Tatuaje dud

Well I've been smoking cigars for a couple of years now and have never gotten a stick so plugged that it was unsmokeable. Until today.

I've had a 10th Anniversary Tat in the humidor for a while and have been really looking forward to it. I had planned to smoke it on my 13th wedding anniversary but didn't get around to it.

Tonight I needed a good smoke after a shitty week at work. Well it just got shittier (if that's a word).
The cigar is a smaller ring gauge so I give it a straight cut and fire it up. The draw is so tight I can't hardly get anything out of it. It's like getting a thick milkshake and trying to get a drink of it.

The foot is pouring off smoke like crazy but I could hardly get anything out of it.

I tried and tried to roll it around but it didn't seem to have any plugs that I could feel. I took my pipe tool and tried to clear anything out near the head, to no avail.

Finally, less than an inch in, I got pissed and threw it against the wall. Then I picked it up and cut it open. I couldn't find any plugs. It was just rolled so tightly it wouldn't allow any air through.

It sucks. I know Tatuaje is a good company. Anyone who makes a handmade product will have some bad ones every now and then.
The flavors I got were great.

Sorry, I had to rant. This is an anniversary edition that the B&M is out of so getting another is out of the question. Dammit.

Happened to me once but it was a nica libre so I wasn't to upset.

I've had 7 Tats and 5 of them have been bad. I gave up on the brand for now. Too many cigars that have not let me down that often. I'm not saying they're a bad brand, the 2 I enjoyed were great, but my track record has been far short of impressive.

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Originally Posted by Cool Breeze

Well I've been smoking cigars for a couple of years now and have never gotten a stick so plugged that it was unsmokeable. Until today.

I've had a 10th Anniversary Tat in the humidor for a while and have been really looking forward to it. I had planned to smoke it on my 13th wedding anniversary but didn't get around to it.

Tonight I needed a good smoke after a shitty week at work. Well it just got shittier (if that's a word).
The cigar is a smaller ring gauge so I give it a straight cut and fire it up. The draw is so tight I can't hardly get anything out of it. It's like getting a thick milkshake and trying to get a drink of it.

The foot is pouring off smoke like crazy but I could hardly get anything out of it.

I tried and tried to roll it around but it didn't seem to have any plugs that I could feel. I took my pipe tool and tried to clear anything out near the head, to no avail.

Finally, less than an inch in, I got pissed and threw it against the wall. Then I picked it up and cut it open. I couldn't find any plugs. It was just rolled so tightly it wouldn't allow any air through.

It sucks. I know Tatuaje is a good company. Anyone who makes a handmade product will have some bad ones every now and then.
The flavors I got were great.

Sorry, I had to rant. This is an anniversary edition that the B&M is out of so getting another is out of the question. Dammit.

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"Tonight I needed a good smoke after a shitty week at work. Well it just got shittier (if that's a word)"
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Shittier may or may not be a word but it sure as hell is a state of being.That time when no matter how totally screwed up everything is, it somehow just keeps getting worse no matter what you do. Nothing, no how, no kind of way can or will put an end to it. Leastways that's the way those sort of days or weeks always seem to be...worse and worser no matter what you do.
Seems as if the good gets put on hold until the bad has had its run.
Onliest thing to do, once things brighten up ...is to realize that that bloody state of Shitty and then shittier is the state some live their entire lives in.
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Here's to better times better smokes.

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Originally Posted by allusred

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tonight I needed a good smoke after a shitty week at work. Well it just got shittier (if that's a word)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Onliest thing to do, once things brighten up ...is to realize that that bloody state of Shitty and then shittier is the state some live their entire lives in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's to better times better smokes.

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Oh yeah man.
I've got it good. I get a little whiney sometimes but I'm under no illusions. I've never really had it bad.

And there are plenty of good cigars in the humidor and pipe tobacco in the cellar. Life is good.

Yepper. It happens.

that sucks dude. I actually had a similar experience today with my now nemesis cigar, gran habano 2002. I couldn't even get a draw past the first 1/2 inch and the cherry was rock solid. Not the best experience at all.

