Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial Staff Review
Tatuaje brand founder Pete Johnson is considered a pioneer of boutique cigars, and today I’m smoking his Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial blend in the Belle Encre size, a 5.375-by-48 Perfecto. In 2023, the Tatuaje brand turned twenty years old. Pete has continued rolling out small-batch smokes, made by the Garcia family, the same way as when he started his brand back in 2003.
The original Tatuaje 10th Anniversary cigars debuted in 2013 to commemorate the brand’s first decade in business. That cigar is finished in an Ecuador Habano wrapper leaf. Like many of his blends, Pete loves to revisit them, tweak them, and rerelease them with new ingredients. For Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial, he chose a dark Ecuador Sumatra wrapper leaf to go around a meaty core of Nicaraguan long-fillers grown on select estates owned by celebrated father-and-son cigarmakers Pepin and Jaime Garcia. Tatuaje cigars are produced at the My Father factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Smoking the 10th Anniversary Capa Especial in a smaller Figurado like the Bell Encre is something to look forward to. The Garcia family maintains some of the highest standards for quality control in the cigar industry. This particular smoke promises to be robust and complex on account of the tobaccos they’ve chosen with Pete as well as the intensity this size is known for.
Pete packages the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial blend in a simple slide-top box of 20 cigars. Each cigar gets a classic 10th Anniversary band up top with a secondary label that reads Capa Especial underneath. Potent aromas of earth, leather, and mesquite escape when I crack a fresh box open and slide a nice and oily Belle Encre from the center of the batch. I like to pick a cigar from the middle of a cabinet selection box because the cigars in the middle are surrounded on all sides by the other cigars, leading to exceptionally rich flavor and aroma.
The cold draw is succulent and a touch sweet when I slice the cap with my V-cutter and test the airflow, which is perfect. Because the blades on most V-cutters are inverted today, it’s much easier to cut the cap on tapered cigars like the Belle Encre. The V-cut preserves the shape of the cap and creates more surface area in the draw without cracking the wrapper.
The Belle Encre kicks off with concentrated notes of leather and earth supported by a strong influence of black pepper in the nose. This is a dense cigar that deserves to be smoked after dinner with a fine spirit like an old single malt or bourbon. Don’t be fooled by the cigar’s smaller stature. Tatuaje cigars can pack a wallop in any size, and Pete is known for making predominantly full-bodied smokes.
Undercurrents of spice and cocoa unfold with a touch of raisin as the 10th Anniversary Capa Especial progresses. This meaty and chocolaty blend is very much in line with some of the best Tatuaje cigars I’ve smoked before. The cigar’s compact shape provides more intensity than you’ll experience in a standard Parejo. Malty notes of hickory, oak, and baking spices come into play when I pause between draws to let the finish linger.
As I near the forty-minute mark, I haven’t had to touch up the burn a single time. The construction is immaculate, and the ash is firm throughout, even as I peel the bands off to power through the final inch and a half. Peppery notes of molasses and coffee bean swell into focus before the Belle Encre nears its end. Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial leaves a deep aftertaste on my palate as I pinch the head to take in the last draw or two before the cigar expires. I’m giving it 91 points. Add a few to your next order before this latest limited edition from Pete sells out. A total of 3,000 boxes were produced in each size. It also comes in a 5.375-by-52 format called the Bon Chasseur if you prefer a standard shape over the Perfecto.
