Initial Thoughts
This is the final cigar for the October/November pairing series
The Tatuaje Mini Mum is the final cigar from the Tatuaje Little Monsters set. This is also the miniature version of this year’s release “The Mummy”, which came out in October. According to Tatuaje this is similar to their black-label blend with slight alterations. I haven’t had the chance to dive into their black-label blend yet, so I can’t tell you if it compares at all. What I can tell you is all about this cigar!
Looks
Let’s start with the closed foot on the Tatuaje Mini Mum. I’m guessing this is a trend this year, to offer closed foot and shaggy foot cigars as a way to differentiate yourself from others. I’m still on the fence about it. Call me a traditionalist, but I like to be able to smell the foot of the cigar before I light it up.
The wrapper is a beautiful brown Nicaraguan criollo. Slightly veiny with some rather large ones running the length of the wrapper. It has a beautiful sheen to it though. The head is capped rather nicely minus one spot that looks as if some glue seeped out, oh well I’m going to cut that section off anyway right? It appears to be a beautiful triple cap holding all the flavor in.
The band is similar to all other Tatuaje bands, simple. A background color of gray and white lettering. No indication of the name of the cigar. All it says is, Tatuaje and little monsters. Simple, but it gets the point across and it causes people to go out searching for more about this cigar. I would assume everyone would refer to this as the ‘Grey Label’, but because it’s a limited release, I would bet they are going to be hard to come by.
Function
I’m always worried about closed-foot cigars and how they’ll smoke. I know I won’t be able to test the pre-light draw, which always perturbs me. I rolled the Tatuaje Mini Mum through my fingers and gave it a nice pinch test. This one has been sitting in my humidor longer than others, and I have been adjusting my humidor to find exactly what humidity I prefer my sticks at. Right now they are at 68% in case you’re curious!
I used the ole-capped back cutter to nip the tip of this cigar. The double blade pinched the tobacco a little too much and left a ridge in the head. It shouldn’t affect the smoking, just makes it look a little wonky. Oh well, I’ll power through it, right?
Well by now you know I can’t take a very effective pre-light draw so I’m going to have to skip that section, I’m sure you guys don’t read this far down anyway right? 🙂
Smoking
Ok, I finally get to light up this Tatuaje Mini Mum. With it having a closed foot you want to make sure and spend extra time toasting the foot to get all that extra wrapper leaf lit and burning evenly.
Luckily this wrapper went up quickly and was burning super fast. A lot of the time I have issues with the closed-foot cigars, so I have to say I’m impressed with how quickly this one went aflame.
This Tatuaje Mini Mum started off very impressive. A nice even burn and actually burning quicker than I assumed it would. I had to throttle down my smoking because I was afraid it would start burning hot and begin to taste bitter and gross.
The first third had a nice burn line, the only issue was the ash was very flaky. No, not in the way you’re thinking, it didn’t schedule a herf and then just not show up. It always shows up on time and never cancels a hangout. (Haha anyone?… Ok I’ll stop with the jokes) The ash was very light and just didn’t hold together very well. This always bothers me. I love to see a nice tight ash and not one that flakes and has big cracks in it.
I was pleasantly surprised that this Tatuaje Mini Mum burned perfectly all the way through. I only had one issue and it was in the final third. I had to relight one side that just completely went out on me. It was kinda weird because I smoked all willy-nilly and then I looked and one side was completely out…Weird.
Flavor
Ok, the make-it-or-break-it time. The cigar looks great, it smokes great, but does it taste great?… I’m going to have to say no. I was just not impressed with how this Tatuaje Mini Mum tasted. I’m not sure if it just didn’t hit my palate that well or what. I was able to pick up on some spice and earthiness, but overall, nothing very exciting.
The pre-light aroma was very light and it was difficult to pick up anything. I got a few slight chocolate notes, but that was it. When I tested the pre-light draw I got a fairly heavy spice on the tongue and lips.
The first third, started out with a pop of spice, probably due to the fact there was so much wrapper being burned from the closed foot. By the end of the first third, the spice had calmed down, but nothing really took its place. It was just kinda muddled.
Towards the beginning of the 2nd third, I began picking up some woodsy and earthy nuts. A slightly charred flavor, with some nuts, but they were all over the place. Again, nothing too dramatic. Now I’m a huge fan of balance, but I wouldn’t even say these were balanced. I had to struggle to pick up some of these flavors.
The final third of the Tatuaje Mini Mum brought out some coffee notes that were ok, but nothing to write home about. Overall it was a decent medium-bodied cigar that had an enjoyable smoking experience. However, to me, it lacked flavor.
Would I Buy It Again?
Probably not, I would be interested to try it in the larger Mummy size. However, I’m not going to go hunt them down.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Ehhh, for me no.
Would I Buy a Box?
No, I just wasn’t impressed with it.
Conclusion
The smoking experience was great for this Tatuaje Mini Mum. Great draw, a good burn, the ash was a little iffy, but the overall flavor didn’t do anything for me. That’s why they have the saying different smokes for different folks. Some people may absolutely love this cigar, but it wasn’t for me!
If you have had the Min Mum I’d love to hear about your experience with it below in the comments!
