SFL posted this on the other thread:
This article is from CigarCyclopedia.com
Los Angeles, September 15, 2009 Halloween isnt far off, so that means Pete Johnsons 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. Its a long torpedo, with a very easy, elegant internal blend and a very big flavored Habano Maduro wrapper. Its kind of like dressing an elegant man in his black cape!
The Dracs wrapper was grown in Ecuador, with the binder and filler leaves from Nicaragua. The cigars were made at Pepin Garcias 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. Its shiny and theres 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. Well 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 Actors 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 Actors Series entry will be Boris in honor of Boris Karloff, who brought Frankensteins monster to life in 1932. Its 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 years Monster blend, but its not the exact blend. Weve shortened the cigar its 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 its 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 isnt finished, however. Hes also giving away a motorcycle as part of this years Halloween promotion. We came up with this last year, Johnson noted. Its a Ducati Monster (696) and were going Willy Wonka to select the winner.
There are 13 spooky tickets inside boxes of The Drac. Theres 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 were fine that they are eligible to win as well.
Hes already thinking ahead to next year as well. In 2010, were going new school with LeatherFace, it will be called The Face. The size has not yet been determined, but its 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. Were going to have the boxmaker swipe them over the grinder one more time after theyre finished. The band will be some weird combination of the colors, too. He hasnt 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 Actors Series cigar for 2010: It will be the Bela sub-series. Weve already kind-of created that cigar. It will have a classic, elegant Ecuador Connecticut wrapper.