Earlier this year, Tatuaje released their 3^rd spinoff from the Tatuaje Monster line with the Skinny Monsters.  The Skinny Monsters follow the Little Monsters and the Pudgy Monsters as spinoffs where they are the same blend of their larger, special released Monsters, but is a smaller format, excluding the The Chuck and The Tiff, which were only released in the Pudgy Monster and Skinny Monster boxes.  The Skinny Monster are in a petit lancero format at a 6 x 38 size.

Let’s look at the specs:

• Name:  Tatuaje Skinny Monsters
• Vitola:  Petit Lancero
• Size:  6 x 38
• Wrapper:  Varies
• Binder:  Nicaraguan
• Filler:  Nicaraguan
• MSRP:  $75.99/10 (sold only as a box)

For this review, I’m going to do this one a little different.  I was graciously sent this box of Skinny Monsters from Marvin Holthauser of Harbor Cigars in Destin, FL where I routinely visit on vacation.  Instead of reviewing these one by one, I decided to review them in one mega review.  It IS Halloween, of course.  I will be giving a short review of each one so it won’t get too long.  The great thing is that Tatuaje will be releasing these in 25 count boxes so if you find one you really like, you can now buy an entire box of them.  On to the reviews!

The Frank (Connecticut Broadleaf)

The Frank has notes of cocoa, cedar, leather, pepper.  As the cigar nears the end, the cedar and black pepper ramped up more.  The cocoa and leather remained, but was fainter than the cedar and pepper.  The cigar was also drying on the palette to me.

The Skinny Drac (Ecuadorian Maduro Habano)

The Drac started off with dark chocolate, black cherry, leather, black pepper.  The dark chocolate and leather remained steady throughout the cigar with the black cherry taking more of a backseat after the halfway mark.  The black pepper, as with most of the Skinny Monsters, is much stronger on the retrohale.

The Skinny Face (Mexican San Andres)

The Face has notes of milk chocolate, allspice, citrus, oak, black pepper especially on retrohale. The oak got stronger near the end. The chocolate note turned from a milk chocolate note to a dark chocolate because it seemed to get more bitter.

The Skinny Wolf  (Ecuadorian Sumatra)

The Wolf started off with leather, white pepper, pecan, citrus.  The white pepper was sharp, but not overbearingly so.  The pecan note was steady throughout the entire cigar with the leather note being the backbone.

The Skinny Mummy (Sun Grown Criollo)

The Skinny Mummy has notes of cedar, nutmeg, sweet cream, black pepper.  The cedar was the backbone of this cigar with the sweet cream ramping up near the middle of the cigar and fading near the end.  The nutmeg note ran throughout the entire cigar sort of as a background note.  The black pepper ran throughout the cigar, but was heavy on the retrohale.

The Skinny Jekyll (Ecuadorian Sancti Spiritus)

The Skinny Jekyll started off with notes of cedar, orange and, of course, black pepper. The cigar developed a nice buttery caramel note near the end.  The black pepper, like all the rest, was strong on the retrohale.

The Skinny Hyde (Ecuadorian Sumatra)

The Skinny Hyde was really complex.  It started off salty, cedar, white pepper, caramel and a hint of mint.  The cedar note was more dominate in the second half.

The Skinny Jason (Connecticut Broadleaf)

The Skinny Jason has notes cedar, black pepper, especially on retrohale, cocoa and earth. Beside the strong black pepper on the retrohale, I got more earth as well.  The cigar got more sweet at the end.

The Skinny Chuck (Ecuadorian Habano)

The Skinny Chuck was a little problematic.  The cigar was salty with notes of black cherry, cedar and black pepper, especially on the retrohale. The cigar got sour after the midway point. The cigar had a tight draw as well that opened up some, but not enough for my satisfaction.

The Skinny Tiff (Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade)

The Skinny Tiff was a little better than the Skinny Chuck. It has notes of cedar, black pepper, subtle hints of cream and slightly acidic. Black pepper on the retrohale, like all the rest.

Conclusion

I really love smaller ring gauge cigars so I loved trying out these cigars this week.  Most of them were really good.  The Skinny Chuck was probably my least favorite as it had a tight draw and got sour on me.  My favorite was The Skinny Drac with the Skinny Face and Mummy being close seconds.  They had great, well rounded flavors and smoked wonderfully.  I really like that Pete is releasing these blends in different vitolas and it really lets people see how the flavors change in the different sizes.  Plus, I like smaller ring gauge cigars and that’s what Pete is releasing these in.  Now, these cigar will soon be available in 25 count boxes, so if you have a favorite, you can now have more than just the one in the sampler.  Overall, I think these are well worth the $76 price point for the box.  Check these out, especially for Halloween!