Tatuaje Surrogates BackLine 2025

Purchased: 5-pack EL554 (5 X 54)
Price: $50
Store: MiamiHumidor.net
Buy Again: Yes
Box Worthy: No. Only because a box includes ten of the two sizes, a 4X54 and 5X54. I don’t like shorties.
Experience Rating: 89

These cigars were inspired by the tubes in vintage tube amps. Dan Welsch, co-founder of L’Atelier was apparently replacing a tube in one of his amps when he noticed that the tip of the tube resembled the heads of some cigars. Being a guitar player myself with several tube amps, I immediately thought of the classic EL84 power tube. As for the amp, I guessed wrong. I thought it was a Marshall Plexi 18, but it was a Vox amp, either the AC15 or AC30 which use the same preamp and power tubes, the ECC86 and EL84, respectively (just more in the AC30). Yeah, yeah, I’ve been a bit of a guitar gear nut for most of my life.

Anyway, BackLine will be a limited, yearly release, with each subsequent blend representing a different cigar. Pretty cool shit.

I wasn’t going to write about this cigar because even after a month of rest, the couple I had were a bit harsh. But another month laying down did the trick! These are delicious!

And now I get the inspiration from the Vox AC amp line. These amps were known to be bright. They had a top-end sizzle when overdriven and a distinctive thin clean sound. Contrast that to Marshall Plexi amps that had deeper cleans, and ballsy overdrive. Classic Fenders were clean machines, with a smooth, deep, almost haunting clean tone that was enhanced by the spring reverb. Think old surf tones, and that’s a Fender.

But circling back to the Vox, when we think of Vox tones, some major artists used them such as Brian May, Pete Townshend, the Beatles, and The Edge. They all had a really bright tone to their sounds. That was the AC.

So what about the EL554? It’s bright. Wrapped in a spicy Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around Nic guts, it’s flavor profile bright, but penetrating. AC30’s of the time could cut through a mix like nobody’s business! The brightness of this cigar is like the AC amps.

But don’t mistake this for harshness. The spice at the beginning is relatively light and calm. But as the cigar burns, it increases, much like turning up the volume knob to drive the amp into overdrive distortion. By the final third of the cigar, it’s full-tilt in strength and body, leaving a pleasing, lasting bit from the spice. I kind of felt as if I was at a concert where the band plays a softer first set, then goes full-on energy in the second set! But let’s talk a bit about the cigar specifically.

As with any Tatuaje or their related lines, these cigars are packed. The EL554 is like a solid stick. The pointy head is reminiscent of an EL84 power tube (sorry I snipped it off before I took the picture). The shape of the cigar is similar to the EL84 as well. The wrapper is smooth with no veins popping out.

Pre-light draw reveals barnyard, damp earth, and moss.

Classic Nic tobacco start, with black pepper, a pinch of red pepper, coffee, and a touch of cacao bean.

It’s not a complex cigar. The first third added some hazelnut, cream, and bit of a meaty element, and the spice picked up. The second third added cedar, hickory, and an interesting astringent quality to the smoke. More spice layered in. By the final third, nutmeg and egg nog appear and all the flavors really intensify.

The final third was the sweet spot where everything came together. I loved the progression of this cigar. It was a build-up and the experience was as I described above, being similar to a band ratcheting up its energy over time.

I’m going to order a couple of more 5ers just to have them, since they’re limited edition cigars. Quite enjoyable indeed!