La Union — My Father for Tatuaje (Black Humidor)

Few cigar companies are as closely intertwined as My Father Cigars and Tatuaje. The García family—owners of My Father—has produced nearly every cigar sold by Tatuaje since the latter launched in 2003. In Europe, the two companies have operated a joint sales team, in the U.S., their trade show booths are often found next to each other at the PCA Convention & Trade Show, and of course, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje and Janny García of My Father Cigars are married to each other.

So to see a project that brought the two companies together making cigars for each other came as little surprise when La Union debuted at the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show. That said, I did call it one of the most intriguing things I saw at the show that year.  

La Union is a two-part release that will span four cigars, with the first two presented in a black humidor that began shipping in early February, while the red humidor version will come out in early 2025. The project features a design that is a rendering of Johnson shaking Jaime García’s hand with José “Pepín” García, Jaime’s father, blessing the union.

In the case of the black humidor, Tatuaje made a cigar that uses a shade-grown Nicaraguan corojo 99 wrapper, while My Father—specifically, Jaime García—made a cigar that uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper. Both cigars use Nicaraguan binders and fillers that come from the García family’s farms and include pelo de oro, which is often found in My Father’s special releases.

For the red humidor, Tatuaje’s blend uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, while the cigar blended by the Garcías uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. Again, both use Nicaraguan binders and fillers.

All of the cigars are  7 1/4 x 50 size that the companies are calling a prominente especial and which uses a 109-style cap, a design notable for its tapered head that is a hybrid between a belicoso’s pointed cap and a parejo’s round head. Pricing is set at $60 per cigar and $2,400 per humidor, which contains 40 cigars split between 20 of each blend, as well as a XIKAR Xi1 Perfect Cut cutter. The companies are producing 1,500 of both the black and red humidors, with 1,200 slated for the U.S. and the other 300 for international markets.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Union — My Father for Tatuaje (Black Humidor)
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 7 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Prominente Especial
• MSRP: $60 (Box of 40, $2,400)
• Release Date: February 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)*
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

*The boxes contain 40 cigars, but only 20 of each type.

Each of the three wrappers has a good amount of oiliness, which is perceptible as soon as the cellophane is removed, giving it a smoothness that is complemented by a lack of prominent veins. The size of the cigar and the 109-style head can’t be overlooked either, which offers plenty of space for those wrappers to shine through despite having two bands and a foot ribbon. All three cigars appear to be rolled well, and when inspected, I find each to be rolled firmly but not quite to the point of being hard. The feet of the three cigars have a cool and creamy aroma that reminds me of a bowl of cereal. In one case, soggy Corn Flakes is the one that stands out, whereas the others don’t quite have as distinct of an aroma. There’s a touch of sweetness but no appreciable pepper, with the aroma giving my nostrils a subtle tingle. A smooth cold draw conveys a sense of the volume of the cigar, but nothing in terms of obstruction. There’s a mild flavor right in that spot where I’d call it a familiar mix of a number of things: cake donut, Chex mix, some mainstream cereal, bread, and some underlying creaminess.

The first puffs have creaminess and pepper, setting the framework for the profile, while a soft and thick middle note just invites me to bite into it. Retrohales are fantastic right out of the gate, with a refined, bright white pepper that really tingles the nostrils, but with purpose as opposed to the pepper just running amuck. Two of the cigars start very smoothly, while the third has a touch of sharpness coming from the pepper that elicits a bit of a physical reaction that is shy of ideal. A little woodiness develops after the first clump of ash falls off, starting with a subtle intensity but a very clean flavor and aroma. Speaking of aroma and the retrohales, the pepper is a bit more intense but still focused, while a bit of peanut butter develops in the background and then appears in the flavor as well. I wouldn’t call it irritation, but there’s a little something happening on the finish that tingles the top of my throat. From a construction standpoint, the cigar smokes fairly quickly in this section but with no issues. There’s a smooth draw, an even burn line, plenty of smoke production, and the ash builds up quite well. Flavor is a refined medium-plus, body is medium and strength is mild.

