Tatuaje Cigars and my local B&Ms

[CigarKing]

Everything we've heard is that #9 will be very limited until at least 2013. They just won't be able to produce decent quantities until then. We have some but not like the stock on T52.

As far as Tat goes, last I heard they only have between 250-300 retailers nationwide. Not sure how accurate that number is today unfortunately. We carry just all of Pete's product, so if you're ever looking for anything in particular, feel free to PM me or give us a call Andy. Happy to help out when we can.

A local B&M in Arizona who does carry Liga #9 told me that the line is backordered till 2013......hard to expand to stores if the suppy is limited.

 

[LiLo]

anyone who doesn't carry tatuaje this day in age are f*cking idiots. If you want to support locals just order from another Brick and Mortar....most ship regardless if they have an online business or not.

 

[StocktonJohn]

anyone who doesn't carry tatuaje this day in age are f*cking idiots. If you want to support locals just order from another Brick and Mortar....most ship regardless if they have an online business or not.

Agreed. I just don't understand how a retailer can expect to stay in business selling only the same old stuff year after year. There is a really nice B&M in town that I never patronize because they just don't get it. It just makes no sense to me why one would pass up all those potential sales by refusing to keep at least somewhat current with the market....

 

[yellen]

Here in Switzerland, I only know of one shop in another state selling tatuajes. look at the funny prices we get
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_seleccion_de_cazador.html
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_reserva.html

 

[smelvis]

Here in Switzerland, I only know of one shop in another state selling tatuajes. look at the funny prices we get
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_seleccion_de_cazador.html
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_reserva.html

That's crazy many BOTL'ers will buy and ship for you if you ask. I have but you still have to worry about customs.

 

[Skitalets]

Here in Switzerland, I only know of one shop in another state selling tatuajes. look at the funny prices we get
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_seleccion_de_cazador.html
http://www.doncigarro.com/cigars_tatuaje_reserva.html

opeyes: Wow. Of course, the US will get there too if the antis have their way with tobacco taxes.

 

[ciggy]

Tat's are a rare breed here too. We have one store that carries them in Battle Creek but he WAY over charges on them. $8 for a PCR or $15 for a cojonu 03 and so on. We have one who carries a vary limited stock of Tat's but claims they don't sell well at all so he doesn't order that much of them.

 

[ltcal94]

The closest "real" B&M is at a mall about 20 miles from me. For the most part he has a decent selection in two walk-in humidors. He was carrying some limited Tatuaje (nobles, angeles & noellas) . Recently , I spotted the noellas on the discount shelf. When I inquired about them he said , they were not going to carry the brand anymore as there is not demand for them. I was shocked but not surprised. The majority of the people that come in their for cigars are looking for the infused stuff . A lot of his customers are also looking at the real low end of the cigar spectrum and he tends to light up when someone asks about Arturo Fuente or Padron ( I have bought a lot of family reserve there), but unfortunately it is more likely Rockey or macanudo etc. The one bright spot is he is trying to get the Liga Privada line as apparently, he does sell a lot of Drew Estates product and he feels those would move better.

 

[Danilo]

anyone who doesn't carry tatuaje this day in age are f*cking idiots. If you want to support locals just order from another Brick and Mortar....most ship regardless if they have an online business or not.

Agreed. I just don't understand how a retailer can expect to stay in business selling only the same old stuff year after year. There is a really nice B&M in town that I never patronize because they just don't get it. It just makes no sense to me why one would pass up all those potential sales by refusing to keep at least somewhat current with the market....

It would be nice to walk in to a shop and just have every single cigar you want to smoke, but the reality is that it just does not move in some areas.
In Miami, between 2 shops we barely get any requests for it. In my Homestead store we brought in Havana VI (only line that really sold) Cazadores, Cabaiguan (just sits there) and La Riqueza (moves at turtle pace).
I would love to be able to go into the shop I work at and just have an endless selection of Tatuaje and all of Pete's other brands because I truly like them, but from a business side of it, If there is no demand, there is no need to have it there taking up shelf space. We constantly order the Havana VI line, as that is what our customers took to, but there is not much point dumping $ into product that will take 2 years to sell 6 boxes of. We strive to have the selection that our customers want and we do a pretty good job of that. I have not lost a customer yet because we don't have Tatuaje the rest of Petes lines.

John, a retailer can keep going selling the same thing year after year if that is the stuff that moves off their shelf. I know that it seems like it would not, but most cigar smokers are not like us. We always want something different, and we look for new things and like to try others... That's just not how most cigar smokers are. A lot of them come in and smoke the same thing every single time and rarely try something new... and if they do, it's often by the same manufacturer.

 

[Craig Mac]

+1 Danilo, boutique cigars can be a hard sell at some shops and many customers are very "go with what you know". I do believe that the staff also can play in to that, if they push certain things it can generate sales but not all shops/employees want to take the risk of bringing in lines that a majority of their customers have never heard of. Just because most people here know who Tatuaje is there is a much larger population of B&M customers that have never heard of most of the boutique brands and aren't willing to pay $8+ for something they have never heard of.

