Tatuaje Tattoo Announced

When the State of the Brand: Tatuaje was published in mid-January, the most intriguing story was by far a legal fight between Tatuaje and Nicaraguan Imports (i.e. Cuban Crafters) over the name “Tattoo.” For those that are even more incompetent than yours truly at Spanish, “tatuaje” is “tattoo” in Español. The legal battle is over who owns the rights to the name “tattoo” in the cigar industry. Similar to what many companies, including notably Davidoff, have done, Pete is now releasing a cigar with the name in order to better prove his trademark case.

Tomorrow, Pete Johnson will be at Boston’s Gloucester Street Cigars for an event, with him will be the Tatauje “Tattoo.”
In total, 5,100 cigars will be for sale, with the Tattoo going for sale first at Gloucester Street tomorrow and then Friday at Federal Cigar in New Hampshire on Friday, although phone orders for the latter aren’t offered until Monday. A total of twenty stores will get them, although Gloucester Street and Federal Cigar each are getting less than fifty bundles, but it sounds like more than the other stores. Eighteen other stores will take the remaining 3,600 cigars bringing the total number of accounts to twenty. My understanding is that the top twenty Tatuaje accounts should be the accounts that get the Tattoo.

Despite initial reports that this would feature Broadleaf, the cigar will be a Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper, in box-pressed Lancero, creating something more along the lines of the Brown Label. Pete has said that in order to protect the trademark, he will release one size of the annually. Cigars get a Tatuaje Exclusive Series Band (think Federal Cigar 109 or Barclay Rex.) — el niño diablo.

Orders will be taken tomorrow over the phone tomorrow March 17, 2011. You can reach Gloucester Street at (617) 424-1000.

• Name: Tatuaje Tattoo
• Vitola: Box-Pressed Lancero
• Size: 7 1/2 x 38
• Wrapper: Habano Rosado Oscuro
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Country: Nicaragua (My Father Cigars S. A.)
• MSRP: $10 (Bundles of 15, $150)
• Release Date: March 17, 2011
• Production Number: 5,100 Cigars (340 Bundles of 15)

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.