Today is our final installment of the Tatuaje Monster Mash Sampler, the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature. The Monster Mash Sampler is based on the Tatuaje Monster Series, which is an annual series that pays homage to horror film characters with unique blends. Typically Tatuaje has released each installment just before 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. There are 14 blends in the Monster Mash Series. Thirteen of the 14 are cigars based on the existing Halloween-released Monsters, but in a format that is 1 1/2 inches shorter than the Halloween Monster. The 14th cigar is something unique. It’s a new Monster blend never released in any other format known as “The Creature” and it pays homage to The Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s the cigar we look at today.
The chart below shows the complete history of the Tatuaje Monsters series and what is offered in one sampler.
| 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 | |||||
| Chucky (2019) | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | ||
| Tiffany (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 |
* Also Re-released as Redux
Without further ado, let’s break down the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature and see what this cigar brings to the table.
SPECIFICATIONS
Blend and Origin
Details of the tobaccos and origins of the tobaccos used in the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature have not been disclosed. As with all Tatuaje Cigars, the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature is produced out of the My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Wrapper: Undisclosed
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Vitolas Offered
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature has a unique shape for the Monsters’ cigars, but not a unique shape for Tatuaje. The cigar is in the Britanicas Extra size and shape – which is a 5 3/8 x 48 perfecto. At press time, the only way to get the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature is in the Tatuaje Monster Mash sampler.
Appearance
The wrapper of the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature has a roasted coffee bean color to it. Upon closer examination, some mottling was seen on the wrapper. The wrapper itself had a slight amount of toothiness. There also was a slight amount of oil on the surface. There were some visible veins and some visible wrapper seams. The Creature has a gentle taper on both ends of the cigar.
PERFORMANCE
Pre-Light Draw
Prior to lighting up the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was clipped, it was time to commence the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered a mix of cocoa and floral notes. On the positive were the cocoa notes, but the floral component didn’t do it for me. As a result, this wasn’t the most exciting draw in my book. Since the pre-light draw is not factored into the numerical score or value rating, there was no loss of points here. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature and move on to the smoking phase.
Tasting Notes
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature opened up with notes of cocoa, cedar, raisin, and white pepper. As the cigar progressed through the first third, the raisin notes moved into the forefront. The raisin notes had an inherent sweetness to them. The cocoa, cedar, and pepper notes settled into the background. By the midway point, the cocoa notes joined the raisin in the forefront. Some earth notes settled with the cedar and pepper in the background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered a mix of white and pepper notes with a touch of raisin sweetness.
The second third of the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature opened with the cocoa and raisin notes in the forefront. The raisin notes receded into the forefront. Concurrently the raisin notes began to lose their inherent sweetness and develop some sourness. Meanwhile, there was an increase in the white pepper and cedar. Once the cigar moved into the second half, the earth notes displaced the cocoa.
There wasn’t much change in the last third. The earth notes remained primary. These were rounded out by the cedar, pepper, cocoa, and raisin notes. The raisin notes still exhibited the sourness that developed in the second third. This is the way the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature came to a close. The cigar finished with a cool, soft nub.
Burn
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature required frequent touch-ups in order to maintain a straight burn path and straight burn line. While the touch-ups kept the cigar’s burn on track, there were more frequent touch-ups than I preferred. The resulting ash had a salt and pepper color scheme. This was an ash that was skewed on the firmer side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.
Draw
The draw to the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature was on the open side. Normally my preference is to have a slight amount of resistance on the draw. This wasn’t the case with the Monster Mash Creature, but this wasn’t an overly loose draw either. At the same time, this was a cigar that produced ample amounts of smoke.
Strength and Body
The Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature started out as a medium-strength, medium to full-bodied smoke. The strength and body levels stayed at this level from start to finish with only a minor increase in intensity in both levels. When it came to strength versus body, the body maintained the edge throughout the smoking experience.
BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES
This band is a variant of the Tatuaje scripted logo. What is different about this band is the black-on-black scheme. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of the black-on-black color scheme on a cigar, but it does work quite well here.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
When I compare the Tatuaje Monster Mash Creature to many of the blends that are a part of the Monster Series, it falls a little short. Flavorwise, the cigar started out quite promising in the first third, but started to lose its way in the second third. I am a big fan of the Britanicas Extra shape with other Tatuaje offerings, but in this case, it just didn’t do it for me. I’m still curious if Tatuaje will decide to release a full-size “The Creature” in a future Halloween installment. For now, I’m more inclined to tell folks to try a sample of this (and I do realize this might be very hard to do, but I’m sticking with our value rating system) and see what you think.
This concludes our review of the 14 blends of the Tatuaje Monster Mash sampler. Overall, the sampler was a lot of fun to smoke through. If you can still find these, it is something I would easily recommend purchasing as a whole.
Summary
Key Flavors: Cocoa, Raisin, Cedar, Earth, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 86
REFERENCES
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 Creature)
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Tatuaje
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
