Tatuaje Karloff Returns to TAA Stores

The Tatuaje Karloff is back.

At this week’s in-person TAA Meeting & Convention, Tatuaje offered retail members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) the chance to purchase the cigar, which debuted last year.

The Tatuaje Karloff is a sister cigar to the company’s popular Monster Series; it’s named after Boris Karloff, the actor who played Frankenstein in the original 1931 film. As for the cigar, it measures 6 5/8 x 49 and uses an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper over Nicaraguan binders and fillers.

It’s a tweaked blend of another Boris Karloff-inspired cigar, Tatuaje’s The Boris, which was released in 2008. At that time, Tatuaje planned an Actor Series that would accompany the Monster Series though The Boris was the only cigar to ever be released as part of the Actors Series. The first Monster Series cigar was called The Frank, named after Frankenstein.

The Tatuaje Karloff debuted last year, limited to 4,000 boxes of 13 cigars. It was named halfwheel’s #1 Cigar of the Year for 2020, which helps to explain why it’s returning for 2021.

“After the halfwheel rating in 2020 I decided to produce another 1000 boxes,” said Pete Johnson, Tatuaje’s founder, in a text to halfwheel. “Initially the thought was to offer some to our international clients but all the product was shipped to the United States so I’ve been holding on to them for months not sure how to release them. While at the TAA I decided to offer the extra boxes to the retailers in attendance. We oversold the cigars today and will have to go back to trim each account down to hit the 1000 box number.”

One other change between the 2020 and 2021 releases is the MSRP, which will increase from $13 to $14 per cigar.

Johnson told halfwheel that the Tatuaje Karloff will ship in two weeks.

The TAA is a fairly small group of some of the country’s top tobacconists, about 80 retailers, as well as 40 or so manufacturers. The association gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well as to have its annual trade show, a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

Patrick Lagreid contributed to this story.