Howdy folks, long time lurker (considering a bronze membership) and first time Humidor poster here checking in... my palate is hardly as refined as some here but "I know what I like"    My all time faves are the Fuente Hemingway line, assorted Maduros, the "Ybor City Handmades" in all sizes from King Corona Cigars, Partagas black labels and the non-ISOM Cohiba black labels.  I will also occasionally indulge in a dry cured cheroot or a Drew Estate coffee infused monstrosity.

I've enjoyed everything I've tried in the Tatuaje line (one box of Cabaiguans and one of Tat Black tubos in the frigidor right now, both are awesome) and figured what the hell, I bought a box of the Anarchys (Anarchies?) which finally arrived today.  Normally I let a new box rest for a week or two (Frigidor set for 65ish / 65ish % with an Oasis XL and more than enough 65% heartfelt beads to keep it stable) but I just had to fire one up fresh off the big brown truck.

Very solid construction, typical of the Tat cigars, not rock hard but definitely firm, no soft spots.  The pigtail on the cap is quite long, so long in fact it's spiraled all the way to the outer diameter of the cigar.  Very cool looking, almost a shame to clip it.  Wrapper reminds me of a Tat black but not quite as dark, nor as rustic looking.  Silky, oily sheen and not quite as rustic looking as the Black Tats.  I know it's cliche but the aroma was "barnyard" semi-funky earthy, sweetish and a little hay like.  The unlit cigar just screams "quality"... you know it's gonna be good.

Once clipped, the pre-light draw was quite spicy... and when toasted and lit, even more spicy.  That spiciness (common to the Tatuajes I've enjoyed) lasted for a while, then gave way to earthy tobacco and definite hints of coffee and other "dark" flavors and what I'd describe as a woody/cedar/leathery note at the end.  Milder tasting than I thought it would be but no weak sister, gave me a little nicotine buzz.  My palate isn't sophisticated enough to analyze any further.

Burn was even, firm light gray ash, dense white smoke but not what I'd call "creamy", didn't get hot until nubbed and I usually smoke on the faster side.

Enjoyed with a nice glass of Mourvèdre from Paso Robles, although I'm usually a whisky drinker... I had read that Pete Johnson prefers red wine with his creations, so I figured I'd follow suit.  It was a good choice.

Overall I'd say an excellent cigar, lots of marketing hype but the substance more than makes up for it.

Cheers amigos!  

Welcome

Cheers, and thanks for the review.

Welcome and thanks for the review.
I have some of these heading my way and am looking forward to smoking them.

Welcome to the Humidor......thank you for the review.

Was never a big Tat fan but recently my tastes seem to be changing....
The Face was a treat and I pulled another from a pass.
Not going to drop my AFs but a nice change...

Thanks for the welcome, looking forward to a few reviews on these from the true aficianados!

Welcome!  Are you local to Paso Robles?  I live in Atascadero and I was wondering what Mourvèdre you had?

Thanks for the quick review. Feel free to stay a while.

This showed up at my door today.

Nice Quantim2, yours are probably fresher than mine... shorter shipping distance!  Looks like a little slice of Tat heaven right there.  I'm a bit reluctant to wear my Anarchy hat though... folks are more apt to think I'm a washed up punk rocker or... well... anarchist than a cigar fancier.

Thanks Slavac, I will indeed hang around a while and sponge off the knowledge here!  You guys pushed me over the edge, I finally manned up and bought a Bronze membership.  

The Mourvèdre was a 2008 Cuatro Dias.  Don't recall if I picked it up in Paso or at the local wine shop... but it was pretty nice.  I like the richer tasting reds, not too sweet but no so tannic they make the top of your head cave in.  

I'm not from Atascadero but I did spend the night at the new Holiday Inn Express there once!  Love the area, as far as I'm concerned SoCal is far from the best part of the state.  I have the mixed blessing of being from the OC.

Smoked my second Anarchy tonight, with a nice glass of Lagavulin.

Funny how the weather/beverage/mood can temper the experience.  This one was similar to the last, but seemed more powerful and the flavors, while similar, stacked up a bit differently. I would call it spicy to start, woody/cedary mid way through, followed by the slightest hint of earthy cocoa and then leatheriness.  Massive volume of dense smoke generated, just like the first one.  Not my end-all be-all cigar but a nice, powerful, flavorful smoke.

The nicotine blast just about knocked my ass out of the chair, I had to grab me a bowl of chili colorado (recipe found on ARFcom of all places) halfway through the stick.  The spiciness of the chili was a great compliment, made the cedar notes of the cigar really pop in a literally sweet way and settled my tummy nicely.

Pictures:



And the pigtail... don't know whether I love it or hate it.  I can't decide whether it looks like a coil of rope or a stylized version of something unpleasant.



Normally I use a Palio cutter, which I have found to be a world better than the el-cheapos I was using before.  I bought one of those Xicar spring loaded jobs on sale (the cheap carbon fiber and stainless model, visible in the pic above the Glock) and man... I have have a new favorite cutter I think.  Much cleaner cut than even the Palio.