Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cabinet Tainos

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This cigar review of the Tatuaje Cabinet Tainos is part of a series of reviews on the Top Ten Made in the USA cigars of 2006. For more information, and for more reviews of premium cigars from around the world, check the Cigar Review archive.

Tatoos.

An usual way to start a truly great cigar line, and yet that is where the story of the Tatuaje has to begin. Tatuaje is Spanish for tatoo, and it refers to the line of tatoos that grace the arms of the cigar’s creator, Pete Johnson.

Before the Tatuaje cigar line was born, Pete Johnson was working as the cigar buyer for the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills, California. He decided that he wanted his own unique cigar offering, and it was developed in conjunction with Tabacalera Tropical.

To roll the cigars, Johnson turned to Cuban expatriate Jose “Don Pepin” Garcia and his El Rey de los Habanos factory in the Little Havana district of Miami where Don Pepin employs twelve cuban master rollers. The craftsmanship and rolling heritage show in the product. The cigars look like they came from Havana, down to the three-seam caps in the style of Cuban cigars.

They also taste like they came from Cuba, which is much more important. That distinctive taste is exactly what Johnson wanted. To capture the character of a fine, classic Cuban cigar, he opted for all Nicaraguan tobacco.

“What they are doing in Nicaragua (with tobacco),” said Johnson, “is the closest right now to what they are doing in Cuba — the sweetness of the wrapper and the aroma coming off the foot.” He describes the Tatuaje Miami as medium to full bodied. It might be more accurate to say that it starts out at medium and builds as you smoke it. “The Corojo wrapper adds a sweetness, but it builds up strength toward the end, and that’s how Cuban cigars are to me.”

In addition to the Corojo 99 wrapper, the distinctive, rich flavor and power of the Tatuaje comes from its Nicaraguan binder and a filler blend made up of first-generation cuban-seed Nicaraguan tobaccos. Garcia has done a masterful job with this cigar. In blind tests, it consistently outranks cigars such as the Opus X, the Padron Anniversary and many top. Cuban cigars

The Tatuaje Cabinet Tainos came in as #4 in Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2005. Impressive for any cigar in the world, but especially so for one this new and one you can brand with a “made in the U.S.A.” label.

The Tainos is a 7 5/8 inch by 49 ring Double Corona and got an impressive initial 92 rating from CA’s Cigar Insider — later upped to a 93 when it was chosen for the CA Top 25 list. Insider described it this way: “Nearly perfect in appearance, this cigar is loaded with complex flavor. It has an earthy spiciness, a nutty character, sweet coffee notes and a full body. It should age very well.”

That doesn’t begin to sum it up. This is a very good cigar. I taste walnuts and tones of vanilla…and I’m not sure if I’m going to find out if CA is right about them aging well because it takes will-power to lay these aside and not smoke them.

One warning here is that these cigars must be stored at a lower humiidity because of the Criollo/Corojo blend. Keep them in a humidor that is under 65% relative humidity range for at least a week to ten days before you smoke one — somewhere in the low 60% range I think is ideal for them.

If you don’t, and they have been kept at a higher humidity range of 70% before you bought them, you will have problems with them and won’t enjoy their full potential. Reports of burn issues and poor construction cropped up about these last year, and storage at improper humidity is responsible for that. That is true for any brand of cigar with this kind of tobacco in it.

These cigars are not cheap. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Tatuaje Cabinet Tainos is U.S. $12.00 each. They are in such short supply and have gotten so much press and good word-of-mouth that it is going to be hard to find them at a discount.

In fact, it is going to be hard to find them at all.

Not many shops or online retailers carry them. Those that do carry them are often sold out and have them on backorder. You might have to wait until a new supply is available unless your tobacconist has some hidden away and is willing to part with them.

If you want to sample a Tatuaje, this link will take you to Pete’s site and a map showing where dealers can be found. He’ll be talking to potential new dealers at the RTDA show in Las Vegas, but this is a limited production stick with only 7,400 having been rolled in 2005.

To buy them online, check Two Guys Smoke Shop, Cigars International, Abner’s and Holts. When in stock, CI has three packs at $36.00 and Holts sells singles at $11.99 each. The others sell them in boxes of 25, discounted down to around $10.50 per cigar at the box price.

Tatuaje’s also come up from time to time on Cigarbid, which is owned by Cigars International. If you are very lucky and people don’t start overbidding, you can sometimes get them for around $5.00 a stick. Because of the buzz they often go for more.

If you would like to try a Tatuaje, but would prefer a different size, the Tatuaje Cabinet Especiales is a 7 inch by 38 ring Panetela that is modeled after the Cuban Cohiba Lancero and Trinidad Fundadore and retails at $9.75. It placed in Cigar Aficionado’s Best of 2004 list and was rated a 90. Also coming in at a 90 rating, and a bit easier to find, is the Tatuaje Cabinet Regios, a 5 1/2 inch by 50 ring Robusto that is also an exceptional smoke. You can find them at $9.50 each, down to under $8.00 in boxes of 25.

Quality.

This is a cigar that is really worth its price tag.