The Evil Dr. Moki's Group Blind Taste Test #1

Cigar #8, non-Cuban Tatuaje Cojonu 2003, 2005 (6 ½" x 52) - premium


Image courtesy of enerjay

bfreebern said: Great looking cigar, nice draw that left a little spice on the lips. Lit up nicely and burned razor sharp the entire time. Cream, cedar, coffee and a little spice. Never got harsh and reminded me of a nicely aged sungrown wrapper. Medium bodied.

bfreebern guessed: Origin: Cuban - Price: Super Premium - Age: 4 years - Marca: Cohiba Sublime - Rating: 9/10

BlindedByScience said: A nice looking cigar; pre light aroma is creamy, smooth, somewhat floral but very nice. Draw is very nice, very open. About a 50 ring and about 6 3/8” (~162mm) in length, sans cap. Really has a lot of nice flavors going for it; looking forward to this one.

A very nice if simple smoke. Flavors were basic, nice, tobacco flavors that hinted of some leather, some slight musty tastes as the smoke progressed. I had to chase the burn a bit and by the back ¼ it did require some touch ups but a pleasing smoke all around. Draw was flawless, start to finish.

BlindedByScience guessed: Origin: Nicaraguan - Price: Premium - Age: 2 years - Marca: Padilla - Rating: 7/10

Brickhouse said: Initial light and tastes were not going well. Came off as harsh at the beginning and the taste was lacking, leaving me with the initial impression that it was a fake Cuban of some sort. Though after about 2" this cigar came around....very well. Not much spice to speak of, but a wonderful cedar and coffee aroma was spilling from the foot. This cigar seems very familiar to me now. Had some troubles with the burn, but this thing really settled in at about 3" in. I smoked it pretty quickly but I think regardless it had some balls to it. Billowing clouds of smoke and wonderful robust flavor. After the first 3" this cigar treated me very well. Had it not been for the first part I would have gone with an 8, possibly on 9. The taste seemed reminescent of Tatuaje and the strength/size led me to go with a Cojonu 2003. With the wrapper lacking the spice I'm accustomed to in those along with a glistening wrapper I'm led to believe I was smoking one prior to 2005 when they used the Viso wrapper.

Brickhouse guessed: Origin: Nicaraguan - Price: Premium - Age: 5 years - Marca: Tatuaje Cojonu 2003 (Viso Wrapper) - Rating: 7/10

enerjay said: This cigar had almost the same profile as number 7 to me. Really the only change was number 8 is little more smooth. Packed a punch.

enerjay guessed: Origin: Dominican - Price: premium - Age: 8 years - Marca: Arturo Fuente, well aged Opus - Rating: 9.8/10

insight said: I really don't have all that much to say about #8. What most struck me was the shade of the wrapper, it was so red! I can't think of anything I have smoked remotely recently with a similar wrapper. The cigar started off very mild, slightly woody but nothing distinct. I really didn't get any distinct flavors throughout the whole smoke. There was nothing to give me a particular notion of origin or marca. It was extremely mild, to the point where sometimes the natural bitterness of the smoke was the only notable taste. Now to be fair I didn't find the cigar to be unpleasant at all, just overwhelmingly mild. It certainly wasn't something I would choose to smoke but not offensive either. The only indicator I have of age is that, when nosing, the smoke was very harsh which makes me think the cigar is releatively recent, although the mildness could easily be a result of age. The construction and wrapper make me think this is probably a farm rolled cigar.

insight guessed: Origin: Cuban - Price: Everyday - Age: 2 years - Marca: Johnny-O or Taboada - Rating: 2.5/10

grateful1 said: What a great smoke! Dark wrapper - appears sun grown - a little veiny but subtle. Fantastic draw and rich in smoke. First 1/3 is mild with a slight floral spice (odd combo but tasty!) Middle is more coffee and earthy leather. mild on the nicotine until the last 1/3 starts - but not too bad. There's been a slight bite on the tongue through out and the last 1/3 is mellowing in taste - if that wasn't there I'd go higher on the rating. A couple more years may help with that last pasrt. Ash is a nice white and slightly flaky. Whatever it is - I'd like a 5r!!!

