One of the most talked about cigars from the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show has begun arriving at retailers: the Henry Clay Tattoo, a collaborative project between Altadis U.S.A. and Pete Johnson of Tatuaje/Havana Cellars.

Word of the cigar’s creation started circulating earlier this summer, with a formal announcement made in early July. The cigar uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper from the 2010 crop, a Dominican piloto binder also from 2010 and filler tobaccos including Dominican olor and piloto tobacco from 2012, as well as criollo from Ometepe in Nicaragua. It’s a single vitola, 6 x 52 pressed toro with a pigtail cap and a retail price of $9.

Altadis-USA-Henry-Clay-Tattoo

Johnson worked with Altadis USA’s Tabacalera de García factory in La Romana, Dominican Republic to produce the new Henry Clay. Only 50,000 cigars are being produced, split into 2,500 boxes of 20 cigars. According to Altadis U.S.A., they were completely sold out on the first day of this year’s trade show.

“(I’m) very excited about the release,” Johnson told halfwheel earlier this year. “Henry Clay has always been one of my favorite brand names and my favorite Altadis product. I hope this leads into more collaborative projects in the future.”

This marks the third collaborative cigar that Altadis U.S.A. has shipped in the past year, joining the Espada by Montecristo, a cigar made with the Plasencia family; along with the ROMEO by Romeo y Julieta Aging Room Small Batch F25, a project between Rafael Nodal of Boutique Blends, the Tabacalera Palma factory and Altadis.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.