Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 is medium brown and has a network of lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being the light brown company band and the secondary is gold and black and denotes the line and year. The aroma from the wrapper is a very light earthiness while the foot brings wood, tobacco sweetness and mild spice. The pre-light draw is a light mix of cedar and stewed fruit along with a faint spiciness on my lips.
Seth: Firm in hand, the Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 sports small veins throughout. Beautiful triple cap. Appearance of reddish brown coloring. Colorado-Maduro. It had that old school Tatuaje color. Years ago Tatuajes. Aromas of rich earth, chocolate, sweet spices, tobacco, barnyard and leather.
John: The Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 comes in cellophane, and does not have a UPC sticker. The cigar is double banded with a brown Tatuaje primary band and a Cojonu 2015 secondary band. Smelling the wrapper, I’m picking up on sweet bread and tobacco. From the foot, I’m smelling light hay and wood.
Jiunn: The Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 has a rustic Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper are all about that barnyard stankyard funk. Aromas from the foot tell the same, but with added white pepper spice. Cold draw provides hay, black pepper and cedar.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar and bold baking spice. At a quarter inch in, the baking spice transitions to bold black pepper. At a half inch in, some light earth joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth, black pepper along with a light pastry note. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth while the black pepper is a bit further behind. The strength was slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with a nice blast of pepper and cinnamon. There are some faint toast qualities present, and they are paired with some oak, leather and earth notes. Strong tobacco qualities present on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: My first few puffs bring a combination of bread, wood and light-plus baking spices and creamy wood that carry into the post draw. Some spices are lingering at the front of my tongue between draws. Some creamy vegetal begins to develop at the end of the draw as the first third settles in. Light-plus strength leather also joins the profile as it progresses, and it coats the palate between each puff.
Jiunn: The first third is deeply rooted in dried red pepper spice. The spice does a good job of sitting on my tongue. There’s also cedar and a hint of dry leather and mixed nuts. Retrohaling is rough, as the red pepper spice is so fierce that I can’t even squeeze out a full exhale. The finish is short with cedar. Strength is medium-full and body medium.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the toasted cedar and earth are now even up front. At a half inch in, the black pepper is now pretty mellow. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, dry earth and mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and dry earth are even up front with the black pepper a fair distance behind. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third delivers that barnyard quality so I am getting some earth, tobacco, leather and wood. Lots of pepper and cinnamon with some hazelnut and oak qualities on the finish. Again, medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood gets the second third started as dry wood takes up the center and spicy wood makes up the finish. Some bread and spices combine in an engaging way through the retrohale. As the cigar settles into the second third, tannic wood and leather are combining to finish each draw.
Jiunn: The second third’s strength ramps to a full blown head blaze. The flavors still tell the same story (dried red pepper spice, cedar, hint of dry leather and mixed nuts). Body remains medium.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toast level increases, and a light wood bitterness joins the profile. At a half inch in, the toast level has moved up to a light char. The retrohale is heavily toasted cedar and dry earth with mild black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is lightly charred cedar and dry earth up front with some wood bitterness, vegetal note and black pepper in the background. The strength bumped up to medium-full.
Seth: The final third delivers lots of tobacco, pepper, cinnamon and oak qualities. Full in strength and body, the cigar really took off. It didn’t get hot, or produce mineral qualities, but there was a nicotine rush.
John: Creamy earth leads off with tannic wood taking over and then lingering well into the post draw. The earth pushes into the post draw as the last third settles in. As the last third progresses, earth also moves to the front of the profile as the creaminess falls away.
Jiunn: The final third shows no changes from the second third. Still full tilt strength, medium body, with overwhelming dried red pepper spice, followed by cedar, leather and mixed nuts.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times and the cigar went out twice, requiring re-lights.
Seth: Very good burn from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third, with the ash falling in half inch increments. Similar burn profile through the second and last thirds as well.
Jiunn: Burn performance was nearly perfect. Just a couple quick touch-ups to get the burn back on track.

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit tighter than I prefer, but didn’t seem to cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Lovely draw throughout.
John: The draw was resistant, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches into the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, striking the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar and bold baking spice. The baking spice quickly transitioned to bold black pepper and some earth joined a bit later. The final third saw the toast transition to light char and some wood bitterness and a vegetal note joined in. The Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 had an average flavor profile throughout that was focused around toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. I’m sure the re-lights took a bit of a toll on the overall flavor profile. This is just a cigar that never really got off the ground for me, and I really don’t see myself coming back to it.
Seth: I don’t smoke a lot of regular production Tatuaje Cojonú’s, and unforunately I really loved the limited releases from 2019, but this Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 captured that Cojonú quality. Especially in the final third. It was not as complex or balanced as some of his other recent production releases that I have been digging, but it falls in line being a Cojonú. I do love the size, and I am glad it is not pressed, but I want a little more complexity and transitioning.
John: The Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 was another dependable and enjoyable release. The spice level was much more subdued than many other Habano blends I’ve smoked over the years, and there was enough interesting combination of flavors that kept me engaged through almost the entire review. I had no issues with the burn, and the draw had resistance to it. I would definitely pick up another Cojonú 2015 if I was out, but I can also say that about most Tatuaje releases. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Jiunn: Such a fitting name for this cigar; Cojonú. This set of Cojonú is massive with nicotine strength. But the strength wasn’t backed by good flavors. It basically felt like this was a strong cigar for strong cigar sake. The Tatuaje Cojonú 2015 is not what I expected out of Tatuaje and not something I care to revisit.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.30

Cost/Point

$2.45

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.20

Cost/Point

$2.10

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.52

Cost/Point

$1.99

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$2.30

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Cojonú 2015