Tatuaje Dracula

[Don Fernando]

After the success of the Tatuaje Frankenstein aka Tat Frank, Pete Johnson's tribute to a classic horror movie, Tatuaje Cigars decided to release 1300 boxes, each containing 13 cigars under the name Dracula a year later, again around halloween. These cigars are in high demand and hard to get but a friend send me one of these and a Tatuaje Boris, the other halloween release and later I was able to buy one of each too.



The Tat Drac is a 6¾ x 52 torpedo with only a small black & red band on the foot of the cigar. I notice that the band is upside down, which is a nice detail. This Nicaraguan puro has a tough Habano maduro wrapper. The construction feels good and that translates in a great predraw, which releases raisins and pepper. The cigar has hardly any aroma to it.



The first flavor I taste is a very pleasant coffee flavor, not as bold and strong as expected though. I notice that the smoke feels pretty cool in my mouth. Beneath the coffee there is a hint of chocolate and after half an inch I also taste some pepper. The coffee grows in strength and so does the background flavor which is chocolate. After an inch and a half the chocolate grows stronger. The feeling in my mouth is quite dry. The flavors are balanced, subtle and complex.



Halfway the coffee disappears and the chocolate becomes the main flavor with some wood on the background and I also taste some nuts. The nut flavor changes into toast real quickly. The last few puffs bring the nut flavor back though.



This Tatuaje releases a lot of thick white smoke and has a firm light colored ash. The draw is fine and so is the burn, although I had a minor burn issue because at a certain moment the wrapper tore a bit, but once I got passed that point of the cigar the burn corrected itself and was flawless again. This cigar is full flavored yet medium bodied, I expected a full bodied cigar due to the reputation that Tatuaje has, but it wasn't that powerful.



Would I buy this cigar again? I wish! This cigar totally lived up to the hype.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 9 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10