Back in 2012, Tatuaje Cigars released a cigar called the Tatuaje Mexican Experiment. The cigar was at the time a limited and regional release that quickly developed a cult-following. The cigar was pretty much exactly as advertised – Pete Johnson’s experimenting with the Mexican wrapper. While Johnson has done other Mexican releases, including bringing back the Mexican Experiment (ME and ME II), last year is when Johnson went to the next phase of his experiment with Mexican tobacco by releasing another limited series, the Tatuaje Tuxtla Series. This involved taking some of Tatuaje’s more popular cigars and replacing the wrapper with a Mexican San Andres wrapper. Tuxtla refers to a region in Mexico where San Andres tobacco is grown and harvested. Today we take a look at one of the cigars that was a part of the Tuxtla series, the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla.

The Tatuaje 7th is one of the more popular cigars in the history of Tatuaje. It traces back to the Tatuaje Seleccion de Cazador (Brown Label) series. It got its name from being the seventh vitola in the original Brown Label series. That cigar featured an Habano wrapper. There were other variants of the blend produced including a 7th Reserva Reserva (Connecticut Broadleaf) and a 7th Reserva Capa Especial (Sumatra). Now the 7th Tuxtla brings a San Andres Mexican variant into the series.

So, let’s break down the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to the Mexican San Andres wrapper, the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla consists of all Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. Production is handled by the Garcia family at the My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

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

Vitolas Offered

The following are the six cigars in the Tuxtla Series. Normally we list of all of the sizes of a particular blend in this section. In this case, each of these are separate blends.

The Tatuaje Tuxtla 7th was presented in 25-count boxes. Approximately 2,000 boxes were produced.

Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla: 5 5/8 x 46
Tatuaje T110 Tuxtla: 4 3/8 x 52
Tatuaje Avion 13 Tuxtla: 6 7/8 x 52
Tatuaje Lomo de Cerdo (Pork Tenderloin): 5 1/8 x 52
Tatuaje Belle Encre Tuxtla: 5 3/8 x 48 (Perfecto) *
Tatuaje Bon Chasseur Tuxtla: 5 3/8 x 52 *

* Not released as of the time of this assessment

Appearance

The Mexican San Andres wrapper of the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla had a chocolate brown color to it. There was a slight amount of toothiness present on the surface. In addition, there was some subtle mottling. Upon closer examination, the wrapper had a light amount of oil on the surface. The wrapper had some visible veins and there were some visible wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw experience. The cold draw delivered a combination of mocha and earth. I tend to use the term “mocha” in my assessments where there is a strong fusion of coffee and cocoa notes. Overall this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Tatuaje Tuxtla 7th opened up with more notes of mocha and earth. Also present were cedar, and vegetal notes. Early on the mocha notes took control and moved into the forefront. The earth, cedar, and vegetal notes stayed in the background. As the cigar progressed through the first third, some white pepper notes surfaced. The white pepper was also present on the retro-hale.

During the early part of the second third of the Tatuaje Tuxtla 7th, the mocha notes transitioned to more of a black coffee note. The coffee notes remained grounded in the forefront. As the cigar progressed through the second third, the earth, cedar, and pepper notes all increased in intensity. Meanwhile, the vegetal notes were still a fixture in the background.

The final third saw the earth notes join the coffee notes in the forefront. The pepper and cedar notes were secondary notes, but still somewhat prominent in the overall picture. As they were in the previous two-thirds, the vegetal notes were present. This is the way the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

At times the burn might not have been the most aesthetic, but this really was a low-maintenance burn. This is a burn that needed very few touch-ups along the way to maintain a straight burn path. The burn line had some jaggedness from time to time. The resulting as was silver-gray. At times there was some minor flaking, but for the most part, it was a firm ash. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla

Draw

The draw of the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla also performed very well. This is a cigar that had a touch of resistance to it – which is something I like on a draw. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance cigar to derive flavors from.

Strength and Body

The Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla started out with medium strength and medium to full-bodied flavors. Along the way, there was a slight increase in the intensity of both attributes. By the end of the cigars, the strength and body had more intensity, but the strength still remained medium and the body still remained medium to full.

Throughout the smoking experience, the body maintained a slight edge over the strength.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

I like the concept of how Pete Johnson worked the banding. He basically uses the same primary band of the original cigar the Tuxtla is based on – and then adds a green band with the text “TUXTLA” in white. The scheme works great – and makes it really easy to identify this cigar as a Tuxtla series blend.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Personally, I’ve always liked the original Tatuaje 7th. In terms of what my goals were with the Tatuaje 7th Tuxtla, I wanted to see what Pete Johnson would do on this blend – in this Corona Gorda format. In terms of what was delivered, the blend satisfied me. The first third of the smoking experience had some of the richer mocha flavors and had a bit of a wow factor. The remaining two-thirds were not at that level, but still satisfactory in my book. At $9.50, this still is a good value in this cigar. It’s one I would recommend to any cigar enthusiast looking for something in the medium strength, medium to full-bodied range. As for myself, this is a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Mocha (Coffee, Chocolate), Earth, Cedar, Pepper, Vegetal Nos
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Very Good