Pete Johnson of Tatuaje announced on Friday that he’s decided to make a mid-production switch on the wrapper for his upcoming Avion 13 release from habano to broadleaf. As a result, he now has 7,500 cigars that have the Habano wrapper that he will be releasing to retail as Limiteds.
The cigar measures 6 7/8 x 52 and will be sold in bundles of 10. Johnson posted this picture of the cigars on Friday afternoon:
Pricing and a release date have not been announced as of yet.
Update: Pete Johnson told halfwheel that the cigars will be labeled as limited and packed up in a few weeks, arriving at retail with a price of around $9. The broadleaf version will carry a secondary Reserva band and sell for around $11. The broadleaf version is pictured above, freshly rolled and prior to box-pressing. Production on those started today, according to Johnson.
He also mentioned that the Avion 13 – in both versions – is a 6 7/8 x 52 straight Perfecto with the taper only at the head and foot. It is similar in size to the Avion 11, which was 6 5/8 x 48/52, and a concern about confusion at retail between the two editions led to the changing of the wrapper and the addition of the secondary band for the Avion 13. The Avion 12 is a 5 5/8 x 48/52 Perfecto.
Update (July 3, 2013): Retailers have announced that they have begun receiving Avion 13 Limiteds, with Fine Ash Cigars in Avondale, Ariz. posting the following picture to their Facebook account today: