Tasting the hot Tatuaje and Don Pepin Garcia brands!

Once you meet Pete Johnson, you won’t forget him. Beyond his friendly demeanor and ready smile, he’s quite well decorated with tattoos up and down both arms (and maybe elsewhere).

Like many tobacconists, Johnson wanted a distinctive cigar for the Grand Havana House of Cigars, one that would offer what he wanted to see in taste, burn and complexity.

But unlike so many others, he didn’t head for the Dominican Republic, Honduras or Nicaragua. He went to Miami and sought out a Cuban master who’s recently set up shop in a tiny store and factory called El Rey de Los Habanos. The owner’s name is Jose “Pepin” Garcia.

The cigar they created together was called “Tatuaje,” meaning tattoo in Spanish. It used authentic Cuban sizes, featured Nicaraguan-grown binder and filler and a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper. Introduced in 2004, it wasn’t difficult for Johnson to get his friends at stores around the country to try them. What he didn’t expect was the tidal wave of orders he started getting once people tasted his creation.

The Tatuaje line-up has expanded with a Reserva selection and new blends called Havana VI and Series P. Garcia has gone on to be the hottest cigar maker on the planet, with his own hot-selling brands not only from El Rey de Los Habanos in Miami, but at a new factory in Nicaragua to handle the workload.

Oh by the way if you stopped by C.I.G.A.R. a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night you would have been hanging with Pete.  Nice guy !!