Review: El Triunfador No. 4
drpepperdude
Posts: 298
5 x 48
There's a lot of love for Tatuaje cigars out there by today's cigar smokers and I when I first started getting serious about this hobby (which was really only six months ago) you couldn't go to any forum or review site without seeing some mention of Tatuaje sticks. It's still that way, and for new cigar smokers all the news that Tatuaje are usually full strength and full-bodied sticks makes it a name of initimidation for the casual or mild strength and thin-bodied aficionado.
So at the beginning of this year I jumped on the chance to get a mazo of the oft-praised El Triunfador by Tatuaje billed as a milder stick but still full-flavored. After letting them rest several months I smoked them and ruminated:
Pre-light reveals a brown wrapper with good construction and almost no veins. Not much aroma and the stick feels soft to the touch but firm with tobacco. I light it up easily after a guillotine cut and light toasting.
There is no explosion of flavor or any other sensation but plentiful smoke on the first few puffs and a very faint sweetness on the lips. The head shows really well-packed tobacco in the average sized ring.
The burn line is straight and true and the ash is firm. There is no over-riding flavor but just faint, pleasant notes of light tobacco that's just enough to let you know you're smoking something. 
Smoking through the first part of the stick brings no changes or surprises and the stick aims to relax rather than impress with continuing light aromas and a mild body but a respectable amount of smoke.
The draw continues to be impressive for a sub-50 ring gauge stick and some notes of cedar and a small bit of leather is welcome as the stick moves towards a medium strength that is still quite smooth.
The second portion of the stick continues to produce a decent of smoke and some darker tobacco notes; some pepper is present on the palate but nothing that offends or sneaks up on you.
As I smoked past where the band was I slow down puffs to keep the stick cool as it was tending towards the hotter side. There's still notes of cedar, leather, and the tobacco is definitely a darker flavor and less sweet though the minimal aroma is still light.
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Final Thoughts: The stick is fairly well-balanced but I wouldn't call it a full-flavored stick. There's not much complexity and most would agree that it's a straight-foward smoke with character that is consistent with other light-to-medium bodied habano wrappers, albeit more friendly to the unseasoned smoker.
It makes up for this with decent cedar and leathery flavor notes and just enough pepper to bring connecticut wrapper smokers out of their shell.
I've decided that there are other mild-bodied, fuller flavored sticks out there with a habano wrapper that I would rather smoke than this... but it's definitely a good gateway stick to more medium-strength fare and will always be cult favorite of Tatuaje fans for the early part of their rotation.
