Cigar Review: Tatuaje Havana VI Torpedo

So I have heard all the rage now about Tatuaje and since it is coming from one of the industries greatest cigar makers, Don Jose Pepin, it should live up to some nice hype. So I went down and picked up a Red Label Havana VI Torpedo.

Immediately I was impressed by its look. For a $5 stick, it looked very well constructed, smooth even colored wrapper, nice cap and a simple, yet elegant label. This is a Nicaragua puro (all Nicaraguan leaf, wrapper, binder and filler) To the hand it seemed just the right amount of soft, springy leaf filler in a perfect wrap. To light it didn't take much effort and had a near perfect draw. As it burned it created quite a nice even, white ash, although about 1/3 of the way into it, I had problems with an uneven burn, and starting around the 2/3 mark it started wanting to be a quick burn, forcing someone as long-winded as myself in conversation, to pay more attention to how often I'm pulling from the cigar requiring a re-light once. But overall I'd say this was a pretty fine smoke.

The flavor that first caught my attention within the first few draws was distinctly woody, I'd almost go as far to describe it as mesquite but not quite. but mellows out to just a wooded flavor with a hint of nut. Later, about 1/3 to halfway through there was a hint of a spice I couldnt quite place, my friend experinced the same at the 1/3 mark, it was almost like a teasing hint of anise on the back of my tongue, just poking every now and then which I found enjoyable. By the end I found that this had a fairly consistent character and good dense smoke. I paired this with a medium coffee and found that to be a pretty comfortable after dinner match.