TheTatuaje Black Humidified Sampler explores the darker, stronger side of Pete Johnson's cigar portfolio. Where the Red sampler concentrates on his more medium-bodied blends, the Black bag brings together five cigars chosen for greater richness, strength and intensity. Better still, every cigar is presented in the same6" x 50 Toro format, allowing an experienced smoker to compare the blends without different sizes muddying the waters. It's a clever way to explore how Johnson and his collaborators approach fuller-bodied tobacco across both Tatuaje and L'Atelier.
Inside are one each of theTatuaje Selección de Cazador, Tatuaje Verocú, La Mission L'Atelier, Surrogates Bone Crusher and Tatuaje Fausto. The Selección de Cazador—better known to many aficionados as Tatuaje's original Brown Label—provides the old-school Cuban-inspired foundation of the collection. Verocú turns up the intensity, while La Mission brings the richer personality of the L'Atelier portfolio into the mix. Surrogates Bone Crusher lives up to its reputation with a darker, more muscular presentation, and Fausto rounds out the bag with one of Tatuaje's most unapologetically powerful blends. Together they move through pepper, earth, cedar and leather into darker territory of espresso, cocoa, spice and natural tobacco sweetness.
Theresealable humidified bag makes the sampler convenient for travel and gifting, but the real attraction is what's inside. Five different blends in identical Toro dimensions provide an unusually useful side-by-side look at Pete Johnson's approach to stronger cigars. For the established Tatuaje smoker, it's five familiar personalities presented in an interesting format; for someone exploring the brand for the first time, the Black sampler skips the gentler introductions and heads directly toward the cigars that helped establish Tatuaje's reputation for bold, full-flavored Nicaraguan smoking experiences.
