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Posts Tagged don pepin garcia

Pete Johnson of Tatuaje

Jul 14

Posted by admin in Pete Johnson of Tatuaje | 5 Comments 

- click on photographs (slideshow / EXIF)-

‘Cigar Industry In Focus‘ series is back and in full swing. This week we are placing Pete Johnson of Tatuaje in focus.


About a month ago I drove down to Holt’s Cigar Company in Philadelphia to hang out with fellow cigar aficionados, talk cigars, smoke cigars, and breath cigars. I knew that Pete was stopping by as well so I grabbed my trusty Nikon, couple lenses, flashes and took T-Pike South to famous Philly. There is definitely a lot of Tatuaje followers out there so getting that 15min to pull a quick photoshoot came with patience. Holt’s itself was packed so the only option was outdoor / busy Walnut Street “studio.” Pete had no objections and moved like a ‘seasoned model’ in front of the camera. After few up-close, side, from-the-back frames, we were all done and working through the rest of Tatuaje stogies.


In reference to Pete / Tatuaje, we were busy chatting about released products, upcoming prototypes, Saints & Sinners project so no official interview. Having said that, I read an interview that Pete did with Cigar Press Magazine back in 2007 that folks should re-visit.


Please consider the following post:
* Tatuaje ‘Anarchy’
* Tatuaje ‘M80’
* Tatuaje ‘The Face’
* Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero
* Tatuaje Federal 90th Anniversary

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Tatuaje ‘M80’

Jul 7

Posted by admin in Tatuaje 'M80' | 11 Comments 

- click on photographs (slideshow / EXIF)-

In the spirit of celebrating 4th of July with explosives and smoke, I followed my fellow cigar smokers and decided to pull couple Tatuaje ‘M80’ samples. This powerhouse cigar is another exclusive collaboration between Pete Johnson of Tatuaje and Dave Garofalo of 2 Guys Smoke Shop. Similar to many other Tatuaje exclusives, M80 arrived in quantity of 333 boxes and sold out in a matter of days. The expectation that was set for Tatuaje M80 was: full, bold, power, spice … yes, if you are a mild connecticut aficionado, you should skip this release. Visually, this cigar along with carefully applied pigtail, or I should say long fuse, resembles its predecessor – Don Pepin Garcia ‘Firecracker.’ There are few other firecracker look-alikes in the cigar industry. I collected and photographed four of them for your viewing pleasure (* see below photograph / left to right: Don Pepin Garcia ‘Firecracker’; Tatuaje ‘M80’; 601 ‘La Bomba’; Viaje ‘TNT’). Clearly, no longer a novelty.

Let’s take a look at the Tatuaje ‘M80’ in more details. The construction of this petite robusto is excellent. No visible seams and one not too obtrusive vein. Packed to the gills, feeling like one solid piece of handmade art. Right from the start, good amount of smoke throughout the entire experience. Couple touch-ups along the way but no negative impact on the bottom line. To my surprise, I was able to extract some sweetness on more than one occasion. Perfect complement to obvious spice and heavy ‘dark’ flavors. Speaking of dark … when I think of dark chocolate, I think of few recently smoked cigars: Oliva Master Blends 1 & Cohiba Genios. Tatuaje ‘M80’ takes dark chocolate to another level. Very heavy, full, bordering bitter, dark chocolate. Somewhere in between, slight hint of leather. Tatuaje ‘M80’ was blessed with tight and light grey ash falling in one inch chunks.

This was indeed a different experience. I faced Tatuaje ‘M80’ right after heavy dinner so I have to blame lack of expected nicotine buzz on a) full stomach or b) immune system. Nevertheless, if you enjoy full body cigars with Nicotine Powder and ‘dark’ flavors, Tatuaje ‘M80’ should definitely be up your alley.

Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 4″
Ring: 52

Construction > Good
Burn > Good
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > 5-pack

Please consider the following post:
* Tatuaje Anarchy
* Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero
* Tatuaje Federal 90th Anniversary

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Tatuaje Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Rosado

Mar 8

Posted by admin in Tatuaje Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Rosado | 5 Comments 

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Similar to Tatuaje ‘Anarchy’, Tatuaje Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Rosado is a collaboration between Pete Johnson and Rick Gadway of Federal Cigar to acknowledge Federal’s anniversary. This year Valentine’s Day gift was a 10-pack of rosado ‘chocolates.’ I called Federal’s store on 14FEB 10minutes before the official order time and got a chance to speak to Rick Gadway (owner) directly. Ricky was very passionate about his new project and described the cigar as smooth and refined, not your typical Pepin’s spice bomb.


