About Tatuaje
Industry darling, Pete Johnson, founded Tatuaje in 2003. Johnson met the legendary Cuban blender, Don “Pepin” Garcia, and their partnership led to what we now know as Tatuaje. Johnson showed Garcia a Cuban cigar he was very fond of, and Garcia was able to roll a cigar with a nearly identical flavor profile. Pete Johnson immediately started his business and began negotiations to launch the Tatuaje brand. The name Tatuaje comes from Pete Johnson’s nickname “Tattoo Pete”. Tatuaje has been an integral part of the boutique cigar industry since its inception, and has a stellar reputation in the cigar community.
Blend Details
Pete Johnson released the Tatuaje 7th in 2010 as the 7th vitola in the original Selección de Cazador (Brown Label) lineup. The 5 5/8 x 46 Corona Gorda featured an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, but Tatuaje later expanded the line with the 7th Reserva (US Connecticut Broadleaf), and 7th Capa Especial (Ecuadorian Sumatra). At PCA 2025, Tatuaje announced two more expansions to the 7th line — The Tuxtla, showcasing a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, and the Crojo, showcasing a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper. The blend is made up of Nicaraguan binders and fillers. As with many of Tatuaje’s core offerings, the Tatuaje 7th Corojo is rolled under the supervision of the Garcia family at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Visual Inspection & pre-Light
The wrapper is oily and light, earthy brown with some visible tooth. It’s very nicely finished with a triple cap. The aromas on the foot and wrapper are of marzipan and cedar. The cold draw is perfectly snug with notes of wet leaves.
First Third
The smoke output is excellent at light-up. The notes on the palate are sourdough, earth, minerals, and toasted cumin. The retrohale has tones of medium-roast coffee, sweet toasted almond, and cayenne. The strength of flavor is at medium plus. The finish is medium with notes of cumin and coffee. The overall profile is a delicious mix of sweet, savory, and spicy notes. There are some BBQ-type flavors on both the palate and the retrohale. The ash is tight, the burn line is razor sharp, and the draw is excellent.
Second Third
The palate tastes of toasted bread, earth, and cumin. The retrohale is showing medium-roast coffee, sweet toasted almonds, bell pepper, and a tinge of cayenne. The strength of flavor has softened to medium. The smoke output remains excellent. The finish is medium with notes of earth and cumin. The sourdough shifted to a generic bready flavor, and the spice and sweetness have also taken a significant step backward. The profile has shifted to earth and balance. I’m finding myself searching for some of those flavors from the first third. The ash remains tight, the burn line got wonky, but corrected after the cigar ashed. The construction has been excellent otherwise.
Final Third
The palate has notes of cumin, toasted bread, earth, musty woody, and cocoa. The retrohale has tones of medium-roast coffee, sweet toasted almond, tomato paste, and a tickle of cayenne. The strength of flavor remains medium. The smoke output remains excellent. The finish remains medium with notes of toasted bread and cocoa. The overall profile leans toward the savory side, with a lot of earthy notes. The burn line is going wavy, but construction remains excellent otherwise. Past the band, the flavors were very consistent. I put this cigar down with just below an inch left.
Conclusions
Tatuaje’s 7th Corojo came out swinging with a delectable first third. The tangy, sweet, and spicy flavors read more like backyard barbecue than cigar tasting notes. While the second and final thirds had some of those sweet almond notes, they never hit the same highs as the first third did. I found myself searching for flavors that never came back throughout the smoke. My Father’s work on the construction side was solid on this blend, with my only complaint being a slightly wavy burn line in the second half. The other really impressive point on this cigar is its MSRP — $9.50 is a very strong price point for a cigar delivering this caliber of flavor. If you’re looking for a Corojo blend with a killer first third that won’t break the bank, this would fit right into your rotation. Personally, I’ll be working my way through Tatuaje’s other Corojo blends to find more of those barbecue flavors.
