Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Tatuaje Cohete Reserva is a marbled medium brown and has a couple of decently raised veins present. The seams are a bit raised and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being the traditional brown label design and the secondary being the black and gold Reserva Broadleaf band that has been used on various lines. The aroma from the wrapper is dark earth and light wood while the foot brings sweet cedar and light earth. The pre-light draw brings lightly musty, sweet cedar.
Seth: Finished with a beautiful wrapper that is dark chocolate to espresso bean in coloring, the wrapper on the Tatuaje Cohete Reserva is oily and a classic maduro. Medium sized veins are present throughout and there is a great bit of tooth. Firm throughout, the cigar is finished with a lovely triple cap. Aromas of espresso beans, dark chocolate, leather, spices, oak and earth.
John: The Tatuaje Cohete Reserva does not come in cellophane and there is no UPC code. The cigar is double banded with a ‘Reserva Broadleaf’ secondary band. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet wood and faint tobacco. The same faint tobacco along with wood is present from the foot.
Jiunn: The Tatuaje Cohete Reserva has an overall Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head nicely capped off. Aromas from the wrapper tell of faint cedar and dry barnyard. Aromas from the foot give a vibrant white pepper spice and trailing cedar. Cold draw gives airy cedar and nuts.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, baking spice, dark earth and light cocoa powder. At a quarter inch in, the baking spice mellows and the cocoa powder becomes a light chalkiness. The retrohale is toasted cedar, black pepper and light creaminess. At three quarters of an inch in, the baking spice transitions to black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted cedar and dry earth even up front with black pepper a bit behind and a light chalkiness in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The cigar immediately delivers black pepper notes that are paired with espresso beans, oak and rich earth. I am getting some faded dark cocoa powder qualities as well, and the finish is of tobacco and leather. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with sweet tobacco, espresso, and a sweet earth to finish. Baking spices come through after a few puffs, fast developing through the post draw. Those baking spices start to linger on my lips and tongue. As it progresses, pepper comes in with the spices and also start to build in strength to medium. One thing that strikes me right out of the gate is how clean the finish is. Dark chocolate comes through on the retrohale as the first third continues, all the flavors harmonizing well for strength levels.
Jiunn: The first third tastes like a quality Connecticut Broadleaf. Medium plus viscosity to the smoke (medium strength), with flavors of chestnuts, semi-sweet chocolate, balanced minerals and dry red pepper spice. Retrohaling intensifies the dry red pepper spice. The finish has a combination of cedar and dry red pepper spice sitting on the tongue.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the chalkiness morphs back into a light cocoa powder note as the black pepper picks up a bit. At a half inch in, the cocoa is back to chalkiness and the earth has become a bit dry and taken a slight lead over the toasted cedar. The retrohale is an even mix of toasted cedar and dry earth. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit and becomes dull. As the third comes to a close, the dry earth remains slightly ahead of the toasted cedar with dull black pepper behind and light chalkiness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third delivers that strong espresso, leather and peppery spice profile from before. Earth notes are still present, and the finish is of cocoa powder and leather. Like before, medium-full in strength and body.
John: Sweet tobacco is present at the front of the profile, mild wood in the center, with sweet spices and wood carrying into the post draw. Some medium-minus pepper lingers on the post draw with a bit of a delay. As it settles in, earth joins the post draw, and later mild leather. Sweet bread breaks into the retrohale approaching the the halfway point. In the bottom half, earth moves into the center of the profile.
Jiunn: Smoking through a relatively short second third, the profile has one main change, which is the strength ramping from medium to medium-full. In terms of flavors, it’s still intact but there is a slight bite of sharper minerals forming.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva

Final Third

Aaron: The final third continues with the dry earth slightly ahead of the toasted cedar with dull black pepper behind and light chalkiness in the background. At a quarter inch in, the toast level increases. The retrohale is now an even mix of heavily toasted cedar and dry earth. As the cigar wraps up, the profile has dry earth slightly ahead of the heavily toasted cedar, with dull black pepper a bit behind and light amounts of chalkiness and bitterness in the background., The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third was right in line with the second third. I was picking up lovely espresso, leather and peppery flavors. Bits of oak and cocoa powder as well on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Sweet wood is first here, with baking spices and earth in the center of the profile, as earth, wood and pepper combine into the post draw. Earth backs off to light-plus strength as the last third progresses. Moving towards halfway, earth and wood are at equal strength as the baking spices fall off, the pepper becoming a background note in the post draw.
Jiunn: The final third shows the sharper mineral edge a bit too much, such that it drowns out the other flavors. Strength and body remains the same medium-full.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times and the cigar went out without warning in the middle of the second third and required a re-light.
Seth: Great burn from start to finish.
John: The burn started out straight, with a mild offset burn leading into the second third. A canoe forms in the second third, requiring a touch-up to intervene. No issues through the last third as the burn line is straight.
Jiunn: Burn performance was nearly perfect. The only (small) negative was flowery ashes that trickled onto my shirt and floor. Small gripe to an overall excellent burn performance.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: The draw is slightly into the open spectrum here, roughly 1-1/2 to 2 notches.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, striking the best balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, baking spice, dark earth and light cocoa powder. The cocoa transitioned to chalkiness fairly quickly and the baking spice transitioned to black pepper a bit later. The second third saw the chalkiness transition back to cocoa for a bit and then back to chalkiness. The final third saw a light bitterness join in. The Tatuaje Cohete Reserva started well and then, when the dry earth took a slight lead in the second third, the enjoyment level dropped down a notch and remained at that level the rest of the way. I would put this version of the line right on par with the Habano. It doesn’t have me eager to revisit it, but I’d be up for coming back to it from time to time.
Seth: This Tatuaje Cohete Reserva was a great little blast of Broadleaf. Shots of espresso with cojones. I loved the size and flavor profile from start to finish. It had strength, body and flavors. Complex flavors. Very enjoyable with amazing burn and construction. The espresso, oak, leather, earth, pepper and cocoa powder notes were great together. They often are, and Pete delivered on that dark Broadleaf profile. Would smoke these in the morning with a coffee, cappuccino, or mocha, and would drink in the evening with coffee or red wine after dinner.
John: The Tatuaje Cohete Reserva is yet another example of a Broadleaf blend done well. There’s enough balance where the earth, leather and darker flavors are offset by baking spices and sweetness. The first and second thirds were really well done, with the last third falling just short of the same complexity. The burn and draw were almost perfect with a slightly open draw and a touch-up required. The total smoking time was 1 hour and 14 minutes. I’m a fan of almost everything on this cigar. The price point is attractive, the vitola is approachable and I’ll happily be seeking these out.
Jiunn: Lesson (re)learned. Humidor time for quality tobacco makes a difference. I first smoked one upon shipment (towards mid Jan’22). Smoking this Tatuaje Cohete Reserva for review nearly 3 months later made a significant difference. The first one smoked was largely harsh in minerals, whereas this review sample pushed that bite off until the final third, and gave me an overall excellent quality Connecticut Broadleaf experience. I looks forward to having another with another quarter’s rest to see how it goes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$1.53

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.07

Cost/Point

$1.27

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.57

Cost/Point

$1.37

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.72

Cost/Point

$1.34

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cohete Reserva