Tatuaje Shipping Monster Smash Sampler on Sept. 3

The newest Monster Series sampler from Tatuaje is scheduled to begin shipping to retailers next week.

The Tatuaje Monster Smash includes 14 cigars, all of which are based on previous Tatuaje releases. The first 13 cigars are based on previous Monster Series releases in a new vitola.

In 2008, Tatuaje introduced the Monster Series, a collection of what was supposed to be 13 different limited edition cigars, each named after a monster character from literature and film. Those cigars were big, typically bold and became quite popular. While there were 13 planned releases, the Monster Series has been expanded to nearly 100 different cigars, largely thanks to samplers like the Monster Smash.

The 14th cigar in the sampler is the Creature, a nod to the 1954 movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” While there was never The Creature as an original Monster Series, a Creature cigar was originally included in the 2021’s Monster Mash sampler. Pete Johnson, founder of Tatuaje, has not disclosed the blend other than to say that it uses a Nicaraguan double binder.

Each Monster Smash sampler has an MSRP of $175, with 13,000 samplers being made at My Father Cigars S.A. in Nicaragua. The cigars are packaged in hinged boxes designed to look like books, with seven cigars on each side.

All 14 cigars in the Monster Smash will come in a 5 1/4 x 52 box-pressed robusto extra size:

• Tatuaje Monster Smash Frank (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Drac (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Face (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Wolf (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Mummy (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Jason (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Jekyll (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Hyde (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Krueger (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Michael (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Chuck (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Tiff (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Bride (5 1/4 x 52)
• Tatuaje Monster Smash Creature (5 1/4 x 52)

Johnson also confirmed to halfwheel that he has a second release of The Wolfman (7 1/2 x 52) planned for October as part of the Monster Series Redux releases, a sub-series that has seen Tatuaje rerelease the original Monster Series vitolas. The Wolfman was released in 2011. It was the fourth Monster Series release and is the fourth cigar to get a redux version as Tatuaje has so far gone in chronological order for the Monster Series Redux releases.

Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.