The Atabey Black Ritos debuted in 2021 as a NFT but it wouldn’t become a cigar until 2023
Before brands like La Flor Dominicana and Tatuaje harnessed the true power of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within the cigar industry, Selected Tobacco offered the first digital cigar that saw proceeds going to Cigar Rights of America. In 2023, the cigar made its debut with a secondary release coming in 2024.
The cigar comes in at a whopping $55.00 which is $15 more than the regular shade grown Atabey Ritos which I consider to be one of the best cigars of all time. While both cigars are obscenely overpriced I can’t help but wonder how the maduro version is $15 more when the packaging is almost identical. Surely the maduro wrapper doesn’t cost Selected Tobacco that much more money to raise the retail price 35%.
Once the cigar is rolled it is said to age over a period of five years in rooms lined with Spanish cedar and French oak which means the cigar was in production before the NFT was created or the marketing isn’t 100% accurate. You make the call…
Cigar Review: Atabey Black
Size: 6 1/8 x 55 (Ritos)
Wrapper: Ecuador Maduro
Binder: Undisclosed
Fillers: Undisclosed, Peruvian Ligero
Factory: Tabacos de Costa Rica
Release Date: April 1, 2021 (NFT)
Production: Limited
Box Count: 25
The Look: As I rest the cigar above my keyboard I cant help but notice that the cigar doesn’t seem as luxurious as the original release. There was something about that golden shade wrapper that added to the mystique. The maduro wrapper that adorns the Atabey Black has a milk chocolate appearance to it with a few notable veins. The cigar features the Atabey label which has some similarities to a Cuban Cohiba and a secondary band denotes Selected Tobacco. In the hand the cigar has a silky feel and an above average weight to it with no voids of tobacco. On a side note, being this is the Atabey Black, the white stripe on the band should have been replaced with a black stripe and for contrast the black that pre-existed should have been turned to white.
The Notes: Once the cigar is cut the cold draw is a bit snug and it has me worried about what might hold in this final review cigar (I smoked 2).There are notes are of cookie dough, prunes and some oak while the aroma from the foot reminds me of cookie dough with a subtle fig. Once the cigar is lit there is a subtle mocha component.
As we smoke the first third the draw opens up as notes of mocha take hold and the ash doesn’t hold long falling off before we could take a picture. Smoking through the first third, chocolate, coffee, and nuts work effortlessly together to create a delicious but simple profile. The retrohale of the cigar created an additional layer of cedar and marzipan that created an additional depth to the palate.
Moving into the second third the coffee and chocolate notes remain but by the halfway point the transition into the background as notes of cedar and oak become dominant with a growing amount of earth and red pepper. The retrohale continues to showcase marzipan but by the end of the second third notes of caramel and red pepper become dominant with an earthy finish.
As we begin the final third of this slow smoking cigar (just over 2 hours now) it remains exceptionally smooth and balanced but lacking that luxury feel. The Atabey Black sees wood notes become dominant with some coffee in the background that stands out enough to be easily identifiable. As we remove the primary band the cigar sees a creamy milk chocolate component begin to take hold with a mild coffee and wood notes. The retrohale is very woodsy which creates a long finish that is also earthy.
Conclusion: A lot of people thought I raved about the original Atabey because of my old job and being forced to. This wasn’t the case as I truly think the cigar is one of the best if not the best ever created. Now that I am out of the industry I haven’t smoked the cigar since I left, and if I didn’t have sponsorship dollars to purchase this cigar I wouldn’t have bought it. Simple reason is I am tired of the artificially inflated cigar prices the cigar market is seeing.
The Atabey Black while a good cigar is not the great cigar that the original Atabey was. If I smoked this on the blind which arguably I did not I would be hard pressed to put a value over $20 on it and that’s being generous. But as we have stated in the past we do not let pricing affect our final score. If we did, it might have deducted as much as five points.
It’s incredibly balanced and it has good flavors but it comes of as a higher end Nicaraguan cigar instead of the luxurious ultra premium cigars that Selected Tobacco is known for.
Score: 92
Price: $55.00 (Before any local or state taxes)
