Cigar maker
Overview
Before Pete Johnson became one of the most celebrated names in boutique premium cigars, he was a musician chasing a different dream — until a move to Los Angeles led him to the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills, where a deep immersion in fine cigars redirected his life entirely. His passion pointed toward one thing: recreating the classic, full-flavored Cuban cigars he had fallen in love with but could no longer find. In 2003, a pivotal meeting with Cuban-born master blender José "Pepín" García changed everything — Johnson handed García a Cuban cigar he loved as a reference point and asked him to recreate it. García delivered, and Tatuaje — named for the Spanish word for tattoo, a nod to Johnson's heavily inked personal aesthetic — was born. The debut release, the Selección de Cazador (known to devotees as the "Brown Label"), launched with just 300 boxes rolled in a Miami warehouse. A year later, a 90-point rating from Cigar Aficionado for the Cabinet Especiales announced to the industry that something genuinely special had arrived.
What followed was the kind of brand evolution that boutique cigar enthusiasts celebrate: deliberate, creative, and utterly uncompromising. The Black Label Private Reserve emerged from unbanded cigars Johnson had privately rolled during a trip to Cuba — a personal blend made public. The Monster Series, launched in 2008, became one of the most coveted cult collections in the hobby, with limited annual Halloween releases themed around classic horror film characters — The Drac, The Frank, The Face — each in numbered boxes and with packaging as meticulously conceived as the blends inside. The Havana VI Red Label, named for Johnson's dog, and the powerhouse Fausto round out a portfolio that rewards both the everyday smoker and the dedicated collector. Today, Tatuaje cigars are produced primarily at the My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua — run by the García family — cementing the original partnership that started it all into one of the most enduring and respected collaborations in the modern premium cigar world.
Company Brands
Ambos Mundos is Tatuaje’s value-minded, Cuban-style line built with Ecuador-wrapped No.1 (Habano) and No.2 (Sumatra) variants over Nicaraguan binder and filler. Rolled with a Cuban triple cap in Nicaragua, the cigars lean medium-bodied with a steady cedar-and-toast frame, restrained red-pepper lift and consistently reliable construction across vitolas.
Avion is a box-pressed, perfecto-focused offshoot of Tatuaje’s Fausto line, built on Nicaraguan binder and filler with an Ecuador wrapper as standard. Typically released in small, limited runs, the series reads medium to medium-full and favors cedar-forward earthiness punctuated by black pepper, cocoa and coffee—the box-press and perfecto vitolas tighten draw and concentrate flavor.
Cabaiguan is a medium, Cuban-styled line from Pete Johnson’s Tatuaje umbrella, using Ecuadorian Connecticut wrappers over Nicaraguan binder and filler. The cigars favor old-world flavors—cedar and cream with light floral notes and a peppery, dry-earth backbone—delivered in steady construction that emphasizes balance over bravado.
El Triunfador is a Tatuaje line revived by Pete Johnson that pairs Nicaraguan binder and filler with Ecuador/Habano or Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers and Pepín-style construction. Reviewers note cedar, raisin-like dried-fruit sweetness, leather and a rising black pepper; the line leans medium-bodied with a particular historical and tasting emphasis on lancero formats.
Fausto, introduced in 2011, is one of Tatuaje’s stronger blends—dark Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and a ligero-heavy filler dominated by Estelí and Jalapa primings. The line smokes full-strength with flavors of dark chocolate, roasted espresso, cedar, leather and a persistent black-pepper spice, presented across core and limited vitolas.
La Casita Criolla is Tatuaje’s line built from Connecticut Broadleaf at wrapper, binder and filler and produced at the My Father factory in Nicaragua. Introduced around 2011, it occupies a medium strength lane and showcases Broadleaf’s sweet-earth profile—cocoa and espresso over cedar and leather with a peppery baking-spice lift—available in classic vitolas.
La Riqueza, launched in 2008 from a Pete Johnson–Pepín García collaboration, pairs a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler and has been presented historically in box-pressed formats. The core line tends toward medium strength with cocoa, coffee and cedar notes and a touch of pepper; select limited releases have pushed toward medium-full with alternate wrappers.
Nuevitas was reintroduced in 2018 as a Nicaraguan-centered cigar produced at My Father Cigars in Estelí. While official notes list an Ecuador wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler, reviewers often detect a Corojo-like character; common tasting notes include cedar, black pepper, leather and dark chocolate or coffee. The Estelí vitola reads medium and refined, while Jíbaro releases open with pronounced pepper before settling into a fuller, leathery finish.
Tattoo, launched in 2014, is Tatuaje’s value-oriented everyday line built on an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler. Consistently placed in the medium to medium-full strength lane, the blend opens with front-loaded black pepper that eases into cocoa, earth and cedar, presented in straightforward, dependable sizes.
Tatuaje 15th Anniversary revives a 2004-era Selección de Cazador blend in two figurado sizes wrapped in Ecuadorian Habano rosado (rosado claro and rosado oscuro) over Nicaraguan binder and filler. Rolled with classic multiple caps and a closed foot, the release sits in the medium to medium-full lane with cedar, pepper, leather and espresso notes and is presented as a focused anniversary expression.
Tatuaje Black Label, launched in 2007 as Pete Johnson’s private reserve, is a Nicaraguan puro built around a sun-grown Criollo wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. The line is known for full strength, pepper-forward smoke with cedar and a dark, cinnamon-like sweetness, and for a release history that mixes jarred limited editions, exclusives and collectible sizes.
Havana VI (the “Red Label”), launched in 2006, is an Ecuador-wrapped, Nicaraguan-filled Tatuaje line rolled in Nicaragua and intended as a medium-bodied, Cuban-style alternative. Reviews describe an opening of black pepper and spice that softens into caramel or cream with cedar, wood and leather, delivered with clean construction and steady burn.
Négociant, introduced in 2017 as a Tatuaje × L’Atelier collaboration, pairs an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper with Mexican and Nicaraguan binders over Nicaraguan filler. Editorial reviews place the line in the medium–full strength lane and highlight a cedar-and-cream opening that yields to the pepper and earth common to Tatuaje, presented in compact, classic sizes.
Seleccion de Cazador, introduced in 2003, is the foundational Tatuaje line built on an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler and presented in classic triple-cap vitolas. The family provides a steady Old-World frame—cedar and leather with a Nicaraguan spice core—and has spawned Reserva and alternative-wrapper variants that shift the blend toward darker chocolate and coffee.
Series P is Tatuaje’s medium-bodied, Cuban-sandwich style line offering cedar, cocoa and coffee notes with cream and a white-pepper lift alongside dependable construction. Built as a value alternative to long-filler offerings, the original used an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and a mixed medium/long filler; a Honduran-made variant later swapped some leaf origins while preserving the value-forward identity.
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