Tatuaje Reserva J21 Broadleaf | halfwheel

Over the years, we’ve purchased hundreds of boxes of cigars. For the most part, they are more or less the same. Even amongst the 10 percent or so that don’t fall into the category of “standard cigar box,” most of them are of the same ilk.

Of all those boxes, there aren’t many that have as few peers as the giant box that was the Tatuaje Reserva Broadleaf Collection.

In 2016, Tatuaje showed off the Reserva Broadleaf Collection, which saw the company release 10 different cigars from its Havana Cazadores line—better known as Brown Label—but with Connecticut broadleaf wrappers instead of the Ecuadorian wrappers that are normally used.

The six original Brown Label sizes—the six cigars’ first letters spell HUNTER—and four other cigars were selected for the release. They came packaged in giant wooden boxes that contained 10 different sections, each containing 10 of the cigars.

• Tatuaje Havana Cazadores Reserva Broadleaf (6 3/8 x 43) — $11 (Boxes of 10, $110)
• Tatuaje Unicos Reserva Broadleaf (6 1/8 x 52) — $12 (Boxes of 10, $120)
• Tatuaje Noellas Reserva Broadleaf (5 1/8 x 42) — $9 (Boxes of 10, $90)
• Tatuaje Tainos Reserva Broadleaf (7 5/8 x 49) — $13 (Boxes of 10, $130)
• Tatuaje Especiales Reserva Broadleaf (7 1/2 x 38) — $11 (Boxes of 10, $110)
• Tatuaje Regios Reserva Broadleaf (5 1/2 x 50) — $11 (Boxes of 10, $110)
• Tatuaje Reserva SW Broadleaf (7 x 47) — $13 (Boxes of 10, $130)
• Tatuaje Reserva J21 Broadleaf (5 x 50) — $12 (Boxes of 10, $120)
• Tatuaje Reserva K222 Broadleaf (5 7/8 x 52) — $14 (Boxes of 10, $140)
• Tatuaje Cojonú 2003 Reserva Broadleaf (6 1/2 x 52) — $14 (Boxes of 10, $140)

Tatuaje planned to release 5,000 of these master cases, but in 2018, the company abandoned that plan and pivoted to offering the cigars in 10- and 25-count boxes. For those who find this packaging very cool, JRE Tobacco Co. sells a very similar concept, the 70-count Aladino Display box, which contains seven different vitolas of the Aladino Corojo line.

While I would argue that Tatuaje has had more success with Connecticut broadleaf wrappers than any other company in the modern era, the Reserva Broadleaf Collection was not a high mark for the company. Our reviews of the cigars inside were all over the place, but generally below the scores that Tatuaje is accustomed to. The exception was the Reserva J21, which I enjoyed when I reviewed it in June 2017.

Here’s what I said:

Our initial reviews of the Tatuaje Broadleaf Collection have been surprising and our experiences largely disappointing, particularly for Tatuaje. The company has set a very high bar for itself and rarely does it miss, but many of those cigars have been flawed. It’s ranged from flavor issues to construction issues to consistency, all things the Reserva J21 Broadleaf thankfully avoids. This is what we’ve come to expect from Pete Johnson: flavor, construction, balance. I’ve still got two of the new broadleaf-wrapped Brown Labels to smoke, but so far, this has been the best of the bunch.

The cigar finished #19 on our Top 25 list that year.

• Cigar Reviewed: Tatuaje Reserva J21 Broadleaf
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $12 (Box of 10, $120)
• Release Date: Feb. 14, 2017
• Number of Cigars Released: 50,000 Total Cigars
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

While going through a Tatuaje tray in a cabinet humidor, I first found some of the other vitolas and the cellophane on some of them had become very yellowed. The J21’s cellophane is on the lighter side of the half dozen or so Reserva Broadleaf cigars I find, but still shows a lot of the yellowing.

Once I remove the cigar, my attention turns to the back of the cigar, where there’s a massive knotted vein, one of the gnarliest-looking veins I’ve seen on a cigar this year. Even for broadleaf, the rest of the cigar is quite rustic-looking: a dark wrapper with some red underneath and so much texture that it’s difficult to see normal-looking veins. Instead, there’s some thick lines that look like stitches. I also can see a few different specks of a silver metallic color, something Pete Johnson, Tatuaje’s founder, has said is unique to one of the farms from which he sources broadleaf. There’s a medium aroma with some charcoal, barnyard and sweetness—all of which smell like they were once strong scents but have since faded. The foot is more alive, medium-full with barnyard leading some caramel ice cream. It’s a one-two punch, but I wouldn’t be able to tell that this is from an aged cigar. On the flipside, cold draws make it clear that this cigar has spent some significant time in a humidor, as it has faded. I’d peg it as medium, but even after a few minutes and a dozen or so dry pulls, I’m unsure what flavors are actually there. There’s certainly some sweetness—one time it reminds me of a muted root beer candy, but I can’t taste it in subsequent attempts—and something that reminds me of the smell of ink.

The Tatuaje Reserva J21 Broadleaf starts with three flavors: woodiness, saltiness and toastiness. Each is a bit muted but more importantly, I can’t taste the flavors for very long. After just five seconds, there’s nearly nothing on my palate and then the finish kicks in with a semi-bitter damp bark flavor. It’s medium-full and there’s no denying that this is an aged cigar. Early on, I think that the ash is super dark, but I then realize that while the ash is dark, it’s actually that the cigar has a very thick burn line. Flavor-wise, it’s quite muted with woodiness, toastiness, salted rice and black pepper. Everything is muted and some puffs are quite lifeless. Towards the end of the final third, I experience a 10-minute stretch that reminds me of the bottom of a cup of black tea. The finish has wheat bread, toastiness, black pepper and some minerals. Retrohales offer a peanut flavor that is less faded than the other flavors, though it’s still quite soft. The finish has black pepper leading some muted toastiness and barnyard. As I’ve mentioned in past reviews reviews, it tastes like someone went in and took 30 percent of the saturation out of each flavor, not quite a black and white photo, but clearly missing the complete color wheel. Despite finding the individual flavors to be shells of themselves, I’d peg the flavor at full, body is medium and strength is medium. I touch up the cigar to deal with one part of the wrapper not burning, which you can see below.

Unfortunately, the fading flavor quality continues into the second third. At times, it feels like a rice cake flavor has masked everything that’s there, but then there are some puffs that are uniquely lifeless. That said, the majority of the puffs offer a faint broadleaf flavor—with barnyard and sweetness in tow—along with sharp black pepper. Retrohales continue to provide the salty white rice flavor, but there’s no other flavor to separate it from when I’m not retrohaling. Texture-wise, the retrohales feel thinner. Flavor drops to medium, body is medium-full and strength is mild. Just as the second third is coming to an end, puffs get more intense with a brown gravy flavor that pushes things to medium-full. Unfortunately, that only lasts for 10 or so minutes. With an inch-and-a-half left, there’s earthiness, tobacco, newspaper and some underlying sweetness before a finish of minerals and black pepper. Retrohales are slightly more interesting: a very quick muddy barnyard before the gravy flavors reemerge with some familiar toastiness, caramel sweetness and then some black pepper. Flavor is medium-full, body is full and strength is mild. The J21 needs help with combustion in the final third, though it’s relatively minor and the burn line managed to stay relatively even after the touch-up in the first third. Final smoking time ends at one hour and 45 minutes.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.