grateful1 guessed: Origin: Nicaraguan - Price: premium - Age: 3 - Marca: Tatuaje Conjonu 2003 - Rating: 8/10

NorCalCigarLover said: 6/1/2 inch, 52 ring. Medium brown color with a slight reddish. Nice looking wrapper but looked dull. Pre-light aroma of tobacco …. nothing else. Initial taste was bland but with a spice that attacked the tongue and the back of my throut with a burning sensation, a slight and brief sensation of cream but I think my tongue was just trying to heal itself. Middle was still very one dimensional with little taste and a bad burn. Couldn't even force myself to finish this cigar, life's too short to smoke bad tasting cigars

NorCalCigarLover guessed: Origin: Dominican - Price: Budget - Age: 1 year - Marca: Holts - Rating: 1/10

sinnyc said: This Churchill appears to be well constructed and is covered in an attractive, oily, deep brown wrapper. Pre-light draw is decent with a slight nutty flavor. Initial flavor is just straight medium strength tobacco. As the cigar gets going it burns with a nice, tight medium gray ash with very little color variation. Flavors are pretty bland – a woody tobacco with a slightest earthiness.

An inch in I begin to get a little creaminess, maybe a burnt vanilla, which is not unpleasant but is pretty light. The cigar is smooth with decent strength but there isn’t much flavor. It really remains the same all the way to the end.

sinnyc guessed: Origin: Nicaragua - Price: Everyday - Age: 2 years - Marca: Oliva - Rating: 5/10

Smokyballs said: Rich, thick smoke. Coco, with milk. Very sweet, lots of dark flavors

Smokyballs guessed: Origin: Honduras - Price: Everyday - Age: 4 years - Marca: El Rey Del Mundo Tissue Wrapped Robusto Larga - Rating: 6/10

tone-ny said: A dark wrapper with sleight veining, this cigar had a nice sheen to it. Clean draw on this cigar, its ash was medium grey in appearance. Burn was even for the first third of the cigar had to touch up quite a bit to keep it lit and straight.

Overall tasting of this cigar was one of strong spice and nuttiness. When nosing this cigar it had a stronger spice to it and continued throughout. The cigar was a little one dimensional to start off, but turned half way through and turned from a strong harsh cigar to a more palatable taste.

This one threw me as I thought it was a Cohiba Sublime and that is what I am guessing but it was too strong. This cigar should be very smokable and not as harsh as this one was, I may be coming down with a cold so I could be off, sorry.

tone-ny guessed: Origin: Cuba - Price: Super Premium - Age: 4 years - Marca: Cohiba Sublime - Rating: 7.5/10

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Results Summary

Origin: 3 Cuban, 7 non-Cuban

Price: 1 budget, 3 everyday, 4 premium, 2 super-premium

Age: High: 8 years, Low: 1 year, Average: 3.5 years

Marca: Cohiba: 2, Tatuaje Conjonu 2003: 2, Padilla: 1, Opus X: 1, Johnny-O: 1, Holts: 1, Oliva: 1, El Rey Del Mundo: 1

Rating: High: 9.8/10, Low: 1/10, Average: 6.28/10

Cigar #8 was actually a: non-Cuban Tatuaje Cojonu 2003, 2005 (6 ½" x 52) - premium

Who nailed it: grateful1, Brickhouse

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Commentary

Origin on this cigar was evenly split between Cuban, Nicaraguan, Dominican, and one lone Honduran vote. Once again, the pattern repeats itself: some people love this cigar, some people absolutely hated it, and others were in the middle. No real consensus in terms of everyone liking or disliking it, so once again we're left with a middling average rating for the cigar.

Congrats to Brickhouse and grateful1 for nailing this cigar perfectly, including the age! Brickhouse is certainly on a role... and it's also interesting that 2 people both thought this cigar was a Cuban Cohiba Sublime. Quite a compliment given the price of Cohiba Sublimes!

Once again these cigars were all from the same sealed box... so the variability we're seeing in the ratings is either the cigars being inconsistent, reviewers having an off day, or... hell if I know! All I so know is that every single cigar in this taste test has followed this pattern.

Curious indeed... read the review descriptions, very intriguing! We'll see everyone back here on Sunday for cigar #9! Thanks to the testers, it's been a blast so far!

