Tatuaje Ships Trio Of New Cigars
Pete Johnson, brand owner of Tatuaje Cigars, is shipping a trio of new cigars this week. The first two are a continuation of his experimentation with how different wrappers impact the blend of a Cojonu cigar, the other is a new vitola for the Surrogates brand.
The new versions of Cojonu (pronounced koh-ho-NU) 2012 are Tuxtla and Corojo. The Tuxtla edition features a dark wrapper grown in Mexico’s San Andrés region, while the Corojo is rolled with a Nicaraguan cover leaf grown by the Garcia family of My Father Cigars. The binder and filler are Nicaraguan. This brings the 2012 size up to five variants—the original, which is rolled with Ecuador Habano; Broadleaf, clad in a leaf from the Connecticut River Valley; and the Capa Especial, covered with Ecuador Sumatra. The Capa Especial version was the No. 9 Cigar of 2012. The cigar measures 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge and retails for $13. The Cojonu 2012 previously shipped in cabinets of 25, but moving forward all will be presented in boxes of 21. Additionally, the Tuxtla and Corojo will also be available together in a limited-edition “book,” containing 12 of each wrapper variety. Only 1,000 sets will be produced.
The Surrogates brand is receiving its eleventh vitola, called Closing Time. It’s a toro measuring 6 by 50, and it consists of a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper grown by the Garcias, two binder leaves (one Nicaraguan, one Connecticut broadleaf) and a mix of Nicaraguan and Mexican fillers. According to the company, the new cigar is rated as medium in terms of strength. The cigar gets its name from a ritual done by Dan Welsh, brand manager of Surrogates: he starts the day with a full-bodied cigar and ends it with something medium-bodied.
Surrogates Closing Time has a suggested retail price of $10. The cigars are packed in cabinets of 20.
Both Tatuaje Cojonu 2012 and Surrogates were previewed at the PCA trade show. The cigars are produced at the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua, and should be on store shelves soon. Look for a review of the new cigars in an upcoming edition of Cigar Insider.
