Tatuaje - Havana VI (Red Label)

Tatuaje Havana VI- If you smoke cigars and haven't heard of Tatuaje, you might be living under a rock. Owned by Pete Johnson, the Tatuaje line is taking the cigar world by storm. With limited and exclusive releases, these Pepin-blended sticks are getting rave reviews and raising eyebrows.
The Havana VI is Tatuaje's medium flavored blend and seems to be the easiest to get your hands on. By easiest, I mean the least difficult. I visited almost every notable cigar shop in Maryland and didn't find a Brown Label until I stumbled upon one in Washington D.C.
While visiting friends in Arizona, I found the Havana VI (red label). This cigar is a Nicaraguan puro and is manufactured in Pepin's Esteli factory. I enjoyed the Brown Label -- and I've heard a lot of good things about the brand. I can't wait to try this cigar.

Prelight- The Havana VI is a good-looking cigar with quality construction. The Corojo 99 wrapper has a milk chocolate shade with almost no visible veins. The stick has a little that oil shines nicely on this smooth wrapper.
The prelight draw tastes of cocoa and has a desirable amount of resistance. Time to smoke.

Sparking it- The first few puffs tastes of cocoa with some sweet spice. The burn is even and produces a tight white ash. The flavor is medium, leaning towards full. The body is also medium and the cigar produces an abundant amount of smoke. This Tatuaje burns cool with little resting smoke; I really like where things are going.

Smoking it- The flavors of this cigar are great. It isn't amazingly complex, but at $6-$7 a stick, there is a lot of value in this smoke. I've got the Hermosos size (5.6" with a 46 ring gauge) and the cigar takes a little under an hour to burn. The early cocoa flavor lingers throughout the smoke, but I taste a little cinnamon and mild pepper as the cigar reaches the halfway point.
I smoked this cigar to the point I would've needed a roach clip to continue. It was really tasty, all the while never turning bitter or hot. I tasted a little leather and caramel towards the end.
The Havana VI is one of my new favorite cigars. It is mild enough to be smoked any time of the day, but strong enough to satisfy a full-smoker's palette. I enjoyed every aspect of the smoke and can't find a bad thing to say. From the perfect burn to the creamy smoke, this Tatuaje is a great cigar.

Overall- A