Whew, glad I gave it a good review, that's one of my favorite smokes, lol.

I was really surprised at the first quarter of it though. It really tasted off to me, I had no idea what it was, but I was prepared to guess a fake cuban. But after that it opened up beautifully and the Tatuaje came out in it. Great smoke.

Bring on #9

I've never had a single one of these cigars so far, and yet I have found this to be the most interesting thread I have read on here.

My cigar was definitely off. I have smoked boxes of these and the 06's and would rate them as very flavorful. This had literally NO flavor at all, it was like smoking air.

Wow Wyatt, as Andrew says, you sure are on a role. You have some mean taste buds there, well done! Well done too to Gary.

and...lets not forget Moki. Thanks Andrew for all the work, this is has been a great read. :thumbs:

Brian

That's a good round of reviews. I think that this time 60% of the reviewers thought that it was a premium/super premium which is a pretty good assesment. Nicely done guys!

Great smoke.

I too may have fallen onto the Sublime band wagon, had I not had a Sublime just 2 days before!
The Tat. has a lighter ash and is not as 'creamy' of a profile.
From the first draw I thought this was a Tat.

I attribute the lack of 'taste' to this cigar needing to sit longer.

So....how 'bout a 5r? :whistling:

WOW! (That's really not strong enough an expletive.) You fellows impress me so much. :thumbs: I've been watching and reading since the beginning and keeping silent but wanted to give pats on the back all around!

IMO Moki has done a fantastic job of selecting these sticks and all the participants have more courage than I to do side-by-side tasting comparisons. (And congats to all of you who have nailed some selections along the way! Amazing to me!)

I have looked forward to each installment and am grateful for all the cigars, experience, expertise, and courage necessary to do this.

Thank you one and all! (Keep up the good work!)

insight said:

My cigar was definitely off. I have smoked boxes of these and the 06's and would rate them as very flavorful. This had literally NO flavor at all, it was like smoking air.

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I had only smoked two of these prior to this test so my experience is very limited. I was amazed when I read that this was a Tatuaje. It had none of the strength or flavor I associate with the brand in general though I remember the Cojonu's being more refined than the Brown and Red labels. Mine definitely leaned towards Insight's description -very little flavor. I don't think I would describe it as off as there was something there and I enjoyed the cigar well enough but I would NEVER have guessed this was a Tatuaje.

Man, this test is just astounding - I have been surprised with each and every stick so far and have learned as much about my personal taste in cigars in the last few weeks as I have in the last few years.

Great job on nailing this one Brickhouse and Grateful1!

Edit: spelling

Great job guys and huge props to Moki for supplying the cigars for this Blind Taste Testing.

This is a great read and it's wonderful to see how the reviewers rate the cigars.

What a surprise...!! I have a couple of these in the humidor but have never smoked one. Guess I should dig 'em out and compare..... :laugh:

Good work, guys - B.B.S.

Nice job again Wyatt. Must be those 14 Coors Lights, that help you out.

Go figure, this confirms to me my taste for much of the Tatuaje line. I also had no flavor to this cigar, and a terrible burn, but I did have a terrible hashness through the entire smoke. When writing my review, I was wondering if my tasting experience had been influenced by outside circumstances but now knowing the identity of the cigar it makes perfect sense.

sinnyc said:

I had only smoked two of these prior to this test so my experience is very limited. I was amazed when I read that this was a Tatuaje. It had none of the strength or flavor I associate with the brand in general though I remember the Cojonu's being more refined than the Brown and Red labels. Mine definitely leaned towards Insight's description -very little flavor. I don't think I would describe it as off as there was something there and I enjoyed the cigar well enough but I would NEVER have guessed this was a Tatuaje.

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Interestingly, the Cojonu 2003 is actually the second strongest regular production Tatuaje, at least in terms of the blend.

Man, this test is just astounding - I have been surprised with each and every stick so far and have learned as much about my personal taste in cigars in the last few weeks as I have in the last few years.