 

[itallushrt]

Agree with Danilo and Craig. I think it is all about brand recoginition. The older brands like macanudo are what the casual smoker associates with quality no matter if it is wrong or not. Add to that most guys seem to not ask for advice at a b&m and end up buying garbage. Throw price into the mix and you have folks willingly paying 5$ or less for crap they assume to be good.

 

[Danilo]

+1 Danilo, boutique cigars can be a hard sell at some shops and many customers are very "go with what you know". I do believe that the staff also can play in to that, if they push certain things it can generate sales but not all shops/employees want to take the risk of bringing in lines that a majority of their customers have never heard of. Just because most people here know who Tatuaje is there is a much larger population of B&M customers that have never heard of most of the boutique brands and aren't willing to pay $8+ for something they have never heard of.

That's were it becomes a big deal. If they regularly spend 6-7 on a cigar, I can put them onto the Tatuaje reds, and hope they like it... and the truth is that a lot of them do like it, and return for more. They issue is when I try to get them to spend 8-13 on the brown label, and they don't see the value there. Not all smokers are as well versed like the BOTL crew... I really wish I could get all my customers to smoke La Riqueza and Cabaiguan, but I can't... so the product sits on the shelf on prime real estate, while on the other hand we have to order Fuente, JC Newman and Perdomo weekly... Most smokers go with what they know... and a few smokers actually venture off the beaten path and try something new.(very few)

 

[Treinenwj]

I'm just glad I'm not alone. I have two local places to buy from: won't even call them B&Ms, as one is a coffee shop w/ a humidor, and the other is a Tobacco Outlet. The tobacco outlet has one vitola of the havana vi line that's been sitting there untouched forever, and the coffee shop had never heard of tatuaje. But, they both have hemingways, so I keep visiting occasionally.

 

[FragmagnetEOD]

It took me a while to find everthing you guys are talking about. I guess I should thank my lucky stars that I have two B&Ms within driving distance. They don't carry every LE put out but seems as though they at least get the regular line.

As was said earlier in the thread. I ask everytime if they plan on getting something I'm looking for and usually it is a different answer every time. That's the part that is frustrating to me is that I drop a minimum of $60 every trip and I still get treated like a noob. I know I am but dammit, don't keep reminding me. Small fish in a big pond I guess.

 

[area51]

The worst is when you get B&M owners that have never heard of them. That is how my local one is, he sticks to what he knows. He doesn't venture to know about the "boutique" brands.

 

[Docbp87]

It took me a while to find everthing you guys are talking about. I guess I should thank my lucky stars that I have two B&Ms within driving distance. They don't carry every LE put out but seems as though they at least get the regular line.

As was said earlier in the thread. I ask everytime if they plan on getting something I'm looking for and usually it is a different answer every time. That's the part that is frustrating to me is that I drop a minimum of $60 every trip and I still get treated like a noob. I know I am but dammit, don't keep reminding me. Small fish in a big pond I guess.

What B&M's? I'm in Richmond, and we have some great shops here. The Tatuaje merchant here is Havana Connections, and they have a huge selection. I think the shop in the Tuckahoe area even has a box of RC184s on the shelf, and gets a good stock of Fuente HTF stuff on occasion.

 

[loki993]

I have the same problem with Tats for whatever reason. I can find regular line stuff everywhere, however none of the limited or rarer stuff. None of the new stuff either. 1 shop Ive been to had some 7th naturals. Noone else in my area that Ive found has any of the other new 7ths from last year. I place near me just ordered hard from the show this year and I finally have a source for the new new stuff. Hes not got Faustos, Avions, the capas and the Crillos so thats good, but hes it.

I had to ask my main local B&M to try and order some, they said they would but they still dont have them.

funny thing is I have a place where I get me Viajes, they get all the LE stuff and a Place for DEs. Tats are hard for some reason though.

Illuisione same deal or worse. Most places that carry them only have a couple Vitolas in stock. Never even saw an MK until a month ago, noone has the Ultras as far as I know or any of the Maddies. Never have seen a candella or a slam, only pics on NHC lol. Sucks too I wanted to have one for my Bday smoking week lol.

 

[La Chupacabra]

I think part of Tatuaje shtick is to keep things HTF. I local Cigar lounge near me 70/70's manager Nolan tried for years to get Tatuaje's limited stuff. The Rep just kept saying "in time" He could get the run-of-the-mill stuff. But not the "HOT" stuff, after a few years of only being able to get the Havana & Cazador lines (and very limited Cazador stuff) he gave up and now focuses on Illusione and other popular lines.

 

[loki993]

I think part of Tatuaje shtick is to keep things HTF. I local Cigar lounge near me 70/70's manager Nolan tried for years to get Tatuaje's limited stuff. The Rep just kept saying "in time" He could get the run-of-the-mill stuff. But not the "HOT" stuff, after a few years of only being able to get the Havana & Cazador lines (and very limited Cazador stuff) he gave up and now focuses on Illusione and other popular lines.

Funny thing is Both places get the Monster releases. They just dont seem to get the other stuff.

 

[blessednxs65]

Reading through this post I can say that although I live in Cali I am 25-70 miles in any direction from B&M's with the full array of Tats.

I concur with others. If they don't sell what you want...don't frequent them.


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