Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack (Fox Cigar Bar Exclusive)

By Tony Casas | June 10, 2019

Woah, we are in the 100’s already here. With rain too so there is actually a bit of humidity which is really helping my grass grow. Braving the head I head out back today with a Fox Cigar Bar exclusive Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack paired with a bottle of Bottle Logic’s Fundamental Observation. 

The Good Stuff:

Taking a different approach to packaging, these shop exclusive cigars have a unique process. This is taken from the Fox Cigar Bar website:

The Tatuaje Wet Pack series of cigars is a limited-edition release from Pete Johnson that is packaged in gold foil backed by wax paper as soon as they come off the rolling table.  

Bundling / packaging the cigars “wet”, instead of allowing them to age and stabilize in a resting room, slows the fermentation process (since ammonia can not dissipate as quickly) and the tobaccos will start aging as one unit.  It is said that this process will capture more oils and enhance the aroma, create a more distinctive flavor profile and is better suited for long-term aging.

The Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack from Fox Cigars features a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binders and fillers. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/8 x 52 torpedo format which comes packaged in gold wrapped packs of 25 running $25 a stick. You can only get this format/blend at Fox Cigar bar. You can order them directly from Fox with free shipping.

• Size: 6 1/8 x 52
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
• Binder Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $12
• Pairing: Bottle Logic Fundamental Observation 2019 (Imperial Stout 13.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack starts out with a stunning, incredible consistent dark brown wrapper. If the wrapper was any darker it would be back. The wrapper features a few smaller veins, some nice, gritty tooth as well as a ton of oils which rub off on my finger tips as I inspect the cigar. The wrapper itself feels very dense and hard while the cigar itself feels very nicely packed with only a few softer spots around the foot of the cigar. Polishing off the cigar is a pointy, tapered, triple-wrapped torpedo cap.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack gives off a ton of spice, cedar, and sweetness while the foot of the cigar is a bit more musky with notes of sandalwood, cherry, and earthiness. The cap Cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The Cold draw produces a ton of spice, dark chocolate, and oak. 

First Third:

The Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack starts out with a very mild blast of black pepper which completely drops out of the experience after the first few puffs leaving you with loads of bold dark chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla, and spice along with soft notes of spruce, pecan, and earthiness. The draw is a bit tight at first, but as I got past the first third it began to open up quite nicely. The burn line is dead even leaving behind a trail of medium and dark gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack and this cigar is continuing to pour on the flavors. Still lead by dark chocolate, vanilla and spice, the other flavors have began to balance out with light notes of spruce, pecan, and even a great black licorice flavor that pops in and out of the experience. The retrohale brings out a lot of the spice as well as the sweetness and I find myself doing it quite often. I close out the second third with no since of nicotine while the cigar is still burning line a dream. 

Finish:

Now into the final third of the Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack and the cigar is still not giving up. Its pumping out massive doses of dark chocolate, cherry, vanilla, and cedar along with some light musk, spice, and earthiness. The flavor profile in this beast is exceptional. It took me almost two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I didn’t want it to end. I encountered no harshness nor extended heat and finished with a decently little nicotine kick as the cigar really ramped up its strength into the final third. 

Overview:

This is a fantastic offering from Tatuaje and an even better partnership with one of my favorite cigar shops in the country in Fox Cigar Bar. While I can’t really speak to if the wet pack changed the flavor profile, what I can speak to is how flavorful and potent the profile in this cigar is. Its bold and very complex while the cigar itself performed and burned flawlessly from start to finish. At $12 a stick it’s not the cheapest cigar out there, nor should it be. I’d gladly pay that coin for a cigar of this caliber and this is something I will definitely keep in my humidor. I am especially curious as to how these cigars will do with a bit more age on them. 

Pairing:

Brewed at Bottle Logic Brewing in California Fundamential Observation is a 13.2% ABV imperial stout with Madagascar vanilla beans aged in bourbon barrels. The beer starts out with bold vanilla, chocolate, malt, spice, and bourbon barrel along with soft coffee notes and a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with a whole mess of bourbon barrel, vanilla, spice, chocolate, and more coffee. There is a lingering mixture of caramel and bourbon that hangs around of quite sometime. This made for an absolute monster of a pairing along with the vanilla, chocolate, spice, and coffee notes I found in the Tatuaje Unicos Wet Pack. Both the cigar and beer are complex, and bold which could easily lead to one of the other overpowering the other. But in the case of this pairing they both held their own while melding into one another.