Tatuaje Little Monsters Series – Wolfie Review
 

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Cigar: Tatuaje Little Monsters Wolfie
Size: 5.5 x 48
Filler: Nic
Binder: Nic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Price: $7.50ea (Only available in 10 count boxes of Little Monsters, 2 Wolfies per box)
Individual Weight: 12.48g


Pre-Light: Of the three Little Monsters we’ve reviewed so far, the Wolfie has by far the worst pre-light smell of them all. By sniffing the foot of “the beast”, I am slapped by a pungent bouquet of cat-pee and ammonia. This is not the way I wanted to start this review off! The cigar itself is beautiful in nature, with a torpedo cap, an understated brown and red band that says “Little Monsters” on it. Lately it seems that they haven’t cared too much about their blends identification as Tatuaje seems to have used the same wrappers on many of their cigars. This not only confuses newer smokers, but also lessens the value of the stick as it has no stand-out identity (think Mexican Experiment, SODO, Etc.). We are glad to see that Pete decided to invest a bit more into proper labeling of his cigars. The construction of the cigar looks perfect. A flawless roll, sans the shaggy foot (on purpose), explains to me that some time and care went into this creation and will hold up to scrutiny. Let’s see how it burns.




1/3rd: After a quick toast of the shaggy foot and a 5 second light, the bouquet of flavors starts to open up. With a slight bit of spice on the tongue, the woody and sweet undertones start to come through, with the first flavors on the palette being somewhat Virginia in nature (pipe tobacco). The sweetness and nutty aroma comes through the sinus on a retro-hale, but washes away very cleanly in a sea of nuttiness that is the backdrop of this cigar so far. I’m not sure what has caused this to happen, but the ash has solid black ring directly near the tip of the cigar, the rest of the ash is off white at best, and light grey in places. A solid ash it seems from a just less than perfect burn. Just as I start to boast about the solid looking ash, it falls off at 3/4in, laughing at me in the face. The flavors have leveled out, with the smoke being a solid medium body, with lots of nuttiness and wood undertones.

½ Way: Hints of charred oak come through as we enter the second third of this cigar. The butter and sweetness has given up their seats for wood and a second layer of spice now. So far, this has been the most non-Tatuaje flavored Tatuaje cigar I’ve ever smoked. Granted, there are lots out there that have escaped my clutches, but this one has a very mild flavor profile that goes against the grain of bigger, better, “badder” when it comes to today’s boutique lines. All in all, the second third of this cigar was far more mellow that I would have expected, even more so than the first third. Nutty and mellow, that is all the middle portion of this cigar offered.

Final 3rd: The final third starts off with much of the same as the second third offered. There are lots of nutty flavors, with no single one being dominant. The spice seems to pick up a bit more again now that we are nearing the band with the burn line. The flavors haven’t become muted or clumsy, rather more sharpened and tactile on the tongue, as I’m able to more easily pinpoint the exact flavors now than I was at the beginning of the cigar. As we reach the end of the stick, heavy tobacco flavors that taste as if they were sweetened with molasses pop their heads up and wave good bye as they float away in sea of spice. The cigar finishes with a bang, which is a far different ending than I had expected.

Final Thoughts: This cigar is a break from the norm when it comes to Pete Johnson and his Tatuaje offerings. I continue to think of this cigar as a less potent version of an Avion11, the 2011 Tatuaje Fausto cigar that we have raved about previously. All in all, the Tatuaje Wolfie offered very pleasing flavors, aromas, and a great mouthfeel that sets this one apart from the rest of the Little Monsters line as it doesn’t put you in the dirt with overly potent levels of nicotine. With that said, we would have liked to see a bit more complexity with the stick. While the flavors had us interested, they didn’t develop enough to put the thought in my head that I had to rush out and find more of these as I did with the Mini Mum. A solid effort from a well-respected cigar company that knows good tobacco. We say this cigar is a buy, but only due to the fact you will receive at least 4 other blends you will probably enjoy more than this one.


For the final grade and the high resolution pics, click here.