Surrogates Bone Crusher (TGORW)

[Sir Diggamus]

CIGAR: Surrogates Bone Crusher

DATE: May 22nd 2022

SIZE: 55 X 5 5 1/4”

ORIGIN: Nicaragua

AGE: Unknown

 

I thought this would be a great entry for this weeks contest. I have been participating in a blind Tatuaje cigar monthly from Nickel City Cigars in Buffalo, NY since last year. It was a brand that flew under my radar for years, just in the last two years I have been exploring the brand more. So when this monthly came up I jumped on it. They send a pack once a month with 3 cigars from Tatuaje (Tatuaje, Surrogates, L' Atelier, or La Mission) and we hook at a month later for a Zoom Herf and reveal of the mystery smokes. As someone who is not a daily smoker, participating in this also helps my other cigars age 😉. I thought this was my "Good Oil" offering because I like participating in blind tastings, it helps me find what I like without any pretense to cloud my thinking other than the overall price of the three smokes together. 

This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with binder and filler from Nicaragua. The aroma pre-light is a touch of cocoa, hay, and sugarcane. Construction is superb, it has a little give when I squish it. Once clipped, the cry draw flavor is cedar and hay. 

After light the first few puffs offer notes of dark chocolate and cedar, similar to the dry draw. I paired this with a GTs Synergy Raw Kombucha, Mystic Mango, and while I was initially hesitant about the pairing the beverage provides a nice palate cleanser between puffs. The cedar leaves and the dark chocolate/cocoa note becomes dominant for the rest of the first 1/3. 

The 2/3 opens with a hardwood note while the cocoa continues. A touch of baking spine on the retrohale. A little wheat note mixes in. The burn has been ok with a little tunneling, leaving me to touch up the cigar after the ash drops every 10 minutes or so. This cigar has been a medium to medium-full most of the way. I found several other cigars in the Surrogates line to be too much, but this one has a nice balance of flavor and strength that isn't overwhelming. 

The last third continues the cocoa dominant flavors with various other notes mixing in. The retrohale on this cigar has been fantastic, I seem to pick up new notes every time. Bready notes this one. The burn gets a little wonky requiring a few more touchups. The cedar comes back into the mix in the last couple of inches and stays until the end.

Overall this was great cigar, I wasn't expecting because the only other cigar I like in the Surrogates line is the Animal Cracker. But the flavor transitions, especially on the retrohale and finish made this a cigar worth grabbing again. 

88 score.