I've had that happen with more than a few CC as well. But even Tatuaje has a dud now & then. I had a Tat Black CG that was virtually unsmokeable a while back as well as the only Tramp Stamp I've ever tried.

its only a cigar. Duds will and do happen.

I'm going to go with shittier being a word. I've seen it...

That sucks brother. The 10th are some great sticks. If you get a chance try the belle Encre reserva. Another great smoke along the same lines as the 10th. I enjoy the reserva even more.

Reno

Interestingly, 3/4 of the plugged sticks I've had (only had a bit more than a handful) were Tatuaje.

I still enjoy 'em though. Plugged sticks happen.

I gotta say, I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm just not a big fan of Tats and don't get the hype. I've had construction issues as well as harsh flavors, even on some higher end sticks. Not that I won't keep trying....:stogie:

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Originally Posted by stonecutter2

Interestingly, 3/4 of the plugged sticks I've had (only had a bit more than a handful) were Tatuaje.

I still enjoy 'em though. Plugged sticks happen.

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this has been my experience also, but of those over half I have been able to fix by cutting down the head until it starts smoking.

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Originally Posted by stonecutter2

Interestingly, 3/4 of the plugged sticks I've had (only had a bit more than a handful) were Tatuaje.

I still enjoy 'em though. Plugged sticks happen.

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Interesting

I'm kinda surprised that that so many people have had tat issues. I've had 170-200 or so tats and have not had a single bad draw or issues with construction. Luck maybe?

Probably. Most of mine were off tasting and had serious problems staying lit, one even started oozing black stuff out the punch. I've had good ones so I know they exist, and it's a shame cause the bad ones taste like they're trying to be what I thought they were destined to be, but they just fell short. Really short. These have been Miamis and black labels. Red labels have never given me problems.

If it's any value, my long and trusty go-to, the Oliva V double robusto, gave me draw/burn issues at the halfway point on the 1st 5 I had, they all did the exact same thing. Went out at the halfway point and required relighting every 2 minutes after that. I don't think I ever had those problems again. Years and boxes later. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by thechasm442

I'm kinda surprised that that so many people have had tat issues. I've had 170-200 or so tats and have not had a single bad draw or issues with construction. Luck maybe?

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My experience as well. Not trying to refute the experience of others. I usually have $10+ Tats though so that might be one thing. Below $8 I'll switch to other brands...

I've actually had a couple of lower end Tats (Tattoo and Fausto) and both were flawless construction.
The Tattoo was a so-so stick (good for deer camp around the campfire). I really enjoyed the Fausto though. Good full bodied maduro. I liked it a lot.

The 10th was the first $10 Tat I've had and as luck would have it, it was the one that I couldn't smoke.
No worries though. It is a hand made product. There is bound to be a bad one here and there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thechasm442

I'm kinda surprised that that so many people have had tat issues. I've had 170-200 or so tats and have not had a single bad draw or issues with construction. Luck maybe?

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Just bad luck, more than likely. I think 2 of them were Havana VI Angeles from the same box (i usually buy a few instead of a single, in case of any issues or i want to get a good impression of a stick over a couple tries). Then the other 2 Tats were random other sticks that were also mostly plugged (can't remember the names of them, nothing ultra expensive). The other couple of plugged sticks were a Habano (Quintero) and a Gran Habano Vintage 2002. The GHV2002 went directly into the firepit and I got another stick. There were more in the bundle where that 1 came from :)

One reason I always bring a second, back up stick. You never know, even the best can be bad.

Though I have to say I'm a little surprised. I thought pretty much every major manufacturer used those little suck machines to gauge the airflow before they put the caps on.

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Originally Posted by thechasm442

I'm kinda surprised that that so many people have had tat issues. I've had 170-200 or so tats and have not had a single bad draw or issues with construction. Luck maybe?

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I think this has to do with smoking rott most of the time, I know you like to let your stuff sit for a while first.

I've had then plenty of times, 75% acclimation issues, 25% construction

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Originally Posted by jp1979

I think this has to do with smoking rott most of the time, I know you like to let your stuff sit for a while first.

I've had then plenty of times, 75% acclimation issues, 25% construction

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Now that makes more sense to me. As it is, 95% of anything I smoke seems to smoke well.