PCA Magazine 2022 Show Issue

TATUAJE &PCA PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG VOLUME 2 2022 | PCA The Magazine 43 It’s a chance to offer your customers something unique from one of the industry’s most beloved boutique cigar makers, and they have to come to your store to buy it. If that isn’t enough motivation for you to attend the show, Pete Johnson will donate 50 cents per cigar, a total of $10,000, to PCA from the sales of this exclusive product, with the donation going toward opposing industry-crushing legislation and taxes. “We felt it was important to create something special that would entice retailer members to attend the show in July,” says Johnson. “Even though this is a limited production that will be allocated in small quantities, we believe it’s important for our company to do our part to help push the industry forward.” So how did the PCA and its membership get so lucky as to have Pete Johnson craft a limited production cigar just for them? To fully appreciate the importance of this development, we need to take a look at the arc of Johnson’s career and activism in the industry he holds so dear. Johnson and his celebrated Tatuaje brand burst onto the cigar scene in 2003, when he commissioned Don Pepin Garcia to craft a cigar line reminiscent of the classic Havanas. Not only did the original Brown Label line have the look and aroma of traditional Cuban cigars, the smoking experience confirmed that impression as well. The cigars soon rose from cult favorite to best-selling status in stores throughout the country. Nineteen years later, with a vast catalog of highly rated, industry- leading cigars, and numerous awards and accolades as testament to his accomplishments, Johnson shows no sign of slowing down. His Tatuaje and L’Atelier brands encompass over 19 lines of handmade cigars, produced in Nicaragua by My Father Cigars, and inMiami in the Garcia Family’s El Rey de los Habanos factory. Apart from the collections of traditional Nicaraguan and Miami- made cigars, Johnson is responsible for such innovative series as the HalloweenMonsters, with creative names like Little Monsters, Pudgy Monsters and the Monster Mash; the Mexican Experiment (and the more recent ME II version) utilizing a San Andrés wrapper, escasos , meaning scarce or rare, and featuring revised variants of the original Brown Label; and the soon-to-be-released Tuxtla Series, paying homage to the region that is home to Mexico’s cigar industry. Those successes have allowed Johnson to engage in industry- promoting efforts like helping to fund Handrolled, a movie about cigar manufacturing, and creating cigar lines to benefit specific retailers For this PCA Exclusive, Tatuaje will donate 50 cents per cigar, a total of $10,000, to help PCA protect the industry from needless legislation. “Even though this is a limited production that will be allocated in small quantities, we believe it’s important for our company to do our part to help push the industry forward," says Johnson.