Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique generously sponsored by our member Byron (Beegerply). The cigar provided for this round is the Tatuaje Monster Series The Face Redux.
Tatuaje's The Face became recognizable for using a jaggedly cut piece of Ecuadorian Connecticut tobacco to serve as the band, a nod to the movie monster Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, who was known for wearing a mask made of a person's skin. Like its Monster Series predecessors, The Frank and The Drac, it came in boxes designed to look like coffins, complete with red paint splattered on them to mimic the look of blood. Tatuaje produced 5,000 boxes of 13 The Face Redux 3 — a total of 65,000 cigars — of those 5,000 boxes, 700 are individually numbered, while the other 4,300 are not.
Chocolate brown wrapper, moderate veining, closed foot. Slightly oily, form cannon but not overly. Guillotine cut, clean no fraying or loose ends. Pre-light draw reveals semi-sweet chocolate, earthiness, hay, light baking spice
Lighting and Burn: 14 Points of 15 Possible
Initial light was quick and easy. Burn starts straight and as very little wobble during the entire smoke. Ash is mostly white and flaky but holds very well. Smoke volume is light during the draw and almost non-existent when resting. Cigar remains lit and no re-lights are required. No issues with tunneling or canoeing. Burn rate was slightly quicker than expected.
Construction: 28 Points of 30 Possible
Draw is free and smooth both initially and throughout the smoke. Cap held up very well, no fraying or loose ends, held shape. No wrapper issues. Burn line was straight the entire smoke. No issues removing the band.
Flavor and Aroma: 39 Points of 45 Possible
First 1/3: Strong start with a very peppery opening that hits all parts of the mouth. Gives you the impression of a Don Pepin type start. After about an inch into this third it slightly backs off but still very heavy on a retrohale. There are under notes of ash and volcanic tones which shouldn't really be surprising for a San Andres wrapper.
Second 1/3: Second thirds really tames down the heaviest pepper but it is still there. You begin to get some cedar notes, more earthy tones. Towards the end of the third you get some chocolate notes. The changes is really smooth.
Final 1/3: This third flows right out of the previous third initially. About a few minutes in the pepper reappears but mostly of the front of the tongue. You get some hotness on the lips as this third closes out. Retrohale keeps that pepper not going.
Summary
The Tatuaje Monster series is legendary for a very diverse portfolio of blends and vitolas. This cigar really fits in that mold. For me it is everything I would want in a cigar with a San Andres wrapper and NIC binder and filler. Complexity was very good as flavors. smoothly transitioned. Only drawback I saw was the smoke time which lasted shorter that I would have expected, but maybe I just didn't want to end. As far as a pure vitolia it is the max I would generally smoke.