Tatuaje – Apocalypse (Smoke Inn Exclusive)

Well hello there. This week Daniel and I both reviewed Tatuaje cigars. This wasn’t planned, it just happened. I get to go first brining you a pre-release review of Smoke Inn’s exclusive Tatuaje Apocalypse,

The Good Stuff: Over the last few years Smoke Inn has teamed up with some of the world’s leading cigar manufacturers to bring you what they call the “Microblend Series”. This series now contains the Tatuaje Anarchy, Padron SI-15, My Father El Hijo, and the A. Fuente Solaris. Big thanks to the guys over at Smoke Inn for providing us with samples of each of these. They sent over this pre-release sample as well (note: I am doing this review of a single sample. There will be no pairing with this one as I would hate for my choice of beverage to cloud the character of the cigar).

This press released found on the Tatuaje Anarchy site pretty much sums up the blend:

“West Palm Beach, Florida – December 21, 2012 marks the conclusion of the 13th Ba’ak’tun in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar. It is believed that Armageddon would overtake the peoples of the world and all creation at this time. On December 14th, be prepared to smoke the last cigar you will ever have: the Tatuaje Apocalypse™.

In a continuing effort to create limited runs of premium cigars blended by the industry’s top manufacturers, Smoke Inn Cigars of South Florida proudly presents its fifth installment of their MicroBlend Series™, the Tatuaje Apocalypse™. The sequel to the highly acclaimed Tatuaje Anarchy™ released December 10, 2010, the Tatuaje Apocalypse™ is smaller in size measuring 5.25” x 48-52. Made at the My Father Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua and dawned with a dark, rich Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, the Apocalypse was guided by the vision of Pete Johnson. Johnson, along with the Garcia Family, have masterfully tweaked the original blend with such subtlety that the Apocalypse™ is highly reminiscent of the original flavor profile, yet in somewhat of a more concentrated fashion.

Packed in 15-count boxes emblazoned in a vibrant red and screened in black ink, the reversal of red and black colors can be found on the cigar label as well. With only 1300 boxes having been made, the Tatuaje Apocalypse™ will individually retail for $8.95 and boxes for $134.25. Pre-Orders will begin at midnight on Thanksgiving Day, the beginning of Black Friday. The first 333 box orders will receive a special promotion: free shipping and a free limited edition Tatuaje Apocalypse™ Cap.

The national release party will be held at Smoke Inn’s West Palm Beach location at 801 Village Blvd on Friday, December 14th. Both Pete Johnson and the Garcia Family will be in attendance. All pre-orders will ship the following Monday, December 17th 2012. Orders should arrive in time for all to enjoy before the end of the world!

Previous releases in Smoke Inn’s Microblend Series™ –The Tatuaje Anarchy™ , The Padron SI-15™ , The My Father El Hijo™ , and the Arturo Fuente Solaris™ — have received great accolades from cigar smokers all over the world. Smoke Inn proudly continues its quest to work with the world’s leading manufacturers to create limited release boutique cigars that are produced with only the highest quality premium tobaccos under the strictest supervision to guarantee the consumer a unique and exquisite experience. For more information on Smoke Inn or their MicroBlend Series™, please visit www.smokeinn.com or call toll free 1-888-SMOKES-1.”

Well there you have it. Now let’s get into this.

Size: 5.25 x 45-52
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder:  Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.95
Pairing: Water

Tatuaje Apocalypse (left) and Tatuaje Anarchy (right)

Prelight: I love the crazy format of the Apocalypse. The cigar starts out with a large, figurado bulb then tapers into much smaller ring gauge before being polished off by this crazy, spiral-looking big tail. The cigar kind of resembles a small baseball bat. The Apocalypse has a beautiful, thick, dark wrapper. This wrapper carries some mild tooth and medium sized veins, but is incredibly firm and hard as a rock. Not only is the wrapper hard, but the entire cigar feels pretty firm and only shows a few soft spots toward to cap. The Apocalypse is finished off with a similar band as last year’s anarchy band, only with the colors reversed.

The wrapper gives off tons of sweet tobacco, cedar, and a molasses type aroma while the foot of the cigar lets loose a more mild, spicy aroma. The cap on the apocalypse cut very clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. Despite the strange format, I was able to get a nice cold draw in, taking in some very bold tobacco, strong pepper, and cedar.

First Smoke: The Tatuaje Apocalypse started out with lots and lots of in-your-face pepper, along with some really strong, sweet tobacco, hints of cedar and chocolate, and a bit of that molasses that  picked up on during the prelight. The draw is spot-on producing an awesome amount of incredibly thick, white smoke with every little puff. The burnline is a bit wavy here and there, but that is expected in almost any salomon, hopefully it starts to correct itself into the second third. The Apocalypse gives off only a slight amount of stationary smoke, but what caught my attention was how cedar-heavy and sweet the aroma was. The cigar has more of a bold tobacco, cocoa taste to it. We’ll see how that changes throughout the experience. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The flavors in the Apocalypse have really started to alter a bit. The chocolate is now a much dryer cocoa, the cedar is almost gone, and I am picking up no sweetness at all. More of the bold tobacco and spice has moved in as well as a neat little cashew flavor. As I hoped in the firs third, the burnline has completely corrected itself and is now burning dead even and razor sharp. The retrohale on this cigar is a beast, coating my nasal passage with lots of sharp pepper and cedar. I don’t find myself retrohaling this cigar very often. Despite the mellowing of flavors, the strength of this cigar has ramped up a bit as I am feeling a slight nicotine kick after the second third.

Finish: Wow. A whole lot more of that molasses flavor really started to show up in this final third. Along with it the addition of raspberry, ramp up in spice and cedar, as the bold tobacco flavor dampened out. I really like the change ups in this cigar. Quite the opposite of the second third, while the body has ramped up significantly, the strength has really mellowed out. The burnline did encounter a few larger waves into the final third, but I never had to touch it up or relight the cigar. Despite the smaller stature of the Apocalypse it burned incredibly slow making for a pleasurable 2 hour smoke down to the nub. I experience absolutely no harshness or heat and only a slight nicotine kick.

Overview: I personally, was a fan of last year’s Microblend Anarchy release. That being said, did the Apocalypse deliver? Or did it suffer the curse of the sequel. In my opinion, this cigar rocked. I am a full bodied smoker and despite the body and strength and body being more on the medium/full end of the spectrum, the experience completely satisfied me. The change-ups kept me on my toes while the complexity was perfect, neither too much, or too little. Smoke Inn has had a great run with their microblend series and the Apocalypse is just another notch in their belt.

Pairing: Again, I only received a single sample of this cigar so I didn’t want to alter the tastes by drinking anything other than water. Plus, you really gotta know what the cigar tastes like before picking out a proper beer pairing.