No IPCPR is complete without another episode in the growing Minutes With Pete Johnson series. This year we met up with a slender Pete behind the bar in his 2016 Best In Show booth. It seemed more like he was tending bar in his shiny new booth than selling cigars. (He was behind the bar talking and pouring his wine for visitors every time we saw him.) Not that his cigars need any help selling.
We get started with Pete telling us he thinks of himself more as “the fashion designer of cigars” than a maker of cigars. Pepin and Jaime actually make the cigars we smoke, he “picks the materials and makes the patterns.” And we go from there, covering a myriad of subjects like Pepin at rolling events back in the day, Tatuaje-branded carpet, why his French wine (Tatouage Encre) has a Celtic cross on the label, getting healthy, Crossfit Santa, and what Pete has in common with Andre the Giant.
When we get to cigars, Pete talks about the Reserva Broadleaf Collection which is a 100-count box containing ten of each size. He also mentions the Skinny Monster Collection or “the rainbow of Skinny Monsters”, and explains where the idea came from. La Verite 2013 is finally on its way, and should be fully released by the end of the year. There are new sizes in L’Atelier La Mission: 1999 which is 5 5/8 x 46, 2003 which is 6 1/4 x 48, and 1982 which is 6 1/8 x 52. He also talks about the Tatuaje-L’Atelier collaboration Négociant, and L’Atelier Identité which has Sancti Spiritus in every component. And there’s more.
On the topic of the new FDA regulations, Pete tells us he has released some things earlier than planned because of said regulations. For example, the Reserva Broadleaf Collection was going to be released in 2017. He also assures us that the upcoming Monster Series release, The Krueger, is in commerce, meaning it has been sold and delivered prior to the August 8th cutoff date. But going forward from here, the regulations will make the Monster Series difficult. Pete has a plan for it though. He expresses his frustration the FDA is trying to regulate a product that it has never made any effort to understand, and is not explaining the nuts and bolts of regulation enforcement. Manufacturers that want to obey the regulations often simply don’t know how to do so.
On the subject of The Krueger, Pete says it has been the most fun of the Monster Series so far. He’s pleased with the flavor profile, he really likes the shape, the box design and the “ugly” band.
Unfortunately we lost a minute or so of the end of the video. To make up for that, here’s a bonus video tour of the shiny new product on display in the booth.
Past Installments of Minutes With Pete Johnson (12 videos, 334 total minutes)
- IPCPR 2015 – 25 Minutes With Pete Johnson (Brian Hewitt, 7/23/2015)
- 118 Minutes with Pete Johnson (George Brightman, 8/9/2013)
- IPCPR 2013: 23 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Brian Hewitt & Jerry Cruz, 7/16/2013)
- 11 Minutes with Pete Johnson (IPCPR 2012) (Jerry Cruz, 8/6/2012)
- 23 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 2/3/2012)
- 1143 Seconds with Pete Johnson (Charlie Greenbacker, 10/29/2011)
- 7 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Brian Hewitt & Jerry Cruz, 7/22/2011)
- 20:15 with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 3/5/2011)
- 18 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 8/12/2010)
- 21 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 3/7/2010)
- 23 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 3/8/2009)
- 26 Minutes with Pete Johnson (Jerry Cruz, 11/1/2008)
IPCPR Coverage Sponsored By
Drew Estate
In regard to the Monster Series and the FDA regulations, the possibility of ending the series would be a shame but – silver lining – if Pete has to go back to the Frank, I would be ecstatic. Love that cigar. Great information on all things Tatuaje. Good to hear that Pete is getting healthy. Thanks for the interview.
Thanks. I agree, I thought much the same thing with regard to being forced to fall back to the Frank.