November 4th, 2012 –Woodway, WA
In attendance were: Robert, John L, Joe, John D, Bruce, Eric, Jim, Mark L
Back by popular demand, John treated us to his famous roasted Cuban pork (lechon asado). It doesn’t get much better than this and always leaves the guys shouting, “God Bless the Pig!” Without haste, we headed out to the garage, uh ‘cigar lounge’.
Our selection for this herf was the El Triunfador No. 3 by Tatuaje. It features an Ecuadorian wrapper and Nicaraguan binder & filler. Measuring in at 5 5/8” by 46, the price was around $7. The current Cigar Aficionado rating for it is 91 (Mar, 2010).
We began the tasting session following our usual 4-part rating system (Appearance & Construction, Flavor, Smoking Characteristics, and Overall Impression).
The El Triunfador has a nice slight box press. It’s wrapper is smooth, rich, and chocolate-colored. A few of the samples were a little veiney, but nonetheless attractive. The simple gold & red band offer a nice elegant appearance.
Flavor: A little pepper at the beginning, but mostly mild thereafter, consisting of leather and cedar. It was also sweet on the palate and consistent throughout without much changing throughout.
Smoking characteristics were great; a smooth draw with big volumes of rich, cool smoke. The burn was even, with a long ash.
After throwing out the highest and lowest then averaging the remaining scores, The Cohiba Club's official rating for the El Triunfador No. 3 is 90.
We enjoyed this one and scored it relatively highly, as follows:
Category I. Appearance & Construction: 14 pts (93 of the points possible)
Category II. Flavor: 21 pts (84% of the points possible)
Category III. Smoking Characteristics: 23 pts (92% of the points possible)
Category IV. Overall Impression: 32 pts (91% of the points possible)
Overall a really enjoyable medium body cigar with great construction and smoking characteristics. A good smooth, stable, sweet taste.
We’ll see you at the next herf, January 6th.
© 2012 The Cohiba Club – All rights reserved
