El Cubanito Cigars reviews La Traviata by CAO cigars.
Robusto
Construction: Feels uneven, some soft spots noted. Nice cap. Wrap has minor veins and moderate tooth.

Initial Impression: pretty tame at onset, some minor spice and earthy notes.

At about 1/2 inch in 10 minutes: displayed an even burn, good draw, not muchchanged in the flavor dept, some hints of coffee, but a bit of an after taste leaving a mineral like tinge on the palate, hope that goes away.

Almost half way into this stogie, the draw and burn are exceptional , not much complexity, its a smooth cigar, with the exception of the after taste which has subsided a bit, its got some minimal spice black pepper and a bit of black coffee. The pepper is lingering on the finish now at the half way point.

At the bottom third of this cigar and the flavor has gotten much better, some nut and spice along with black coffee, and a hint of sweetness on the finish, have brought this stogie to life. This is a pleasant up swing as this was an uneventful cigar to this point. Now its become a joy.

Finishig off this La Traviata, by CAO, it ended up with a bang, but, just at the bottom third.

Construction: ok, some soft spots in the middle, didnt cause burn issues but was worth noting
Draw: good, nice smoke, thick and full
Burn: good, even up to the last third where it ran a bit
Taste: ehhh, not much to speak of until the bottom end and then it picked up wuite nicely
Complexity: average, again not til the back side
Overall: average, but for the price, not bad

This cigar review of the tatuaje black label is the second go round.  Although the first review clearly stated it was a good stogie, I met with some controversy from several cigar lovers in my circle.  They felt I was under rating this cigar.  Soooo, I put a couple into the humidor for a month or two and Im pulling one out to fire it up today and see if opinions are like what Ive always heard.  You know, everybody has one… What did you think I was gonna say. This is a cigar review of true moral values, dont ya know.

Lets get to it:

Torpedo stogie

All Nicaraguan blend

Rustic wrapper with some veins and mottleing

Foot is unfinished, that is to say left without a final cut, once again rustic

Prelight sniff gives a great barnyard aroma, very much what I like

Prelight draw has a minute pepper to it, which I didnt get the first time

Lets light up:  spicey, right from the onset, on the tongue throat and yet a slight creamyness on the lips, not sweet really just a sensation

The finish is initial spice diminished after a puff or to and gave way to a nutty, hay taste with some sweet notes, and now some slight sweetness on the lips.

Early nose-hale yields smooth smoke with little to no spice, some leathery aroma is however present.

About an inch in to it and the ash is a nice whitish grey, some black mottling, appears to be pretty firm, no blooming.

The burn at this point is even.  If I re-call the last one I smoked had some consistent burn issues, i.e. uneveness.

I believe I just picked up a hint of ginger on the last draw, mixed with nuts, interesting.  Another puff confirms it, ginger is definitely what I would describe it as.   Now its about 12:30 mid day and Ive had a good breakfast of cuban bread and coffee, but Im feeling the power of this stogie.  Its got a kick to it, pretty nice indeed.

Ohh! that puff at about 2 inches changed alot, spice is back, cayenne pepper like on the palate and tongue as well as the nose, when exhaled.

Lots of ginger, with pepper and again a creamyness, with slight sweetness on the lips on the next couple draws.  The complexity of this cigar is astonishing.  It is quite a bit different than the first black label that I reviewed.  I dont know what to attribute it to but its definitely a different smoke.  At about 3 inches the ash released.

The burn has remained quite even to this point, the smoke is not as thick as I would like.  The draw is very good and the cigar has remained firm to the half way mark.  With the last puff I was again hit with pepper all the way to the back of the throat, pretty intense.  The sweetness on the lips has increased along with the creaminess.  Its almost like a “sweet and spicey” tag team match with this cigar.

I think the most appealing part of this cigar is the fact , theres no long lasting parched taste on the palate.  The way some cigars leave.  There is none of that here, adding to the overall enjoyment.

On the last third now and everything is building, spice, ginger, sweetness, creaminess all getting to the forefront hand in hand.  Even the amount of smoke has built up to where Im very pleased and slightly overwhelmed but happy!

This cigar review has definitely moved the black label up a notch or two on my favorites list but I still favor the Conoju 2003 model, from TATUAJE.  I think if the amount of smoke had reached this level earlier in the stogie I would have a tough decision on my hands.  But this is a really outstanding cigar through and through.  The Complexity, burn and overall smokeability of this cigar is wonderful.  I would definitely recommend this cigar and cant wait for a few more months til I hit the other one in my humidor.

Body: Full

Complexity: outrageous

Burn: even

Smoke: good overall, great at the last third