Tatuaje Monster Series #12 The Tiff

By Tony Casas | January 20, 2020

We’re back! Well, I am! I usually take a few weeks off during the holidays and shortly after to recover and get back into the swing of things. This week, I am back taking a look at the Tatuaje Monster Series #12 The Tiff paired with a can of Great Notion’s Sticky Bun.

The Good Stuff:

It’s everyone’s favorite Halloween cigar time! Every year Pete Johnson of Tatuaje releases a new Monster cigar which celebrates… well… monsters. Monsters from the past, and from iconic movies:

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde
• 2016 – Krueger
• 2017 – The Michael
• 2018 – The Bride
• 2019 – Chuck and Tiff

This year the focus is on the Tiff from the movie Child’s Play. Breaking some of his traditions, Pete also launched the Chuck this year to pair with the Tiff, but we’ll talk about that one another day. Rolled at the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua the Tiff features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler. The Tiff, as do most of the Monster Series cigars, comes in either dress boxes of 13 or standard boxes of 10 running the standard $13 a cigar. I got mine over from our friends at Fox Cigar Bar who still have them in stock with free shipping, no minimum.

• Size: 5 7/8 x 52
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Great Notion Sticky Bund (Imperial Stout 11.25% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Tiff Starts out with a beautiful, consistent, buttery brown wrapper. There are a few darker spots scattered throughout the cigar’s wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is very smooth, oily and dense as I am careful not to handle the cigar too harshly. The cigar is nicely packed, but very light while I wasn’t able to location any soft spots. There are a few very mild veins running through the cigar’s long, chubby body up to its round double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off by the beautifully simple and elegant white and black Tatuaje band with “Monster” and “Halloween” printed in red on the sides.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Tiff gives on subtle cedar and tobacco aromas while the foot of the cigar carries more spice and earthy scents. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some really nice caramel, honey, and earthy flavors.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Tiff starts off with a very mild black pepper punch which really only lasted the first puff or two leaving behind a good amount of bold cedar and honey backed by caramel, earthiness, soft spice and hints of pine. The draw is absolutely perfect as each tiny puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke which hangs around my porch for a considerable amount of time before fading away. The burn line is slightly wavy, and very sharp leaving behind a trail of lightly compacted medium 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 Tiff and not a whole lot has changed in the flavor department. The cigar still leads with cedar and caramel backed by honey, soft spice, earthiness and cinnamon. That pine flavor has made it’s exit in the first third. The retrohale really brings out the cedar and I find myself doing it much more often than normal as I am really enjoying the extra complexity it gives to the experience. The burn line is sill slightly wavy but manageable while I close out the second third with nothing in the nicotine department.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje Tiff and a really bold pecan flavor has entered the mix and has completely taken over the flavor profile backed by bold cedar and caramel, along with the soft spice, cinnamon, and earth notes. It took me an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub and I never once had to reach for my lighter to touchup or relight the cigar. I close out with no harshness, no extended heat, and only a very mild bit of nicotine.

Overview:

I really enjoyed this cigar. The Connecticut shade is a departure from what we have grown to expect from the Monster series, but a welcomed one. While the cigar remained in the medium strength, medium body arena I was really able to pick apart and appreciate all the flavors the cigar had to offer. This cigar delivered, without having to hit you over the head with flavor or strength and makes for a perfect mid-afternoon smoke and one of the better Connecticut shade cigars I have smoked in my recent memory.

Pairing:

Sticky bun in a 11.25% Imperial stout brewed with melted brown sugar, toasted pecans and cinnamon by Great Notion Brewing in Portland Oregon. The beer leads with a whole mess of sweetness. The cinnamon and brown sugar are very present with notes of malt, chocolate, vanilla, and coconut with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more sweetness, vanilla, cinnamon and a whole ton of pecan on the aftertaste which I wouldn’t think you’d be able to pick up as prominent as you do. This is a pastry stout by far, a very sweet and enjoyable one. The cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla really complimented the flavors in the Tatuaje Tiff while the sweetness helped bring the cigar up to a whole new level.