tatuaje 2009 La Verite

This week's review is of the 2009 Tatuaje La Verite. The 2009 was released this year, with the tobacco being from 2009. This release was a bit different than the first La Verite cigar. The original one was composed of one seed varietal, while the 2009 vintage was a blend of 45% Habano Nicaragua, 40% Criollo 98' and 15% Pele De Oro. The La Verite measures in at 7x47, a traditional churchill vitola. A friend of mine on BOTL was kind enough to send me this one to try.

The 2009 La Verite is a a nice looking cigar with a well applied triple cap. The wrapper has a little bit of oil visible and has a sliightly gritty feel to it.  There is some wrapper damage halfway up the cigar but It looks like it shouldn't cause any problems. There are a few noticable veins, but nothing out of the ordinary. I like the addition of the secondary band for this release. The aroma at the foot is of hay and cedar. The prelight draw shows a nice draw with flavors of well aged tobacco. Once lit, the La Verite doesn't waste anytime getting going. This starts out with some classic tatuaje black pepper spice with a musty wood character. The spice backs off after the the first 5 minutes, revealing a plethora of different, complex flavors. The burn has been dead even and the snowy white ash held on for a solid inch. The room aroma on this cigar is intoxicating. As I get closer to the halfway point there is an almost floral undertone here with a hint of a citrus zest that I rarely get out of non Cuban cigars.

As I reach the secondary bands I am really enjoying this cigar. It has a great complexity to the flavor profile. This is a solid medium bodied cigar with a medium amount of strength and is perfectly balanced. The flavor profile continues to change and has become quite leathery in the last third. One of my friends on BOTL recently gifted me this cigar and I am kicking myself for not getting these when they were available. 

The 2009 Tatuaje La Verite was fantastic. I thought the 2008 was ok but suffered a bit by being composed of one type of tobacco, the 2009 doesn't have this problem at all. I think this cigar turned out exactly like Pete wanted it to, a truly vintage cigar with great aging potential with great complexity to the flavor profile. When these were released this size sold for around $20, but even at that price I would gladly pick some up. These are still available if you know where to look. There are very few cigars I would spend that kind of money on but this one wowed me.  

Tatuaje La Verite 2008

Recently I did a review of the Tatuaje L'esprit De Verite and promised a review of the flagship cigar in the line, La Verite. Well, here it is! I did a full write up of the store behind La Verite previously, so check back at the L'esprit review for information about the makeup of this cigar. The La Verite measures in at 7x47, making it a Churchill. Only 30,000 La Verite were produced for the 2008 vintage. 

Like L'Esprit, this is a well made cigar with a lighter brown silky wrapper. The construction is flawless with a perfectly applied triple cap. This is adorned with the same band as the L'esprit, but in gold instead of silver. The predraw shows some resistance and some cedar flavor. After lighting, the La Verite starts out soft and subtle, with some sweetness and cedar. After smoking the L'esprit, I was ready for this to start out mild and creamy, which it is. I am loving how smooth this cigar is. It is easy to retrohale, which when done brings out more of the cedar flavor. The very white ash holds on for a solid inch. The burn has been a little wavy, but seems to even itself out. Two inches into the La Verite and the flavors have been pretty much the same, but I am noticing a little bit of leather creeping in. Not surprising, this is very similar to the smaller size. Halfway through the flavors have gotten darker while remaining pretty consistent. There is some spice coming through, but its pretty faint. 

Overall, La Verite was a tasty cigar. The flavors were pretty strait forward, but very nice. I think I prefer the L'esprit when it comes to this line. I found it to be a little more complex. The 2008 La Verite comes in at a whopping $20 a piece. The L'esprit is $16, and while only a few bucks cheaper, it would be my choice out of these 2.