Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tatuaje - Avion 12 - Short Perfecto

Tatuaje - Fausto Line - Avion 12 - Short Perfecto
Pete Johnson took the cigar world by storm with Tatuaje and he isn't stopping.  It seems everything he touches turns to cigar gold and he makes a lot of innovative business moves that keeps consumers on the edge of their seats. The Monster series for example.
I have to admit that I like a lot of Tats and I respect Pete's hustle.  However, I am concerned Pete might be going overboard.  Not crazy overboard or walking the plank....I mean Rocky Patel overboard.  Meaning releasing tons of cigars under different brands and styles in an effort to keep dedicated consumers buying and searching for the next big release.  After a while quality control goes down, bad ideas become reality and you over-extend yourself, leaving the very things that made you successful and different behind.

With that said, I must also mention that most every Tatuaje product I smoke I like.  Actually, like isn't the word.  There are a lot of Tats I love.
The Cigar
This brings us to the cigar at hand.  The Avion 12 Short Perfecto.  A stunningly beautiful cigar.  A seemingly perfect perfecto vitola, this 'short perfecto' is 5 and 5/8" with a nippled foot that balloons to a 52 ring gauge, then slims out to a 48.  Shapely like a good looking woman. Haha.
This is one of those cigars that look so damn good that you feel bad smoking it.  But you can't have your cake and eat it too.  Also at $10, these aren't out of my price range for a good smoke, so I can buy another if I'd like.
The Wrapper
The cigar is wrapped with a rich brown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.  Ecuador has been the king pin of wrapper leaf lately.  Especially for a lot of brands that have connections and or roll in Nicaragua.  Ecuador, although it shares a similar climate to Nicaragua, it is very cloudy.  This creates ideal conditions for wrapper leaf production as it keeps the leaf thin, pliable, and allows its to mature on the plant a bit longer than neighboring areas without thinking or toughening the leaf.
Filler
The filler is a mixture of Jalapa Valley ligero and Esteli ligero.  No seco leaf here my friend.  This smoke means business.



Smoke Time
The flawless wrapper has a slight sheen of natural oil and looks enough to eat.  The band is simple and has a vintage feel to it; a cigar with wings adorns the band along with the words Tatuaje and Pete Johnson.

Smoke time commences and one match to the nipple blooms into an even and smooth burn.  The cigar burned very well and is very well made.  But I hated this cigar.  It tasted bad.  There were no rich flavors and it tasted bland throughout.  I don't know if the cigar is too young but it sucked.
 Which brings me back to my Rocky Patel comparison.  The Avion is part of Pete's Fausto line.  To date, (and I'll probably miss something) Tatuaje has put out the Red Labels, Brown Labels, Monster Series, El Triunfador, La Riqueza, Conjou Series, Reserva Line, Series P, The Vintage Year Cigars, the special figurado blends (T110 etc).
And now there is the Fausto line.  Which includes the Fausto, La Castilla Criolla and Avion.  I have yet to smoke the Fausto, but I thought the La Castilla Criolla was too overpowering without complexity.
The Disappointment
The Avion was a big disappointment.  I didn't taste anything but bland smoke until the final third.  At least at that point there was some richness in flavor.  A little sweetness crept in through the stale flavor.  But nothing to get excited about.
Maybe this things needs some age.  But one things is for sure, I found the Avion a bad tasting cigar.  It was pretty and well-made, but that is no excuse for lack of good flavor

Grade
D


2 comments:

  1. Man, that sucks you were disappointed! I had this stick a while back. I really enjoyed it. I called it the 'flying fish' b/c of the band. Oh well on to the next cigar right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps it was a fluke. But I've heard these might have been a little young when they pushed them out of production. Maybe like the Vintage series, they were made with the idea you'd age them for the full affect. I won't be buying another for a long time.
    They make one each year, so maybe that is the case.
    Thanks for reading man. Would you be interested in a guest review sometime?

    ReplyDelete

What do you think? Am I on to something? Am I wrong? Or am I full of shit?