La Vérité Artist Series. The first year will be a piece from the late Paul Hernandez. (I know his brother Steve, I never had the pleasure of meeting Paul)
The new line from Pete Johnson’s Tatuaje, La Verite, will include two vitolas. La Verite, which means “the truth,” will be a Churchill and available in April 2010. It will be offered in cabinets of 100, broken down into smaller boxes of 10, 25, or 50 and retailing for approximately $25 per stick. The other, L’esprit de La Verite, which means “the spirit of the truth,” will be a robusto and available in December 2009 at a retail price of around $13 apiece.
The idea behind this highly anticipated release borrows heavily from the wine industry. All of the tobacco, habano criollo, will be from the one farm in Esteí—making this a Nicaraguan puro—and each year will produce a different “vintage” to mirror the vintage concept in wines. The tobacco will be fermented but, unlike most cigars, it will be rolled without undergoing further aging in bales.
The L’esprit de La Verite is made from the same tobacco as La Verite and designed to be a sample to give a taste of the final La Verite release. Starting in July, futures will go on sale for La Verite at a 25% discount on the retail price, which is similar to the process used by winemakers.