Today, we review the Tatuaje 20th Anniversary Escasos EL22. In 2023, My Father Cigars and Tatuaje Cigars celebrated the 20th anniversary of their respective companies. Over that time, the companies have shared a tight connection. From the beginning, My Father Cigars’s Garcia family has produced Pete Johnson’s Tatuaje Cigars. Later, a joint project called La Union was released. In addition, both My Father and Tatuaje Cigars produced individual anniversary releases for each other’s companies. In the case of Tatuaje, we first saw a pair of Tatuaje 20th Anniversary Cigars showcased at the 2023 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show. Later, in 2023, a second pair of cigars was introduced. One cigar from the second pair was the Escasos EL 22.

The two Tatuaje 20th cigars first introduced at PCA were the Grand Mereville and Grand Chasseur. These cigars are regular cigars produced in Nicaragua. The other two cigars are the Escasos EL 22 and the Reserva RL22. The differentiating fact is that the Escasos EL 22 and Reserva RL 22 come out of the U.S. at Garcia’s old El Rey de los Habanos factory. Both the Escasos EL 22 and Reserva RL 22 are limited edition cigars. These cigars were rolled in 2021 in Miami and have been aging in boxes since 2022.

Without further ado, let’s turn our attention to the Escasos EL22 and see what this cigar offers.

Tatuaje 20th Anniversary Escasos EL22 – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Escasos EL22 features a Corojo Shade Grown Claro wrapper over all Nicaraguan tobaccos. This is the same wrapper found on the Tatuaje Escasos line.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo Shade Grown
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: United States
Factory: El Rey de los Habanos

Vitolas Offered

The Tatuaje 20th Anniversary Escasos EL22 is a 5 x 50 Robusto. The cigars come presented in 25-count cabinet boxes. Production was limited to 1,000 boxes.

Appearance (*)

The Corojo Shade Grown wrapper of the Escasos EL22 had a distinctive light brown rosado shade. Upon closer examination, a slight amount of toothiness could be seen. The surface of the wrapper had a thin sheen of oil. There were some visible veins on the surface. Any visible wrapper seams were minimal.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of the Escasos EL22. Once the cap was removed, it was time to begin the pre-light draw experience. The cold draw was mostly wood and hay with a touch of natural tobacco sweetness. That touch of natural tobacco sweetness helped make this pre-light draw a satisfactory experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the Escasos EL22 and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Escasos EL22 opened with more notes of wood, hay, and natural tobacco. Early on, the natural tobacco notes moved into the forefront. The wood notes quickly morphed into a cedar note and also joined the natural tobacco in the forefront. The hay settled in the background with some notes of black pepper. There was also an additional layer of black pepper on the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Escasos EL 22, the combination of natural tobacco and cedar remained primary. Meanwhile, hay, cedar, and black pepper remained in the background. Earth notes also joined these background notes. There was a slight increase in the black pepper component during this part of the cigar experience.

The final third saw many of the flavors muddled. The edge still went to the natural tobacco and cedar notes. The natural tobacco and cedar still had an edge in terms of the primary notes, but the flavors weren’t meshing well together. This is the way the Escasos EL22 came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The burn of the Escasos EL22 started out low maintenance. On each of the samples smoked, the burn turned higher maintenance around the midway point. This resulted in an uneven burn that required excessive touch-ups. Things seemed to get better toward the final third. The resulting ash was silver-gray. There was some flowering and flaking around the ash. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

Burn of the Tatuaje 20th Anniversary Escasos EL22

Draw

The draw of the Escasos EL22 was open but not loose. Normally, I prefer a little more resistance on the draw. In the end, there weren’t any adverse effects of the draw. I would not attribute the uneven burn to the openness of the draw.

Strength and Body

The Escasos EL22’s strength and body fell into the medium range of the spectrum for each attribute. Although the intensity slightly increased along the way, the Escasos EL22 stayed in the medium range for strength and body.

The body maintained a slight edge throughout the smoking experience in terms of strength versus body.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

The bands of the Escasos EL22 are consistent with the rest of the Escasos line. This includes the brown primary band and the gold and black secondary band. The packaging is a 25-count cabinet box. The one note is the 25 cigars are packaged in gold foil. While the foil certainly plays a role in the aging process, I like how it contributes to the look of this packaging.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I hate using the term “Cubanesque,” but I don’t have a better term to describe an old-school Cuban cigar. In this case, Cubanesque is what I would call the Escasos EL22. For the first two-thirds (even with the issues of the burn at the midpoint), I really enjoyed the EL22. The final third was a different story as the flavors got muddled. At the same point, the flavor profile as a whole ran out of gas. In the end, this is still an $18.00 cigar, so given the midway burn maintenance and the way things finished, this is a cigar I’d recommend trying a sample of first.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Cedar, Hay, Wood, Earth, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good