PCA 2023: Tatuaje Cigars - 33 Minutes with Pete Johnson

As is now a tradition on Cigar Coop, we close out our 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Coverage at the Tatuaje Cigars booth. This year, it was “33 Minutes with Pete Johnson,” as we discussed a wide range of cigar and industry topics. Johnson is one of the most ardent supporters of the PCA, so it’s no surprise he has brought his A-game to the show regarding releases. And to make things more exciting, Tatuaje is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2023. We would all present Pete Johnson with two special awards.

For Tatuaje’s 20th Anniversary, two regular-production cigars are being released – the Grande Merveille and Grand Chasseur. Both are based on the original Tatuaje Brown label and feature a Habano Ecuador wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler. The Grand Merveille is a 6 1/8 x 46 parejo with a covered foot. Meanwhile, the Grand Chasseur is a 6 3/8 x 54 parejo with a covered foot. If Grand Chasseur sounds familiar, this cigar was released a decade ago for Tatuaje’s 10th Anniversary. The Grand Chasseur was released as Tatuaje’s 2013 TAA Exclusive. When Grand Chasseur was released for the TAA, it contained a special black band. A similar black band design is used for both the Grand Chasseur and Grande Merveille releases. Both cigars are packaged in 20-count boxes. Pricing is $13.00 per cigar for the Grande Merveille and $14.00 for the Grand Chasseur. At press time, these cigars are expected to ship in the upcoming weeks.

Tatuaje showcased a 20th-anniversary jar release. There wasn’t much info about this cigar besides the white and blue ceramic jars. The cigar will contain a blue and gold Tatuaje 25th anniversary band. The sizes have not been finalized for this either. If anything, Pete Johnson said it might be a couple of years before we see this release.

Tatuaje also showcased the Tatuaje PCA Exclusive 2023. As the name indicates, it is a cigar that will be exclusively available to those retailers that attend the PCA Show. Like Tatuaje PCA Exclusive 2022, the Tatuaje PCA Exclusive 2023 features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler. This year’s vitola measures 6 3/8 x 54. The cigars are presented in ten-count boxes. Pricing is set at $15.00 per cigar. This cigar is expected to reach retailers in 2024.

In addition to it being Tatuaje’s 20th Anniversary, it is all My Father Cigars’ 20th Anniversary. Both companies have had a very close relationship for the past two decades. At this year’s PCA Trade Show, both companies showcased a project called La Union. While this project was showcased at the My Father Cigars booth, it still is a significant part of Tatuaje’s 20th Anniversary. La Union will release two limited edition humidor sets, each containing cigars blended by one company for the other. There is a black humidor and a red humidor. Each humidor contains 40 cigars. There are 20 cigars blended by Pete Johnson for Pepin and Jaime Garcia, and the Garcias blended the other 20 cigars for Pete Johnson.

All of the La Union vitolas included in the humidor set are a “Prominente Especial,” measuring 50 x 7 1/4 and featuring a 109-style bullet cap. Each humidor will also contain a special Xikar Xi1 Perfect Cut cutter. The Black Humidor will reach the market first and will include a Nicaraguan Corojo-wrapped cigar blended by Pete Johnson and a Habano Ecuador cigar blended by the Garcias. The Red Humidor will feature a Sumatra release blended by Johnson and a Connecticut Broadleaf release blended by the Garcias. Both humidor releases are slated for 2024.

There are two new Tuxtla offerings. Tuxtla is a project that was introduced in 2022. It involves applying a Mexican San Andres wrapper to an existing Tatuaje offering. These releases have limited edition cigars done in small batches. While it’s Tatuaje’s 20th Anniversary, the two new Tuxtla cigars being introduced pay homage to the tenth Anniversary. It was back in 2013 when Tatuaje released the Belle Encre (5 3/8 x 48 Perfecto) and Bon Chasseur (5 3/8 x 52 Toro) formats based on the Tatuaje Brow Label. Now, these formats return for a limited run with the Tuxtla’s Mexican wrapper. Both will come in 20-count boxes, and both will there will be 2,500 boxes created. Each is priced at $12.00 MSRP per cigar. Both cigars have shipped to retailers.

