Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) 2011 by Tatuaje
Friday, November 25th, 2011This cigar is exclusive to the Tobacconists Association of America as you probably guessed. They are available for a limited time, and only 1500 boxes of 20 were made for a handful of stores.I believe there is a list of participating shops at their website. I figured I’d pick a couple up and see what they were about.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 5 5/8 x 54
Price: Around $10.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The shiny wrapper had a some bumps here and there but was pretty much flawless. The wrapper and closed foot had a sweet earthy smell. The cigar was evenly packed and fairly solid feeling to the touch. The pre-light draw had slight resistance with a hay-ish flavor.
The ash held for around an inch, and the burn required a couple of corrections.
Flavor:
The first third had a nice pepper that was very noticeable when passing smoke through the nose. Black coffee seemed to be the dominant flavor. Maybe it was more of an espresso. Just before this third ended, the flavor became sweet and thick. It wasn’t full blown chocolate but it reminded me of dark chocolate.
The second third had dominant black coffee and a dark chocolaty sweetness. The black pepper was still there, but it’s zing was taken down a couple notches. There were woody notes in the background. The smoke feel was fairly thick, and the aftertaste left a tingle on the lips. As the second third came to an end, that spicy tingle became sweeter.
The last third changed to a dominant coffee flavor, with the sweet dark chocolaty sweetness behind it. The pepper regained some of it’s zing, The tingly aftertaste gained some strength as well. The body and strength went up a notch as well.
Conclusion:
This was a good full bodied cigar. The flavors just hit the spot for me. The body and strength were icing on the cake. My only complaint would be the price and limited availability. Otherwise, if you get a chance, I think any full bodied cigar smoker could find something to like here.