After adding some peanut butter in the first third, the profile evolves into a more nutty flavor in the early puffs of this section, taking out the sweetness and oiliness that were small but appreciated contributors to the profile. Not too long into the second third, the flavors begin a process of intertwining to create a new singular flavor as opposed to a collection of flavors, though the pepper does stand out on certain puffs. As the burn line approaches the midway point, the flavor takes on more earthiness, setting up a different expression of the pepper and kicking off a progression of the flavor that has the La Union — My Father for Tatuaje tasting like a different cigar than what was offered at the outset. The smoke is still thick and creamy, yet the creaminess now has a harder time standing out from the building earth. The flavor lightens up a bit just as this section comes to an end, suggesting that the final third could have another unique profile in store. Flavor takes a couple of steps into full territory but bookends those with a more medium-plus profile, while body is medium-full and strength is medium-minus. I run into a couple of spots where a relight is necessary and the cigar seems to require a more frequent puffing rate in this section than it did in the first third. The draw, burn line and smoke production remain outstanding.

The final third of the La Union — My Father for Tatuaje definitely sees another flavor change, as creaminess and a bit of plain ice cream cone start things off. The earthiness is quickly fading from the profile, leaving just traces of its presence behind before disappearing completely. The flavor has returned to that tightly intertwined profile of the first third, though there are times I’m now getting the last bite of a vanilla ice cream cone instead of the last bite of a bowl of cereal. Pepper has settled down quite noticeably, not disappearing but playing a much more restrained part in the profile. There are some spots where retrohales deliver a punch of black pepper, but in one cigar, it is not to be found at all. In the final two inches, I begin to get my first sensation of nicotine strength from the cigar, as I can feel a little gut punch and head rush with these puffs. A touch of pepper tingles the tip of my tongue as the cigar begins its finale, while the smoke now delivers some irritation to my eyes as well.

Final Notes

• The primary band has the initials E.R.H. and two dates on the right side. E.R.H. is an acronym for El Rey de los Habanos, the Garcia family’s factory that was in Miami’s Calle Ocho. That’s the factory where Tatuaje got its start. The first date, 5-20-2003, is a reference to when the factory was incorporated, while the second date, 10-22-2003, is accompanied by another number, 29, which Pete Johnson told me related to a particular invoice related to his products. The inside of the bands have 2003 on the top band and 2023 on the bottom band.
• A lot of cigar companies appear to put just a bit more thought and care into their bands, and My Father is certainly one of them.
• On the other side, few companies have picked a design for its bands and stuck with it like Tatuaje has. There are some variations for special releases and other brands, but the band design of the Tatuaje Brown Label line—and the color variations that have graced other lines—seems to have served the company just fine.
• There’s a duality and element of blending to the bands that is appreciated; for instance, the Garcia name is placed on the upper half of the left side of the band, while Johnson is below that.
• The gradient design of the artwork is also subtle but noticeable as the pink that My Father uses in its logo eventually transitions into the brown for which Tatuaje is known.

• If you are wondering what’s under the space in the middle of the bottom of the box, it’s just empty space with some ventilation slots. It seems clear that this is for humidification for those who want to store the box. — Charlie Minato.
• Cigar companies making cigars for other companies in the way that is done for the La Union project is pretty rare, although Arturo Fuente and Padrón recently did a similar thing for their Legends project.
• I was a bit surprised to find that these cigars needed some relights; the first one made it through without any, but the second one needed two in the middle third and two in the final third, while the third cigar also needed two in its middle section.
• I smoked one of the Tatuaje for My Father versions as well and found it to offer a really refined profile with good amounts of pepper, though a bit more linear than the My Father for Tatuaje, which had higher peaks and more pronounced transitions. I will note that I didn’t smoke the Tatuaje for My Father with a scoresheet in front of me, just as a cigar to enjoy.
• Tatuaje’s cigars for My Father have covered feet, while My Father’s cigars for Tatuaje do not.
• The cigars are produced by just two pairs, who were limited to making 250 cigars per day.
• While I didn’t get a ton of strength from the La Union — My Father for Tatuaje (Black Humidor), there was enough in the final third to merit a mention. I wasn’t woozy or looking for white sugar, but I could feel a bit of an effect from each of the three cigars.

• The company lists these as a 7 1/4 x 50 double corona. The numbers above are the measurements we found for the three cigars used for this review. They were not smoked in that order, but that will be a change we’re making to our review process this summer.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was three hours and 15 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct and Smokingpipes carry the La Union — My Father for Tatuaje (Black Humidor).