It was long overdue, but for 2016, Tatuaje finally made the leap into their own booth – detaching from the usual setup with My Father Cigars. Pete Johnson then split his new digs between his Tatuaje and L’Atelier Imports brands. The booth was fairly large, about the size of the usual My Father Cigars booth – which, until now, has housed all three of the aforementioned brands! The theme was black, black, and more black at Tatuaje – and it looked good. One wall was covered, floor to ceiling, with portraits of beard-clad Tatuaje team members. Each wall contained various Tatuaje and L’Atelier cigars, and the center of the booth showcased the new stuff – with Tatuaje’s latest Monster Series edition taking the spotlight.
La Vérité 2013
Tatuaje’s La Vérité line was introduced in 2010 (La Vérité 2008), borrowing from a winemaking strategy of using tobaccos (or grapes, for example) from a single farm and vintage. In 2011, they followed up with La Vérité 2009. The cigars have become somewhat of a cult-favorite and fans have long-awaited its return, which is now slated for later this year, with the new La Vérité 2013.
This year’s release uses tobaccos from the García family’s La Estrella farm in Estelí, Nicaragua. The cigars are 100% Nicaraguan puros, with all leaves coming from the 2013 vintage and having more than one year’s age after rolling. As with previous releases, the same two sizes are used (robusto and churchill) and each consists of varying packaging arrangements and quantities released.
- Blend: Nicaragua (La Estrella farm – 2013 vintage)
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A. (Nicaragua)
- Production: Limited Edition (46,000 cigars)
- Packaging: 10-ct | 25-ct | 50-ct | 100-ct boxes
- Vitolas: 2
- Price: $16.00 – $20.00
- Release: November, 2016
Frontmarks
- L’Espirit de Vérité 2013: 5 x 50 | $16 (24,200 cigars: 76 boxes of 25 | 2230 boxes of 10)
- La Vérité 2013: 7 x 47 | $20 (21,900 cigars: 72 boxes of 25 | 1910 boxes of 10 | 6 boxes of 50 | 4 boxes of 100)
Monster Series 2016 – The Krueger (#9)
With all the expansion in the Monster Series over the past few years, sometimes you can forget where the series began. Tatuaje unveiled the 9th edition in their fan-favorite, collectable, Monster Series with “The Krueger”, inspired from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). As per usual, Tatuaje showed off two packaging arrangements – a special, 13-ct dress box (presumed to be released in the usual 666 boxes to 13 retailers, known as the “Unlucky 13”) and the more simplistic, 10-ct boxes (presumed to be 4,500 boxes).
The cigars in this series typically involve churchill-esque vitolas and The Krueger fits the mold, using a 7¼ x 48 box-pressed size with a belicoso cap. The blend uses a San Andrés maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan filler, perhaps most similar to “The Face” release from 2010. The cigars are expected around the usual Halloween timeframe.
- Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A. (Nicaragua)
- Production: Limited Edition (666 dress boxes | 4,500 standard boxes)
- Packaging: 13-ct dress boxes | 10-ct standard boxes
- Vitola: 7¼ x 48 “The Krueger” churchill
- Price: $13.00
- Release: October, 2016
Négociant Monopole 2003
Pete Johnson’s two brands collaborate for Négociant, creating a blend that is very “un-Pete”. A man that has helped make Nicaraguan tobacco a favorite for the vast majority of non-Cuban-smoking enthusiasts, Pete has eschewed Nicaraguan leaf in 2 out of 3 portions of this blend. On top of that, when’s the last time you saw a Connecticut shade wrapper on a Johnson blend?
Packaging appears neutral between the 2 brands, but the cigar’s use Tatuaje bands (similar to the Black Label), borrowing L’Atelier’s gold color scheme.
