Tatuaje DB Capa Especial

By Tony Casas | January 30, 2023

I wanted to smoke and drink something special to celebrate the life of my dog Sonny who past away this week. He was my best friend, and smoking buddy for 14 loving years. To celebrate him, I head out back with a Tatuaje DB Capa Especial paired with a can of The Answer’s Apple Brandy Coconut Diablo Brunch beer.

The Good Stuff:

The limited edition Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is a spinoff of the limited edition Tatuaje tobacco plaza DB. The cigar features the same all Nicaraguan blend except utilizes Tatuaje’s “Capa Especial” or Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper instead of the Connecticut Broadleaf featured on the Tobacco Plaza DB. Created at the My Father factory in Nicaragua, the Capa Especial DB comes in a single 6 x 58 format which comes packaged in boxes of 10 with only 2,000 boxes released. Each stick runs $17 per. I picked mine up over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who are currently out of stock.

• Size: 6 x 58
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $17
• Pairing: The Answer Apple Brandy Coconut Diablo Bunch (Imperial Stout 13.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB starts out with a rustic-looking wrapper that ranges in color from dark brown to lots of lighter brown splotches scattered throughout. The wrapper itself feels thick and dense while the cigar as a whole feels a bit soft and squishy, yet is very heavy and thick. There are a few smaller veins located throughout the cigar’s meaty body as the wrapper is laid over the foot of the cigar leading up to the cigar’s stubby, tapered cap. The Cigar features the red, white, blue, green, and black “Tatuaje Limited” band as well as the secondary white and gold “Capa Especial” band we’ve come to expect.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Capa Especial gives off sweet berry and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar is mostly the same only with a good amount of natural tobacco added. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of sweetness, berry, cedar, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB starts out with a nice blast of cayenne pepper which hit me right on the tongue and lips. After the first few draws the pepper began to fade away allowing the cigar to release notes of bold sweetness, black cherry, black licorice, brown sugar, and cedar over notes of pecan, musk, and spice. The flavor profile kinda reminds me of a Dr. Pepper cigar in the best way possible. The draw is beautiful. Each and every little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, gray smoke which hangs out forever before dissipating while the cigar release a whole ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line started a bit wild which is to be expected with closed-foot cigars, but has completely corrected itself and is now burning clean while leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and gray ash which held on for 3/4 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Capa Especial DB and the flavors have started to balance out more while still rocking in the center of full-bodied. The profile leads with black cherry, sweet brown sugar, black licorice and pecan over lighter notes of musk, spice, and cedar. I am totally into the flavor combination. The retrohale brings out more of the spice which honestly I can do without so I don’t find myself doing it too often. There has been some slight sap build up so I clipped a tiny bit off the cap and slowed down my smoking pace which seemed to resolve the issue. I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Ah, the final third of this monster of a cigar. The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is still pouring on the flavors. While they haven’t changed up too much, I don’t think I’d have it any other way. The profile is still lead by black cherry and sweet brown sugar with a good mixture of cedar and pecan with lighter notes of black licorice. It took me 2 and a half hours to take this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. After adjusting my pace the sap never returned. Sometimes I feel like I just smoke too fast and as enjoyable as this cigar was, this was one of those times. I close out with a pretty hefty little nicotine kick.

Overview:

I am a huge fan of anything with Tatuaje’s Capa Especial wrapper and I am glad to see that Pete is putting it into use more. The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is a hell of a cigar and I feel like it was created for my own personal palate. I love the flavors, the boldness, and the complexity not to mention the long burn time which made me happy to pay $17 per cigar on this one. This is a stick that I am glad I have a few more of as it’s not really available anymore and will not be remade. I’ll save these for special occasions or when I am really craving a unique experience I know I’ll love.

Pairing:

Brewed in Richmond, Virginia, the Answer’s Apple Brandy Coconut Diablo Bunch is a 13.5% Imperial stout brewed with Kona coffee, toasted Hazelnut/Macadamia, Vermont maple syrup, Tahitian vanilla, Saigon cinnamon and toasted coconut which is then aged in my favorite barrels, apple brandy. The beer leads with a ton of sweetness, coconut, black cherry, roasted malt, milk chocolate, maple and red apple with an incredibly heavy and sticky mouthfeel before finishing with even more sweetness, brown sugar, coconut, cherry, chocolate, raw vanilla and this awesome artificial banana type flavor. This is a true pastry stout. While I am not too big on coconut in beer I felt that the other flavors were bold enough to balance it out, even as it was one of the bolder flavors in the profile. I decided to pair this particular beer with the Tatuaje Capa Especial DB as the cigar carried so many bold, sweet flavors and had enough body to keep up with the beer without being overpowered. The woodsy/musky flavors from the cigar completed the pairing and created a very pleasant and bold experience.