TX Duo Review - Tatuaje La Riqueza No4 ~2010

[Çnote]

Immediate bang of brioche raisin bread with slivered almonds. Chinese 5 spice. Retro of Mexican hot chocolate. Smooth as silk from the 1st puff, so easy the retro is automatic. Puffed rice and cinnamon sugar. It's a struggle to puff slow.

Getting to halfway, the richness intensifies into black pudding with roti and runny egg yolk. The burn is running laps tho. I'm reminded of Chambertin and duck magret. Removing the band fixes the burn in seconds, I need to drop rh% in Duo.

Thick red stonefruit, glorious stuff. Anise and numb lips. 

Getting to the nub, sweet shrimp paste dumplings and plum sauce. Slowly fades into coffee and cocoa nibs.

Just amazing stuff here, 91-92 probably just humidity holding it back.

[Ruggerpgh99]

Is that Cello as dark as it looks? Wowsa!

[Capn_Jackson]

Not sure of the vitola name or whatever in the Riqueza line. @Çnote advised that I dry-box this one, and even after two days it’s a pretty firm draw, but it’ll smoke fine. Cold draw is damp earth, oak, and grassy flavors. Light-up is lots of pepper, and some extremely bright spices. Almost like ginger and wasabi. 

First third is very crisp, still with that raw ginger quality. Some honey as well. Maybe sesame cakes (“Stop eating my SESAME CAKE!!”) Bonus points if you can name that movie… 

Going on, things do mellow out some. Still a sharp pepper and spice zing, but there is a delicious dark herbal note in the draw. Almost reminding me of the Warped Upper Realm that we smoked awhile back, or maybe what I wanted the Upper Realm to be. Ricola herbal notes, but sweeter. Contrasts nicely with the spice, actually. 

In the second third, getting some citrus. Savory soy sauce, no…duck sauce, but smokier. Pepper has subsided, and I’m grateful. Very bold, but very smooth. Nothing in the way of strength, all the expression is in the flavor, and not in the power. But again…smooth. Almost like a Merlot. Some dark berries in the finish of each puff. This is actually reminding me a lot of Curivari Reserva Limitada at the moment, the Robusto one they call “Epicures.” Past the midpoint, things turn to creamy almond paste and deep cocoa vibes.

The last third is glowing with ripe fruit, rich cocoa powder, slightly burnt sugar, and vibrant spices. I’m getting a little Mexican hot chocolate here, which is very nice on a crisp, cool day. The nub is mostly dark roast coffee bean with some oak smoke, and a little nuttiness still. Excellent smoke!

94

[Capn_Jackson]

On 1/14/2026 at 7:05 AM, Ruggerpgh99 said:

Is that Cello as dark as it looks? Wowsa!

It really was!

[Çnote]

Lots of similarity.

[Capn_Jackson]

I loved this one, really.

[Çnote]

On 1/15/2026 at 12:05 AM, Ruggerpgh99 said:

Is that Cello as dark as it looks? Wowsa!

I have some thoughts on dark dark cello like this that Jackson and I will eventually discuss over a 2021 Tatuaje that already has cello this dark. (Spoiler: wildly unstable temperature conditions.)

[Capn_Jackson]

On 1/19/2026 at 4:28 PM, Çnote said:

I have some thoughts on dark dark cello like this that Jackson and I will eventually discuss over a 2021 Tatuaje that already has cello this dark. (Spoiler: wildly unstable temperature conditions.)

More spoiler, or maybe not, I’m never sure what Cody’s got up his sleeve…think of how a bourbon gets its “oaky” flavor. Temperature fluctuations in the rickhouse cause the liquor to seep into and out of the barrel wood, giving color and flavor depth to the bourbon. Now, kind of the reverse of that, oils seeping into the cello due to temp fluctuations. Definitely accelerates that discoloration.

[Çnote]

2 hours ago, Capn_Jackson said:

I’m never sure what Cody’s got up his sleeve

I barely keep track myself 

2012 coded LFD recently opened from a sealed box obtained from a very reliable vendor that keeps stock on the dry and cool side, but very stable. These have smoked fine+, got these for a song, will visit whenever on that side of town.

2021 Banded Tatuaje from a very moist and warm junk smoke shop with zero visibile insulation. Lots of obviously temperature and humidity damaged cigars & a great selection of beetle holed Cubans about an hour outside Dallas. These surprisingly looked good and the other Tatuaje sampled smoked well, but I can't remember if I tried one of these for sure; prices were crazy, will never go there again.

I guess we'll see, both are in Duo.

Jackson you also mentioned the WCD lanceros you found with barely a trace of yellow cello at more than a few years.

I love to see yellow cello, but it's not a clear sign of age in either direction.

[Capn_Jackson]

Bingo. I’ll put up a pic of one of those lanceros here in a bit.

[GVan]

Love these reviews and appreciate seeing others that believe in aging NC's similar to our CC's!!!

I have many NC's aging away and always love seeing the cello come off in a dark color.  To me it means nothing more than a very oily wrapper.  Almost all of my aging NC's have been in my humidor since an early purchase at fairly constant temp and humidity.  I'll try posting a few pictures of some of the cello's coming off of Oliva Serie V Lancero's from 12/01/19 - they are as brown as you've shown.  Same for the Aging Room Quatro's from 10/16/18