Tatuaje Cigars – IPCPR 2018

Earlier this year, Pete Johnson announced that his two companies—Tatuaje and L’Atelier Imports—would merge under the Tatuaje Cigars Inc./Havana Cellars umbrella.

This was somewhat noticeable at IPCPR, where the booth (normally split between the two companies) felt much more Tatuaje-centric. All major branding leaned towards Tatuaje, with L’Atelier imagery somewhat hidden within the many Tatuaje brands. On the other hand, this could simply be due to the fact that Tatuaje is celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary.

All things considered, the booth felt largely the same as with the past two years.

El Triunfador

There have been two blends under the El Triunfador name over the years. The original used a broadleaf wrapper and was rolled in a lancero vitola (also available in The Old Man and the C release). These cigars were then followed by a larger release, using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, which was recently placed on hiatus. Tatuaje has now added a new robusto vitola to the sole remaining lancero, using the original broadleaf blend.

Monster Series 2018 – The Bride (#13)

This year’s monster has been a long time coming, with Pete Johnson noticeably relieved that the 12-turned-10-year project has come to a close in 2018. As explained last year, Pete announced in March of 2017 that he made the decision to include the Chuck and Tiff blends (introduced in 2014’s limited edition Pudgy Monsters release) as full-fledged “monsters.” This meant that, suddenly, 2018 would be the final release year for the Monster Series, debuting The Bride as monster #13 (bringing the series full circle from the original The Frank cigar).

The Bride is priced at $13, offering a Nicaraguan blend wrapped in a light, rosado-shade Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (similar to the original monster cigar, but with less of a maduro profile). Pete describes the blend as medium-plus in body, being rolled in a 7⅛” x 49 format. There will be 700 dress boxes (strange, as it’s usually limited to 666 boxes) released on October 13th, followed by 4,500 plain boxes shortly thereafter.

This is not the end to the Monster Series though, as Pete has hinted at doing something special for the Chuck and Tiff blends, as well as rotating back through the series in future years.

Nuevitas

Nuevitas is a revived brand from Tatuaje—among the only Tatuaje brands not made by the García family. The cigars were instead rolled at Pedro Martin’s Tabacalera Tropical, until being discontinued in 2007. Now, Tatuaje has revived Nuevitas, this time being made at the García’s My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua.

Nuevitas is not only a Nicaraguan puro blend, but a García puro, including a sun-grown Corojo ’99 wrapper. Pricing is set at $8.50, being rolled in a singular 5″ x 52 robusto format and sold in boxes of 25 cigars. The cigars are expected to begin shipping to retailers within one or two weeks.

Nuevitas Jibaro

There are three cigars under the Nuevitas name: Nuevitas (5″ x 52 | medium-plus in body), and Nuevitas Jibaro (5″ x 54 and 6″ x 52 | medium-full in body). Both blends share the statistics of Nicaraguan/García puros using sun-grown Corojo ’99 wrappers; however, the cigars are said to be separate blends.

To differentiate the cigars, the Nuevitas Jibaro cigars feature orange bands, while the Nuevitas uses a white version. Also, Nuevitas Jibaro remains true to the original cigars from a decade back, being offered in 50-count cabinets. The two sizes will retail at $9 (5″ x 54 Jibaro No.1) and $9.50 (6″ x 52 Jibaro No.2).

Tatuaje 15

It was five years ago that Tatuaje introduced the limited edition Tatuaje 10th Anniversary at IPCPR 2013, a collection of two vitolas using the original Seleccion de Cazador “Brown Label” blend. For the company’s 15th anniversary, Tatuaje owner Pete Johnson has reached back to the brand’s early years, using a blend that Pete created for the Grand Havana Room (the retailer Pete worked for while creating the Tatuaje brand) in 2004.

Tatuaje 15 uses a double binder and an all-Nicaraguan blend of Corojo and Criollo tobaccos grown by the García family. This is finished with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, carefully sorted into two rosado-hued shades. There are four cigars total, two figurado sizes (5½” x 52 Belicoso Fino and 6½” x 52 Torpedo Grande) that feature a rosado claro shade, and two that feature a rosado oscuro shade (essentially different primings). The cigars are being rolled at the García’s El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, where Tatuaje cigars were originally made. Rather than being limited edition, the cigars will be made continuously in small batches, offered to Tatuaje’s top retail accounts. Pricing is set at $19 for the belicosos and $21 for the torpedos—the first shipment was sent to retailers following the trade show.

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