Today, we review Tatuaje The Wolfman – Redux 4. Back in 2008, Tatuaje would begin the Monsters Series with the ‘Frank” – a release that paid homage to the character of Frankenstein’s monster. From 2008 to 2018, Tatuaje would pay tribute to a classic or contemporary horror film character with a unique blend that would be released for Halloween. Since then, there has been a plethora of offshoot sizes (mainly released in samplers) of the Monsters blends. In 2021, Pete Johnson decided to return to the beginning and re-release the original Monster series cigars made for Halloween annually. As the name indicates, Tatuaje The Wolfman Redux 4 is a re-release of the fourth installment. This one pays homage to the Wolfman.
The Monster Matrix
The chart below shows the complete history of the Tatuaje Monsters series and what is offered.
| Character/Collection | Full Monsters (The +) -Annual |
Little Monsters |
Pudgy Monsters | Skinny Monsters | Skinny Monsters Cazadores |
Skinny Monsters Lancero |
MBS | Monster Mash | Monster Smash |
| Frankenstein’s Monster (2008) | Frank (*) | Frank Jr. | Frank | Frank | Frank | Frank | Frank | Frank | |
| Dracula (2009) | Drac (*) | Lil’ Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | Drac | |
| Leather Face (2010) | Face (*) | Baby Face | Face | Face | Face | Face | Face | Face | |
| The Wolfman (2011) | Wolfman (*) | Wolfie | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | Wolf | |
| The Mummy (2012) | Mummy | Mini Mum | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | Mummy | |
| Jason Voorhees (2013) | JV13 | Jason | Jason | Jason | Jason | Jason | Jason | ||
| Dr. Jekyll (2014) | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | Jekyll | |||
| Mr. Hyde (2015) | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | Hyde | |||
| Freddy Krueger (2016) | Krueger | FK | Krueger | Krueger | |||||
| Chuck (2019) | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | Chuck | ||
| Tiff (2019) | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | Tiff | ||
| Michael Myers (2017) | Michael | Michael | Michael | ||||||
| “The Bride” (2018) | Bride | Bride | Bride | ||||||
| “The Creature (from the Black Lagoon)” (2021) | Creature | Creature |
* Re-released as a Redux (*)
SPECIFICATIONS
Produced at the My Father Cigars S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua, the blend of The Wolfman consists of an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over all Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. The cigars come in 13-count coffin-style cabinet boxes with a similar shape to the previous redux installments. The cigar itself is a 7 1/2 x 52 box-pressed torpedo with a shaggy foot (reminiscent of Wolfman’s hair)
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
- Box Pressed Torpedo: 7 1/2 x 52
As with all of the Redux releases of the Monsters, The Wolfman is packaged in a coffin-box:
PERFORMANCE
After some notes of natural tobacco and orange rind on the pre-light draw, those notes carried over to the start of the Wolfman. There were also notes of wood and mixed pepper. The natural tobacco and orange rind became primary early. As the cigar moved into the second third, some earth notes emerged in the background. The wood notes increased and past the midway point they displaced the natural tobacco and orange rind in the forefront. As the cigar came to a close, the wood notes were primary. In the background the pepper notes were the most prominent, but not overwhelming. Meanwhile the natural tobacco, orange rind, and wood rounded things out. The Wolfman finished with a cool, soft nub.
The Wolfman produced medium-bodied flavors which balanced nicely with the medium strength. Burn performance was excellent as this cigar did not need an excessive amount of touch-ups to maintain a straight burn path and straight burn line. The draw was open, but not loose. I still prefer my draw to have a little more resistance.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
Back when the original Wolfman came out, it placed #11 on the 2011 Cigar Coop Cigar of the Year Countdown. The Redux 4 version is a good cigar, but it didn’t evoke the memories of greatness of the 2011 version. In the end, I found this cigar had a little more bitterness than I prefer. Still I think Tatuaje fans should definitely try this cigar, but you may want to try a sample first if you are able to. One final note – I’ve found The Wolfman blend to deliver different experiences in different sizes, so I’m not sure trying another size would be a good barometer.
Summary
Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Orange Rind, Wood, Earth, Peppe
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 88
REFERENCES
Previous Assessment: Tatuaje Monster Mash Wolf
News: Tatuaje The Wolfman Redux 4 Heading to Stores
Price $13.00
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Tatuaje
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted.
