Aging Cigars In Practice:
Featuring Tatuaje
The Basics:
If you have smoked cigars for any amount of time (which I assume anyone who is reading this has), then you’ve likely heard at least some amount of fuss about the glory of aging cigars. Coming from a self-proclaimed aging novice, there are really two reasons why I personally age my cigars.
First off, aging cigars (in the right conditions) allows the flavors and nuances of the tobacco to meld together in a way that typically leads to the balancing and mellowing of a blend – in my experience, this mellowing is most noticeable in full-bodied blends. Similarly with wine and bourbon, when allowing the tobacco to sit and rest for extended periods, it tends to lose its sharpness and leads to a more well-rounded profile and experience.
Secondly, and much less importantly, there are some cigars that I age specifically to show off to friends for personal gain: “Hey check out these 13-year-old Tatuaje The Drac’s that I have in my coolidor,” for example. Maybe this kind of aging is just a product of my collecting habits more than anything, but at the end of the day they are still aging. And aging beautifully I must add.
So, what I did was take three different Tatuaje blends that I have been collecting over the years and smoked them to see how any number of years’ worth of age would change the experience.
Disclaimer: I was not old enough to smoke The Drac and The Face when they were released, but I did buy them on the secondary market around 2014. When I first received them, I smoked one of each and jotted down some basic tasting notes and my overall experience.
So, in the case of The Drac, for example, I will be comparing the difference between 5 years of aging, when I smoked it in 2014, and 13 years of aging, when I smoked it at the end of 2022.
With that out of the way, lets jump into how these cigars aged over the years!
Aging Cigars in Practice:
1. Tatuaje The Drac
- Years of Age: 13+
- Wrapper: Ecuador Habano Maduro
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
My first experience with The Drac way back in 2014 was a good one – a full-bodied experience that was dominated by flavors of rich dark chocolate, and a black pepper spice that were finished with a kick of dry cedar and a savory earthiness.
I remember being so excited when I got my box of Drac Redux this past year because I wanted to see how an original The Drac would compare to the Redux blend, but I digress. When I smoked one of my OG The Drac’s back in December, I remember being really surprised at the amount of honey like sweetness of the blend. This experience was highlighted by a medium to full-bodied profile that featured notes of milk chocolate, old leather, and a slightly sweet and spicy finish on the retrohale.
The biggest differences that I could notice between these two experiences with The Drac was the undeniably heightened amount of sweetness, and the obvious rounding out of some of its distinct flavors. After another 8 years of aging on The Drac, the rich and almost bitter dark chocolate notes faded into creamier milk chocolate, while the black pepper took a back seat to more apparent notes of worn leather. All in all, this extra 8 years of aging did The Drac justice in my opinion – I’m not necessarily saying it’s better now than it was then, but it is certainly more balanced and much less aggressive in its older age in my opinion.
2. Tatuaje The Face
- Years of Age: 12+
- Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
Aside from being a really cool looking cigar, I thought the original The Face was one of the more underappreciated blends from the monster series – especially with a bit of age on it to mellow out the pepper a bit. With about 4 years of age on the cigar when I first smoked it, I was super impressed with the balance and nuance that came with the flavorful notes of cinnamon, cedar, almonds, and natural sweetness.
Fast forward about 8 more years when I smoked The Face again with significant more age on it. In this instance, the strength of the blend felt closer to the medium mark, and the distinct flavors and nuance I experienced in my first go with The Face seemed to disappear quite a bit.
In the case of The Face, I think that 12 years of aging was a bit too much – when I smoked it with just 4 years of age on it, it seemed like the perfect sweet spot. After an additional 8 years everything became a little too muted and the characteristics that made me become a huge fan of The Face became just a distant memory.
3. Tatuaje Mexican Experiment
- Years of Age: 5+
- Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
- Binder: Nicaraguan
- Filler: Nicaraguan
When I smoked my first Mexican Experiment back in 2017, I had such high expectations considering how impressive I thought every other Tatuaje blend was. Though I must admit, I was not a fan of it after I smoked it for the first time. I am not saying it was a bad a cigar, but the forwardness of the earth, leather, and black pepper notes was not something that I was drawn to. So, I decided to put the other 4 cigars in my humidor just to see what would happen to them after a few years.
To my surprise, when I smoked one of these ME’s back in December, I was shocked at what 5 years of age did to this blend – it was rich, chocolatey, creamy, and balanced, and those almost overwhelming notes of leather, earth, and black pepper were rounded out and were complemented beautifully by the natural sweetness that was shining through.
Out of the three cigars is used for this “experiment”, I think Mexican Experiment gained the most out of the aging process. 5 years of age did nothing but good for this blend, and I’m really excited to see what another 5 years will do to it (don’t worry, I’ll post an update here).
Closing Thoughts:
I am going to leave you with this: aging cigars is not a science, and the only way to get the results that you are looking for is with a lot of trial and error. Some people may prefer a year of age on the cigars, while others may prefer 6 years of age – at the end of the day, cigar preferences are subjective (obviously), and no one will know what you like or dislike more than yourself.
I hope this article gave you some encouragement to try out aging your cigars yourself or at the very least, reinforced that you have no interest at all. Either way, let me know whether you think aging cigars can be beneficial, or if you think it’s a bunch of bologna.