The Tatuaje Anarchy NFT offerings were showcased at PCA 2023. It revolves around the Tatuaje Anarchy cigar, a store exclusive first released to Smoke Inn in 2011. Tatuaje and Smoke Inn are collaborating on the project, and they have brought in Quality Importers and S.T. Dupont as well. The Tatuaje Anarchy NFT collection consists of seven numbered and unique original art NFTs, each entirely distinct. Six of these NFTs, numbered 1-6, will be sold via separate live auctions to be held consecutively in August this year. The seventh NFT will be issued to Smoke Inn Owner and Anarchy brand creator Abe Dababneh.

This wasn’t something a retailer could order, but it was on display so retailers could see the offering and better understand what this was about in case they wanted to bid on it. If you secure one of the NFT packages, this includes:

Exclusive privilege to purchase a quarterly allotment of 15 boxes of 15 Tatuaje Anarchy NFT Edition cigars at a price of $14.00 per cigar.
A 75-count Tatuaje Anarchy NFT Edition humidor featuring 60 original Tatuaje Anarchy cigars and 15 ultra-rare Anarchy Pale Horse Editions exclusively made for NFT holders.
A “01 of 01” Ligne 2 Lighter by S.T. Dupont – with artwork specific to the NFT
Xikar Xi-1 Perfect Cut – with artwork specific to the NFT
Quality Importers Crystal Ashtray – with artwork particular to the NFT
A 24×36 framed print version of the artwork specific to the NFT

While the Tatuaje Anarchy NFT revolves around the rights to obtain the Anarchy Cigar on a quarterly basis, the accessories were meant to give the NFT package more value. At press time, the first NFT was auctioned off and sold for $100,000.00.

One of the more interesting samplers at the PCA 2023 show as a whole was Colecciones de Tatuaje Event Exclusive. It’s a sampler of 12 cigars across six different blends (2 cigars per blend) in a 5 x 50 Robusto format. It’s not Tatuaje’s first Robusto sampler, but it will be specifically offered at events in this case. The six blends are Tatuaje Black Label, Cabaiguan, Tatuaje Reserva (which is the J21), Tatuaje Verocu Blue (new size), Monster (new size), Tatuaje Tattoo (Caballeros). The Monster refers to a Tatuaje Monster cigar, which will vary among different batches of samplers.

L’Atalier has a new regular production offering called Roxy. This pays homage to the late dog of Tatuaje’s K.C. Johnson. Roxy is a 3 1/2 x 50 offering that will be available in the core L’Atelier blend (featuring the Sanci Spiritus wrapper) and the L’Atelier Maduro blend (featuring the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper). Both blends will be packaged together in a 20-count box featuring the L’Atelier and L’Atelier Maduro Roxy offerings. The reason both blends are being packaged together is Roxy seemed to have two very different personalities, so this pays homage to that. One additional note: the L’Atelier Maduro production has been on hiatus for a few years, so this is the first new production of the L’Atelier Maduro in some time. The 20-count box of the L’Atelier Roxy will be priced at $160.00. At press time, these cigars have already shipped to retailers.

Last year, the Surrogates brand celebrated its 10th Anniversary, and a limited edition cigar called the Surrogates Big Ten was released. While the name references the 10th Anniversary of Surrogates, it was also the 10th blend released under the Surrogates umbrella. That 2022 release of the Big Ten was a limited release in a Britanicas Extra perfecto measuring 5 3/4 x 48. This year, Surrogates Big Ten returns – this time in a 5 1/4 x 52 Robusto that will be a regular production offering. The Surrogates Big Ten Robusto blend remains an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over all Nicaraguan tobaccos. The cigars are packaged in 20-count boxes. Pricing is set at $9.50 per cigar. At press time, these cigars have already shipped to retailers.

It was also a big award season for Pete Johnson. For the second year in a row, he was our Prime Time Person of the Year for 2022. In addition, the Tatuaje T110 Reserva captured the #3 Cigar of the Year for 2022.