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Pete Johnson goes Vampire!

This article is from CigarCyclopedia.com

Los Angeles, September 15, 2009 – Halloween isn’t far off, so that means Pete Johnson’s annual “Monster” series is getting ready to debut for 2009.

After inaugurating the series with “The Frank,” in honor of the Frankenstein movie series of the 1930s and 1940s, the 2009 edition will be led by “The Drac,” saluting Universal Studios’ movie series of the 1930s that starred Bela Lugosi – a big cigar smoker, by the way – in the title role.

“‘The Drac’ will be a 6 3/4-inch by 52-ring torpedo,” said Johnson. “It’s a long torpedo, with a very easy, elegant internal blend and a very big flavored Habano Maduro wrapper. It’s kind of like dressing an elegant man in his black cape!”

The Drac’s wrapper was grown in Ecuador, with the binder and filler leaves from Nicaragua. The cigars were made at Pepin Garcia’s My Father cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. “The cigars will be in boxes of 13,” Johnson added. “The boxes are still in the coffin shape, but this will be a prettier coffin than for The Frank last year. It’s shiny and there’s a little touch of (fake) blood on the tooth coming out of the ‘D’.”

As always, this is a very limited-production cigar, with only 1,300 boxes of 13 actually produced (16,900 cigars in total). “We picked out 13 retailers who got the product last year. We’ll pick again and those 13 will get a bigger chunk, but the remaining distribution will be through the territories, so most [of our] stores will be get a piece of it,” Johnson noted.

In order to give more of his retailers nationwide a chance to participate in his Halloween limited-edition program, Johnson is also started his “sub-series” of the Monster program, called the “Actor’s Series.” These cigars will be themed around the actors whose portrayals made their monster pictures so memorable.

As the 2008 series featured “The Frank,” the 2009 Actor’s Series entry will be “Boris” in honor of Boris Karloff, who brought Frankenstein’s monster to life in 1932. “It’s in boxes of 10, with only 1,000 boxes to be produced. The boxes are white with a very elegant white band on the cigars,” said Johnson.

“It allows you to taste a version of the previous year’s Monster blend, but it’s not the exact blend. We’ve shortened the cigar – it’s 7 inches by 49 ring – and instead of Broadleaf, we put an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper with a rosado tone to it. It changes the cigar drastically, but it’s also made at My Father cigars in Nicaragua. Retailers who won the pick last year will get a nice little chunk of the sub-series and everybody else will be able to get some.”

Johnson isn’t finished, however. He’s also giving away a motorcycle as part of this year’s Halloween promotion. “We came up with this last year,” Johnson noted. “It’s a Ducati Monster (696) and we’re going Willy Wonka to select the winner.

“There are 13 spooky tickets inside boxes of The Drac. There’s no purchase necessary, but if you find one of the 13 tickets and register it online, you have a 1-13 chance to win the bike. We know a lot of these cigars are given as gifts and retailers will open a lot of boxes before they put the cigars on the shelf and we’re fine that they are eligible to win as well.”

He’s already thinking ahead to next year as well. “In 2010, we’re going new school with LeatherFace, it will be called ‘The Face.’ The size has not yet been determined, but it’s going to be a fatter cigar, with a gnarly, ugly wrapper on it, a marbelized cover leaf. The cigar will be unfinished, with the wrapper drooping off the cigar.

“The box will be a coffin, but ugly and brown. We’re going to have the boxmaker swipe them over the grinder one more time after they’re finished. The band will be some weird combination of the colors, too.” He hasn’t yet figured out how to package a miniature chain saw in the box to use as a cutter!

Johnson has also planned ahead for the Actor’s Series cigar for 2010: “It will be the Bela sub-series. We’ve already kind-of created that cigar. It will have a classic, elegant Ecuador Connecticut wrapper.”

Johnson’s success began with his Tatuaje brand and now has distribution all over the country, reaching about 700 stores in total. “I’m glad it’s still small,” he added.

He also noted the success of his newest blend, the Ambos Mundos. “It’s aimed at a lower price point,” he explained. “It’s my way of trying to create something that had flavor at a nicer price point for this economy. It’s been out since January and the response has been great.

“It’s a base Nicaraguan, with mild seco-viso-volado leaves and two different wrappers: Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper on one, and a Nicaraguan Habano on the other.”

He also noted that the LaRiqueza and La Riqueza Cabinet lines “are the same blend, only the box is different. We added two sizes in the Cabinet and those are round not square.

“We’re making everything out of My Father cigars in Nicaragua now except for the Tatuaje (brown label) which is still in Miami at El Rey de Los Habanos.”

Johnson’s emphasis on quality and control has made his cigars widely known and much appreciated among the cigar cognoscenti, but he’s not above having some fun with his retailers and with smokers. For an activity which is essentially a hobby, that’s a good thing.