After three weeks in the humidor, it was time to light this cigar up. Although I enjoy corona / robusto vitolas and usually don’t chase long / wide cigars, there was enough internet buzz about Tatuaje Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 to add to already quickly growing Tatuaje Exclusive Series collection. On the outside, the construction of the reddish / brownish cigar was flawless. Closer inspection revealed slightly toothy wrapper with minimal veins. From flavor perspective, 1st third presented small amount of spice, touch of coffee and smooth smoke. 2nd third is where this cigar shined. Both normal puffs and retrohale presented something that I didn’t recall in too many cigars. I went down the Flavor Chart and pinned it to the Floral note. The flavor was more pronounced on the retrohale so I continued to retrohale every other puff to take advantage of this fairly unique experience. In addition to floral note, previously identified spice increased its intensity to more of a peppery, well pronounced spice. I was able to pin-point your typical wood / cedar and one of my favorite flavors – chocolate. Along with chocolate / coffee there was an obvious sweetness. Last third was more of the same but few levels down. Toward the end, however, sweetness and spice completely disappeared and were replaced with salty finish. From construction / burn perspective, 1st third definitely lacked a good amount of smoke. It took 2-4 puffs to get anything out of the cigar. Flood gates have opened in the 2nd third and the cigar was performing like a ‘choo-choo’ train. Excellent tight ash falling in 1″ chunks.


Overall, another great Tatuaje cigar. Kudos to Rick Gadway on well managed project. I called Rick roughly about a week after I made my purchase and expressed deep interest in Tatuaje Federal Cigar 90th Anniversary 109 Reserva – Rosado’s twin sister. Although I was disappointed with immediate ‘no, I can’t do it‘, I can appreciate an owner who is looking out for his local community & clientele and is rewarding them with a local-pick-up-only cigar.


If the size, flavor, construction … and photographs are something you might be interested in, give Rick Gadway a call @ 877-424-4270.


Specs:
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 7 1/4″
Ring: 50


Construction > Great
Burn > Good (* insufficient smoke in 1st third)
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes

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Tatuaje ‘Anarchy’

Feb 22

Posted by admin in Tatuaje 'Anarchy' | 10 Comments 

- click on photographs -

Yet another Tatuaje cigar. If I was to describe Tatuaje ‘Anarchy’ smoking experience in one word, I would call it – chocolate. Throughout first two thirds if felt like I was eating a dark chocolate bar. I have yet to smoke a cigar which had such pronounced flavor. To keep up the excitement level, I have continued to rinse my palate with plain water only to be smacked with the dark chocolate again, and again. Other flavors that I have noticed throughout the cigar were: wood, espresso, leather, mild spice, and coffee. One should also appreciate the pigtail cap and Salomon / baseball bat look alike vitola shape. To view and read up more about intricacies of Tatuaje ‘Anarchy’, I recommend visiting the following fellow bloggers: stogiereview, acigarsmoker, toastedfoot.


As for as the ‘Anarchy’ project itself, Abe ‘Ming’ Dababneh (Smoke Inn) took it to another marketing level. There are tons of good quality cigars out on the market but some fail to shine due to lack of creative marketing campaigns. There was an abundance of innovation in collaboration between Abe ‘Ming’ Dababneh and Tatuaje’s Pete Johnson. We have now seen a numerous B&M anniversary releases. Some are very successful, some are less but overall, I have been very pleased with the final product hitting the market.


Cigarphoto.net’s mission statement is to continue to share artistic perspective of cigar smoking. Projects like Dirty Rats or Flying Pigs can be taken to the ‘dirty’ extreme with some unique outcomes and representation. Stay tuned for that ! Cigarphoto.net will also attempt to keep up with the ‘hottest’ sellers & releases and continue to make photographs and create pleasing to the eye art. I have both Tatuaje Federal 90th Anniversary 109 and Tatuaje Black Label Petite Lancero resting in the humidor and screaming for photo session. Stay tuned !


Specs:
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 6
Ring: 54


Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes

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