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
- Binder: Mexico
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A. (Nicaragua)
- Production: Regular Production
- Packaging: 25-ct box
- Vitolas: 3
- Price: N/A
- Release: Fall, 2016
- Robusto: 5 x 52
- Belicoso: 5¾ x 52
- Corona: 6¼ x 48
Skinny Monsters
The first offshoot of Tatuaje’s Monster Series was with the 10-ct sampler boxes of Little Monsters in 2012, offering smaller sizes of the first five blends in the series. In 2014, they expanded with Pudgy Monsters, using the same, shorter lengths but incorporating the ring gauges from the original sizes (along with two new blends). Following the trend of two-year increments, Tatuaje debuted Skinny Monsters in April of 2016 (using 6 x 38 petite lancero sizes) – and more expansions are on the way…
Skinny Monsters 25-count Boxes
The sampler packs were released earlier this year, but soon you’ll be able to focus on your favorite blends – soon available in separate, 25-count boxes! All ten blends from the Skinny Monsters samplers are included, each using the same 6 x 38 petit lancero size. The boxes feature a vertical, jar-style orientation, similar to original Tatuaje Private Reserve (Black Label) Petite Lancero cigars. The first batch of the release will be limited to 400 boxes of 25 cigars per blend.
- Blend: Various
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A. (Nicaragua)
- Production: Limited Edition (400 boxes of 25 cigars)
- Packaging: 25-ct boxes
- Vitola: 6 x 38 petit lancero
- Price: $8.50
- Release: November, 2016
Monsters:
- Frank
- Drac
- Face
- Wolf
- Mummy
- Jason
- Jekyll
- Hyde
- Chuck
- Tiff
Skinny Monsters Cazadores & Lanceros Editions
It’s the same look and feel from the Skinny Monsters release, using 10-count samplers with skinny vitolas – only now you’ll have the option of chosing from a slightly longer or fatter iteration. The Cazadores Edition uses a lonsdale size and the Lancero Edition features a full-length lancero. Expect the cigars to ship in spring, 2017 – near the timeframe from this year’s Skinny Monsters shipment.
- Cazadores Edition: 6⅜ x 43 | $90
- Lancero Edition: 7½ x 38 | $95
Tatuaje Reserva Broadleaf Collection
The Reserva line from Tatuaje has typically represented dark-wrapped versions of the brand’s popular “Brown Label” cigars. The cigars are made at the Garcia family’s factories in both Miami and Nicaragua – usually showcasing Ecuadorian wrappers from the Miami releases and Broadleaf wrappers from the Nicaragua releases. The releases have become a little confusing for this reason, as all Reserva cigars have used the same sub-band, until now. Broadleaf blends will now be designated “Reserva Broadleaf” and Tatuaje is releasing a large sampler case for retail display.
The Reserva Broadleaf Collection uses a Broadleaf maduro wrapper on all ten cigars offered. The ten cigars are bundled in packs of ten and fitted into this large, chest display. Six of the cigars are based on the original six “Brown Label” cigars, with the remaining four being individual releases over the years.
- Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Production: Limited (5,000 chests)
- Packaging: 100-ct chest (includes 10 bundles of 10 cigars)
- Vitolas: 10
- Price: $1,200 per chest ($12+/- per cigar)
- Release: Now Shipping
Frontmarks
- Havana Cazadores: 6⅜ x 43
- Unicos: 6⅛ x 52
- Noellas: 5⅛ x 42
- Tainos: 7⅝ x 49
- Especiales: 7½ x 48
- Regios: 5½ x 50
- Reserva J21: 5 x 50
- Reserva SW: 7 x 47
- K222: 5⅞ x 52
- Cojonu 2003: 6½ x 52
Other
Tatuaje’s been teasing the Halloween cigar since the 2014 IPCPR show. For those curious, the cigars were on display at this year’s show for the first time as a released product. Tatuaje Halloween cigars launched earlier this year as an event-exclusive cigar. The blend uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and is offered in 3-packs of 4⅞ x 50 robustos. The cigars are packaged in paper 3-packs, but were seen in 3-count leather traveling cases at the show.
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