For months, Pete Johnson has privately talked about a Tatuaje Exclusive involving Ecuadorian Sumatra; today it became a matter of public record. While the project was announced by Johnson to his Saints & Sinners fan club and forum back in September, it has remained relatively quiet until today.

Tatuaje Exclusive Mission Pipe CQ1 Belicoso.png

Mission Pipe Shop of San Jose, Cal. posted the above picture to Facebook earlier today, writing, “‘CQ1’ A Mission Pipe Shop exclusive made for us by Mr. Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars…Available in early 2013.”

The 5 3/4 x 52 will be box-pressed with a covered foot and packed in foil. There will be the standard 500 boxes of 10 cigars with pricing expected to be around $10.00 per cigar.

When asked how the cigar compares to Johnson’s most recent Sumatra Exclusive Series release, the Little Boris, he replied, “Similar in blend style but I think the box pressing completes the blend. As soon as I lit it, I gave it the green light.”

Update: (November 16, 2012): The original version of this article listed production numbers of 5,000 boxes, as opposed to the correct 500 boxes.

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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.