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 Chuck This is a cigar blend previously assessed back in May 2020 in the “The Chuck” size.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Monster Mash Chuck: 4 3/8 x 52
In this installment of our assessment of the Tatuaje Monster Mash Sampler, we take a look at the Tatuaje Monster Mash Chuck. The Monster Mash Series is an offshoot of the Tatuaje Monsters Series, a series of cigars that pays homage to a classic or contemporary horror film character. In keeping with the spirit of the Monsters series, from 2008 to 2018 Tatuaje would unveil a “character” that the Monsters Series around Halloween. In addition to the annual Halloween releases, there have been various samplers released containing different sizes of the various Monsters blends and the Monster Mash sampler was one of them. For the Monster Mash, each cigar 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 the case of the Monster Mash Chuck, this cigar is a petite robusto measuring 4 3/8 x 52
Some of the Monster characters have been based on classic horror film characters and others are based on more contemporary characters. In the case of the Tatuaje Chuck, it is based on the character of Chucky from the Child’s Play horror films. In the past when there was a Tatuaje Chuck release, there has also been a Tatuaje Tiff release – Tiff is a companion character from the films.
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 Chuck uses the same tobacco components as other sizes that utilize the Chuck blend. This consists of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over all-Nicaraguan fillers. The Chuck is also the third Monsters Blend to use Ecuadorian Habano for the wrapper. The other two releases that use this wrapper are The Drac (Ecuadorian Habano Maduro) and Michael (Natural Ecuadorian Habano).
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Chuck opened up with notes of natural tobacco and earth. There were notes of black pepper, fruit, and cream that joined in. The natural tobacco notes went primary early on. Later in the first third, the earth notes returned to the forefront. By the midway point, the pepper notes increased and the fruit sweetness diminished. The pepper closed in on the natural tobacco and earth in the final third, but didn’t quite cross the threshold into primary note territory. The cigar finished with a soft, slightly lukewarm nub.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Chuck performed quite well. There was nothing mind-blowing flavor-wise, but the Chuck still delivered some nice flavors. While this was also one of the better-constructed cigars I have in the series, in the end, the flavor is still the most important attribute here
Looking at the Monster Mash Chuck, because this comes only in a $150.00 sampler, it’s still a “Try a Sample” for the individual cigar. However, after smoking 11 of the 14 blends in the sampler, the sampler is something I would recommend purchasing as a whole.
Summary
Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Citrus, Black Pepper, Cedar, Floral, Earth
Burn: Very Good
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 – The Chuck
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 Chuck)
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Tatuaje
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