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...and that's what it is all about. If you approach the blind taste testing with an open mind, without worrying about how "well you do"... you'll learn an awful lot about yourself, and your taste.

moki said:

...and that's what it is all about. If you approach the blind taste testing with an open mind, without worrying about how "well you do"... you'll learn an awful lot about yourself, and your taste.

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Glad you haven't included any Pinars yet. I'd be embarrassed if I enjoyed it :sign:

My biggest surprise so far was definitely the Davidoff. Now if only it was a $2 smoke I would be ecstatic :love:

insight said:

My biggest surprise so far was definitely the Davidoff. Now if only it was a $2 smoke I would be ecstatic :love:

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Then you'd all be bitching that you didn't get your $100 worth

A truly fascinating thread. My bosses would surely do harm to Moki if they found out the time I'm spending here at my desk reading through these reviews. :whistling:

And, I gotta say, brickhouse is one perceptive taster.

Nice reviews.

Cigar #9, non-Cuban Avo LE05, 2005 (5 3/8" x 52) - premium


Image courtesy of enerjay

bfreebern said: Tasting: Prelight draw was very loose, tobacco taste. Cinnamon, wood and turned acidic. Had a weird bite to it as well, sort of reminded me of the bite from pipes. It did produce lots of smoke and the ash was a dark gray.

bfreebern guessed: Origin: Honduras - Price: Everyday - Age: 2 years - Marca: Cuban Crafters - Rating: 3/10

BlindedByScience said: Nice light brown wrapper, good looking and well constructed. Draw is very open; have to smoke this one carefully to keep it from getting too hot. Background spice hints on the wrapper and foot; pre-light draw is slightly musty, tastes like nicely aged tobacco. At the mid point this one measures as a 52 ring, and the length is just over 5 ¼” (~133mm) without the cap. A nice robusto sized smoke….should be a good one.

Burn and construction were on the money. Started off very mild, and continued throughout the smoke. Mild, dusty, slightly musty flavors with a tinge of saltiness that started off subtly and picked up a bit as the smoke progressed. By the end of the smoke, some slightly ammoniac flavors came through, as the saltiness came to the forefront. The saltiness and the slight ammonia flavors were the only really distinguishing tastes present. The smoke when exhaled was very bland; not offensive, but none of the floral or fragrant smells I’ve experienced in the past. This wasn’t a “bad” smoke, but nothing really stood out to recommend it, to my palate.

BlindedByScience guessed: Origin: Cuban - Price: Premium - Age: 7 years - Marca: Montecristo Edmundo - Rating: 6/10

Brickhouse said: Interesting looking cigar....blotches of black throughout the wrapper. Looks to be a Sun Grown of some sort. The first few puffs proved to be very loose, but with a good amount of smoke to taste from. Flavor was somewhat toasty from start to finish with a nice sweet/clean finish. I didn't think it changed very much from start to finish. This was a pleasing cigar to smoke but never swept me off my feet. The only negative was just a bit of a loose draw, it caused some tunneling issues, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. The look of this cigar was as interesting as any other portion. Whatever it is, I don't think I've had many of them, if any. I found some of the characteristics reminiscent of a recent AVO LE05 I had, thus was my guess.

Brickhouse guessed: Origin: Dominican - Price: Premium - Age: 3 years - Marca: Avo LE05 - Rating: 7/10

enerjay said: Medium to full body cigar. Very easy draw, with taste of coffee and Carmel,

enerjay guessed: Origin: Honduran - Price: everyday - Age: 9 years - Marca: Hoyo de Monterrey Camacho - Rating: 9/10

insight said: The cigar started off with an earthy tobacco flavor and fairly smooth despite having a very oily wrapper which typically indicates youth. Nosing wasn't at all unpleasant and brought more tobacco taste with a bit of nuttiness. As the cigar progressed some creaminess crept in along with some more woody earth tones. There was a smoky aftertaste that reminded me of some Ramon Allones (and oddly enough some Graycliffs) I have smoked in the past, although the flavors of the latter half of the cigar reminded me more of a RyJ or Cohiba. I did enjoy this cigar and I would smoke it again.

