Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a consistent medium brown and stops a quarter inch short of the foot, exposing the binder. There are a couple of slightly raised veins as the seams are slightly raised as well. The head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. The band is primarily gold with some white and gold bordering and the company and line names in black text. The aroma from the wrapper is light barnyard while the foot brings wood and earth. The pre-light draw is quite interesting as it presents hay, graham cracker and a floral note. There is also a crushed red pepper spice present that transfers to my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1 has a nice chocolate brown wrapper and it is a dark Natural, light Colorado coloring. There are some veins present throughout, medium in size and with that some small tooth. The cigar has a lovely triple cap and a firm shaggy foot. The cigar is firm throughout and the wrapper is giving off an aroma of damp barnyard and rich earth. The foot has a dryer aroma and it is showing some dry earth, herbal qualities and some strong red pepper.

Pre-light Experience

The Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1 has an orange band, with black letters and white highlights. The cigar itself has an unfinished foot with about a half an inch of wrapper missing. The wrapper is brown, and has aromas of sweet barn wood, with hints of spices. In the foot there is sweet fermented tobacco.

Pre-light Experience

The Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1 is a 5 x 54 little porker. The wrapper has a nice bronze color tint to it. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head finished off with a well applied triple cap. Wrapper aromas tell plenty of hay, cedar and white pepper. Foot aromas give white pepper, cedar and nuts. Cold draw gives hay, cedar and a hint of flowers.

First Third

Initial draws bring some charred cedar and a slight cream. Once the burn reaches the wrapper, the char lessens as some mustiness joins the cedar and light cream. At three quarters of an inch, an acrid bitterness joins the profile. A quarter inch later, the bitterness is gone and the profile is a creamy and musty cedar with a little black pepper in the background. The retrohale is toasted wood with some mustiness and black pepper. As the third comes to a close, there is quite a transition as the profile is now toasted wood, earth and some mustiness. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

First Third

The shaggy foot begins by delivering some strong red pepper, toast and earth notes, and it is a powerful start. Once the wrapper comes into play it becomes more balanced and complex and I am picking up richer earth notes with some herbal qualities to that. It is very filling and producing a lot of smoke. The pepper is very present and there is a light cinnamon quality with that. I would classify the cigar as being medium-full in body, full in strength and medium-full in flavors. A lot of smoke is being produced with each draw.

First Third

The initial flavors are dried wood, nuts, mild baking spices and a finish of cedar. Once the burn line hits the wrapper, there is a sweetness that comes through at the end of the draw, and carries into the post draw along with the cedar. As the first third settles in, a light post draw leather develops. A few minutes later I’m getting a combination of cocoa and coffee. Chocolate flavors intensify with a clear cedar finish. Sweet fruit notes come through as the cigar transitions into the middle third.

First Third

The first third has a good balance ranging from earth forward notes such as cedar and a slight gritty soil component to a nice balancing sweetness and creaminess, and well accented dry red pepper spice. This balance of earth, sweet, spice is best represented within the retrohale. The finish is primarily earth driven, providing cedar and soil. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the acrid bitterness returns. At a half inch in, the bitterness has mellowed, showing the toasted wood and earth again. At an inch in, the toasted wood and earth are paired up evenly while the mustiness and bitterness are in the background. The retrohale carries the same profile sans the bitterness. As the third comes to a close, the bitterness and mustiness are up front with the wood in the background. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Second Third

I am in the second third of the cigar now and finding the strength to be coming down a bit. I am still picking up those pepper and cinnamon notes, but they are paired with this almond butter and toast profile that is quite enjoyable. There is a soft woodiness present as well and it is has some complexity and depth. I would say that the strength, body and flavor are at a level between medium and medium-full, and it is a great second third. There is still a lot of smoke being produced as well and construction is fantastic.

Second Third

Cocoa carries into the middle third, with mild earthiness coming through at the end of the post draw. The cocoa has a light plus strength level. In the bottom half of the second third, baking spices and cedar come back into the profile at light plus, with post draw fresh cedar.

