A post on Tatuaje’s Saints & Sinners message board this week announced plans for the Tatuaje Exclusive Series Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary Redux that will be arriving in mid March, and a post on Federal Cigar’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon confirmed the news.

The cigar is a new blend but comes in the same 7 1/4 x 50 109 vitola of the two original anniversary cigars from 2011. The Redux replaces the Federal 90th Rosado with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper.

The picture that accompanied the post and that was subsequently posted on Federal Cigar’s Facebook page shows the cigars packaged in bundles of 25, though there will be both bundles and boxes available: 60 boxes of 25 are being produced along with 40 bundles. Both will have a price of $250.

Federal Cigar 90th Redux - via Federal Cigar

Image via Federal Cigar’s Facebook page.

While the cigars bear the same Reserva band that the original release had, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Federal Cigar on the main band as it has been replaced by Hassell, Pete Johnson’s middle name.  Other cigars bearing the Hassell band have been released exclusively to Saints & Sinners members as well as in a sampler available through Holt’s in 2011. There was also a version given out at the Nicaraguan Cigar Festival.

The cigars will be made available to in-store customers for an event on March 16th that will feature Pete Johnson, KC Johnson of L’Atelier Imports, Janny and Jaime Garcia of My Father Cigars, Steve Saka and Willy Herrera of Drew Estate and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and some of his family members. No phone orders will be taken during the event, and any remaining boxes will be made available for sale on March 18th.

The event will also be a launch party for the L’Atelier LAT 46 Selection Spéciale,

Federal Cigar celebrated their 90th anniversary in 2011 with a pair of cigars from Pete Johnson, the Tatuaje Exclusive Series Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Reserva and the Tatuaje Exclusive Series Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Rosado. This is the second time that Johnson has done a redux edition for a store’s anniversary, as W. Curtis Draper in Washington, DC received the Cabaiguan WCD 120 REDUX for their 125th anniversary in February 2012. In December of 2012, Johnson brought a small amount of both original Reserva and Rosados to an event.

News of the Federal 90th Redux comes on the heels of their announcement that E.P. Carrillo is making a cigar for their 92nd anniversary, the Federal Cigar 92nd Anniversary EPC Medalla D’ Oro.

Update (February 21, 2013) — The blend notes were updated on Federal Cigar’s Facebook page after this story was originally published. The original article reported the wrapper to be a Broadleaf from an unspecified country, and an email to Federal Cigar confirmed the wrapper for the Redux is a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro.

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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.