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 Mummy. This is a cigar blend previously assessed in several sizes most recently back in October 2016 in the Skinny Monsters format.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Monster Mash Mummy: 6 1/4 x 47
Today we look at the Tatuaje Monster Mash Mummy. The Mummy was the fifth installment in Tatuaje’s Monster series. This series paid homage to horror film characters with unique blends that would be released in time for Halloween. Over the years, Tatuaje has also released many offshoot samplers of the series, each containing a different theme. The Monster Mash is actually the seventh sampler that was introduced into the series. It contains one of the 13 blends in the Tatuaje Monsters Series (plus an additional unreleased blend known as The Creature). 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. The Monster Mash Mummy is based on the 2012 release of Tatuaje The Mummy.
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. One interesting fact is that the Mummy blend was the first Monsters blend to be not be released in the full-sized Halloween release. The Mini Mum, which was the Little Monsters sampler release, came out several months before the full-sized Mummy.
| 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 Mummy uses the same tobacco components as the original Tatuaje The Mummy blend. This consists of a Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper over all-Nicaraguan fillers. The Mummy blend was the first Monsters blend to consist of 100% Nicaraguan tobacco. Like the original Mummy, the Monster Mash Mummy features a covered footer.
The Monster Mash Mummy kicked off with notes of cedar, citrus, natural tobacco, and white pepper. Notes of bakers spice and earth emerged in the background. The natural tobacco notes moved into the forefront. The retro-hale produced notes of white pepper and earth. As the cigar moved into the second third, the white pepper notes converted to a black pepper varietal on the tongue and retro-hale. As the Mummy moved into the final third, the natural tobacco notes developed a slight amount of bitterness.
The flavors delivered by the Tatuaje Monster Mash Mummy were medium to full-bodied countered by medium to full strength. The body maintained a slight edge over the strength. Both the burn and draw performed excellently. The burn needed few touch-ups and the draw had a touch of resistance – which is something I consider a positive.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Mummy was a relatively enjoyable cigar. The cigar delivered on construction and complexity. Flavor-wise, the Monster Mash Mummy was enjoyable for most of the first two-thirds. The last third took an unexpected turn with some bitterness. While the bitterness didn’t equate to harshness, I still found the cigar went off balance. Ironically, when I smoked the Tatuaje Monster Mash Face I noticed it had a weaker final third during my smoking experience of that cigar (but the Monster Mash Face also became pungent as opposed to bitter). Because this comes only in a $150.00 sampler, it’s still a “Try a Sample” for me – even though the pluses far outweigh the minuses here.
Summary
Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Cedar, Citrus, Earth, Baker’s Spice, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Very Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 89
References
Previous Review: Tatuaje Skinny Mummy
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 Mummy)
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Tatuaje
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