Second Third

The second third carries forth the same profile as the first third. It is still a good balance of cedar, slight gritty soil, balancing sweetness and creaminess that is similar to milk chocolate, and just the right touch of dry red pepper spice. Strength and body is still medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, a slight mintiness joins the bitterness and mustiness up front while some wood is still detectable in the background. At a half inch in, the wood moves towards the front to pair up with the bitterness and mustiness while there is still some mintiness in the background. At three quarters of an inch, the cigar begins warming up which increases the mintiness and bitterness while the mustiness and wood are drowned out. This is how the cigar finishes. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.

Final Third

When I get into the final third of the cigar I find the flavor profile going down a bit. It has lost the complexity and depth that was present in the first two thirds and it really takes away a lot from the cigar. The spice level is softer now, really faded white pepper notes and with that some damp earth and wood. The almond and toast notes have faded too and it lost that sweetness which brought a lot to the cigar. It’s smoking at a medium level now across the board, and still producing a good bit of smoke.

Final Third

In the final third, cedar flavors are at the forefront of the draw, finishing with mild sweet spices.

Final Third

The last third has the spice and earth notes be more dominant. As a result of this, the profile dials down the sweet and creaminess quite a bit to the point where it is almost non-existent. Also, the profile picks up a decent amount of bitterness and char. Strength and body finishes medium.

Burn

The burn line was straight at times with a bit of a slant and then was a little wavy at other times. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

For the first two thirds the cigar was burning great. The ash held on perfectly and tons of smoke was being produced. There were no construction issues and it was on point. However, in the final third it went downhill some and I had to touch up the cigar and make some correction. The ash kept that light charcoal coloring throughout though and it smoked cool from start to finish.

Burn

The Nuevitas Jibaro has a fairly even burn in the first third, wavy in the second third, requiring a touch-up. In the last third a re-light is required. Ash holds on in one inch increments.

Burn

The burn was very good. The only let down was a re-light and some tunneling within the last third. For most of the smoking time, the burn was fairly even, ashes held on tight with little flaking and burn was cool.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

I’m not sure if the cigar I smoked was a dud or just the blend of the cigar, but a fair amount of bitterness with a very harsh final third is what I got. There was some cedar which transitioned to toasted wood along with mustiness. There was also some cream present early on. Construction was pretty good and strength hovered right around medium. I never smoked this cigar during its initial release, but would suspect that was better than this version. I’m curious to see how the other guys fared, but for me, this was quite a disappointment. There was nothing in this experience that would make me want to come back to this line.

Draw

The cigar had a very good draw. I think most would say it was perfect, but I prefer a little bit of snugness with my draws.

Overall

I really loved how the Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1 started off. I actually would have preferred a large shaggy foot. You really got to taste that filler tobacco and the transitioning to the addition of the wrapper was enjoyable and educational. The second third was clearly the best third of the cigar, the cigar really opened up to show complexity and depth, and the almond and toast notes were awesome. However, the cigar went downhill in the final third. It could be that the cigar needs more time, it could have just been the samples I smoked, but it was a disappointing finish to a strong start and spectacular second third. With that being said, construction was on point and it is great to be smoking a Nicaraguan puro from Tatuaje. Really going back to that old school Tatuaje profile. I firmly believe that if the cigar had a strong finish, this cigar would have done much better in terms of scoring.

Draw

The draw is perfect, right in the ideal zone of resistance.

Overall

The Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1 delivers a consistent flavor experience from start to finish. The profile is wood, mild baking spices, nuts, sweetness and light leather.

Draw

The draw was perfect, striking the best balance of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed smoking this little porker of a cigar. The balancing spice, sweetness, cream (cedar, slight gritty soil, milk chocolate, well accented dry red pepper spice) was nothing short of tasty (less the last third in which the profile fell apart a bit). In a way, this cigar tastes like many of Tatuaje’s signature profile. So to that extent, if you are a fan of most of the brand, this will fit right in.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.08

Cost/Point

$2.20

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.20

Cost/Point

$1.45

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.97

Cost/Point

$1.29

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.72

Cost/Point

$1.34

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Tatuaje Nuevitas Jibaro No. 1