Tasting Note

It's rare to find a cigar made by hand in the United States and rarer still to find a great one. Expensive labor and a limited number of trained cigarmakers have caused most American-based cigarmakers to leave for offshore factories or to automate. That's one of the reasons the Tatuaje brand is so interesting. It's a very small brand, made in a small Miami factory, but the real draw here is the quality of the cigars, made from a rich blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos. These are medium- to full-bodied smokes, made for the seasoned smoker. The Especiales size—7 inches by a slim 38 ring—is modeled after Cuba's Cohiba Lancero and Trinidad Fundadore. Good now, these gran panetelas are likely to become great with age. If only there were more.