigars in the sampler that will lure me too pick it up.
Summary
Key Flavors: Wood, Cedar, Chocolate, Earth, Orange Peel, Floral,Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium to High
Strength: Medium to Full (1st 2/3)
Body: Medium to Full (1st 2/3), Full (Last Third)
Finish: Very Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 87
References
Previous Review: Tatuaje Skinny Drac
News: Tatuaje Monster Mash Introduced at 2021 PCA
Price: $150.00 for a sampler that includes 14 different Monster Mash cigars (which includes one Monster Mash Frank)
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Tatuaje
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
