First Look
A look at the newest cigars. If you have a cigar most of us haven't seen yet, send us a regular photo, digital photo or scan of a photo and we'll include the cigar on this page. Contact the News Editor for details.
Pete Johnson's The Frank
On Halloween Day, Tatuaje will release the first in its limited edition Monster series. These are very limited production sticks. The idea is for the Monster series to be released on Halloween every year. And each year's issue will pay tribute to a different monster. (What happens when Halloween is a Sunday, as in 2010? Pete says he’ll then release them the following day, November 1st, which is Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead).
So what exactly is The Frank? It is a large Double Corona (7 5/8 x 49) with a Tatauje band. However, this particular Tatuage band is, just like that 'big guy', green and black. To go along with the rugged look, Tatuaje is using a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (which, with all its veins, can look pretty ugly) over a Nicaraguan binder and filler leaves.
Lots of smoke came out from the mottled grey ash. And the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper gave The Frank a nice round flavor with hints of cocoa and some sweetness. After two inches, I decided to knock off the ash for fear of it falling into the keyboard. Halfway through, the cigar changed gears and really mellowed out. "This is a really good cigar," I thought to myself.
I'll admit that I've often lost interest in bigger cigars (anything over 7 inches) after the first couple of inches when they didn't change. The Frank, in contrast, held my interest right through to the end, had a great aftertaste and made me want another. The only downside of The Frank? I gotta' wait 'til Halloween to get another one.
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Frank Seltzer (Mowee) is a former network correspondent who now owns a media consulting company in Dallas, TX. A regular cigar smoker since 1973, Frank runs the DFW Cigar Society, a group that has almost 300 members who get together twice a month to trade smokes and lies. He also runs away as often as he can to his condo in Maui... hence the name Mowee (which, by the way, was the way Captain Cook originally spelled the island when he heard Hawaiians speak it.)