Tatuaje Mexican Experiment ME II

By Tony Casas | August 12, 2019

As promised, I am here to bring you the follow up of last week’s Tatuaje Mexican Experiment Limited review with the anticipated ME II review.

The Good Stuff:

This past week I took a look at the Tatuaje Mexican Experiment Limited which you can view here. Today I took a look at it’s sister release the ME II. While the original blend which the Limited is based off of was released back in 2011, the ME II is a new, full production blend which barely hit the market this week. The blend starts off with a Mexican San Andres wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. Both cigars are offered in four different sizes (Robusto: 5 x 54, Toro 5 3/4 x 50, Churchill 6 1/2 v 48, and Belicoso 5 x 52). While the ME II comes in boxes and is a regular production line, the Mexican Experiment Limited comes in bundles of 15, with only 1,000 bundles of each format produced running around $10 a stick. I am still uncertain of the difference in the blends, but I can confirm that there are some slight nuances in the flavor profile that differentiate the two. These are hitting shelves as we speak and we picked ours up from our great friends at Fox Cigar Bar in Arizona which have them in stock right now.

• Size: 6 1/2 x 48
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: ~$10
• Pairing: Bruery Terruex S’Mores BBLs (Imperial Stout 16.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Mexican Experiment ME II starts off with a beautifully consistent dark brown wrapper. When compared side by side to the Limited, there is barely a noticeable difference. The wrapper carries the same gritty tooth along with a matching amount of thick oils coating it. The wrapper itself feels very dense and tough while the cigar as a whole has no soft spots what so ever. The long soft-box-pressed body showcases only minor veins as it leads up to the round, double wrapped cap. The ME II carries almost the same white, red, green and black band as the Limited except it carries an added gold trim and embossing as well as a black ME II crest in place of the Tatuaje Crest found on the Limited.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje ME II gives off bold musk and cocoa aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a more natural profile with notes of spice, natural tobacco, and oak. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of oak, baker’s chocolate, and pecan.

First Third:

The first few draws of the Tatuaje ME II carried very light amounts of pepper but instead showcased bold dark chocolate, pecan, and musk. After the first few puffs the profile opened up with additional notes of oak, brown sugar, and a rather bold floral flavor. The draw is wonderful as each tiny puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke which hang around for a considerable amount of time before dissipating. The burn line is dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted light gray ash which held on for about 3/4 of a inch before giving way onto my lap.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje ME II and the flavor profile still lead with baker’s chocolate, pecan, and musk. The floral flavor which I really enjoyed still pops its head in every no and then but has been quietly making it’s exit from the experience. The retrohale really brings out some nice spice and chocolate form the cigar and I have been retrohaling this cigar quite often. The burn line is still dead even and I close out the second third with only a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje ME II and the flavor profile continues to be the same. Loads of baker’s chocolate, pecan and musk take center stage while soft notes of vanilla and oak back them up. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness, nor extended heat. I close out the cigar with only a very minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

All in all both he Mexican Experiment Limited and the ME II are great cigars. I personally liked the flavor profile the Limited offered slightly more than the ME II but the difference was so marginal that it would be hard for me to pick them apart in a blind test (in the future as they are both so recent to me as of right now I probably could). The ME II carried a more bitter chocolate forward profile and I liked the complexity the Limited provided. Both cigars preformed like a dream. Both cigars are impressive, and I urge anyone who is even remotely interested in Tatuaje cigars to give them both a shot and let me know which one you preferred.

Pairing:

With the Tatuaje ME II I decided a bit of a different approach the pairing. I decided to pair this one with a bold beer which carried heavy fruit and sweetness to see what it would add to the experience. This is where The Bruery Terruex’s S’More BBLs comes in. Coming in at a whopping 16.2% ABV this beer is essentially a mixture of Black Tuesday and Tart of Darkness with Graham Cracker, Marshmallow, Cacao Nibs, and Vanilla added. The Beer leads with heavy fruit, black cherry, sweet grape and vanilla with notes of chocolate, bourbon, and cinnamon and a very heavy/sticky mouthfeel before finishing with even more cherry, grape, vanilla, bourbon, cinnamon, and chocolate. This is a bold beer and the ME II held it’s own. The beer really added a whole ton of sweetness to the cigar which just ramped up the body making for a really unique, and interesting pairing.