insight guessed: Origin: Cuban - Price: Premium - Age: 1 year - Marca: Romeo y Julieta Escudos - Rating: 7.5/10

grateful1 said: Nice smoke to atart. Light gray ash. Taste like Avo but could be a Davidoff - tough cigar. A little veiny and dark with a very nice draw. Somewhat dry smoke wiht a little bite on the nose. Creamy with hints of coco and lite coffee. Middle 1/3 got harsh but came around. Note: my tastebuds are a little lacking today. I awoke from a siesta very dry and with little taste.

grateful1 guessed: Origin: Dominican - Price: Premium - Age: 2 years - Marca: Davidoff Puro - Rating: 6/10

NorCalCigarLover said: 5 3/8 inch, 54 ring. Medium brown in color, slightly oily, a very firm construction with light colored veins. Pre-light aroma of manure and slightly woody. Initial taste was grassy, woody and some spice, none overpowered the other, a medium-full strength cigar. A very consistant cigar through out, not a flavor bomb but it maintained a taste profile of grassy, woody and cinnamon with a great burn the entire length of the cigar. One thing that really stood out in this cigar was the room nose, while I wasn't getting a whole lot of flavor on the palate th

NorCalCigarLover guessed: Origin: Nicaraguan - Price: Premium - Age: 1 year - Marca: Tatuaje "Zona del Este" - Rating: 5/10

sinnyc said: This Robusto/Toro is somewhat roughly constructed with a veiny wrapper in a medium shade of brown. Pre-light draw is good with cedar tones. The cigar initially gives a good but dry mouthful of light- to medium-strength smoke showing only simple tobacco flavors. As it gets going there are some slightly bitter but not entirely unpleasant tea flavors and some dry, woodiness as well. The flakey ash lasted an inch and a half and is a lighter gray with some darker streaks. Past halfway the tea has faded away and the wood tones have deepened and filled out a bit but the flavor basically remains one of plain tobacco in a slightly dry mouth of smoke. This cigar never developed for me and although it wasn’t terrible it did bore me and it sure didn’t give many hints about what it was.

sinnyc guessed: Origin: Honduran - Price: Everyday - Age: 2 years - Marca: Camacho - Rating: 4.5/10

Smokyballs said: Rich spicy. Lots of leather and Oak. Smooth aftertaste. Long finish!

Smokyballs guessed: Origin: Dominican - Price: Premium - Age: 3 years - Marca: Avo LE '05 - Rating: 8/10

tone-ny said: A medium colored wrapper, this cigar had an opaque sheen to it. Clean draw on this cigar, its ash was medium grey in appearance. Burn was even for throughout.

Overall tasting of this cigar was one of a medium to strong spice and nuttiness. This cigar was similar to cigar no. 8 in the spice and overall strength, but had a much more of a mildness and sweetness to it. This made this cigar much more enjoyable. When nosing this cigar it had a strong spice to it, continued throughout, but smoothness also.

This tasted on par with a Cohiba Sublime, but I can’t be certain.

tone-ny guessed: Origin: Cuban - Price: Super Premium - Age: 4 years - Marca: Cohiba Sublime - Rating: 8.5/10

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Results Summary

Origin: 3 Cuban, 7 non-Cuban

Price: 0 budget, 3 everyday, 6 premium, 1 super-premium

Age: High: 9 years, Low: 1 years, Average: 3.4 years

Marca: Avo LE05: 2, Montecristo: 1, Cuban Crafters: 1, Hoyo de Monterrey: 1, Romeo y Julieta: 1, Davidoff: 1, Tatuaje: 1, Camacho: 1, Cohiba: 1

Rating: High: 9, Low: 3, Average: 6.45

Cigar #9 was actually a: non-Cuban Avo LE05, 2005 (5 3/8" x 52) - premium

Who nailed it: Brickhouse, Smokyballs

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Commentary

This time our testers were in a 3 way split between Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras (with the odd Nicaraguan) in terms of country of origin. Brickhouse once again nailed this cigar, as did Smokyballs. Very well done guys... Grateful1 flirted with it, but veered off course.

This cigar scored pretty well in the ratings, at least in terms of the relatively middling average scores that these cigars are getting. And yet again it seems to follow the love it, hate it, it was okay pattern that has applied to all of these cigars.

Well done guys... hope this was an interesting one for ya. The final cigar is coming up on Wednesday!