The mild- to medium-bodied Tatascan is JRE Tobacco Co.’s value-priced line. There are five sizes of the cigar—Corona (5 x 44), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 50), Grand Churchill (7 x 52) and Gordo (6 1/2 x 60). Tatascan is available in either a Connecticut or Habano wrapper. The name is the Spanish word for “big boss” or “big chief,” referring to Julio’s extensive career in the industry, and it reflects his hopes that it will be a cigar that any smoker—novices and experienced smokers alike—can enjoy all day.
While the brands are relatively new on the market, Justo explains that they contain tobacco that his family has been using for years. This not only brings familiarity to the production process but also ought to make the cigars adhere to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines for predicate blends.
“Aladino, Rancho Luna and Tatascan use all the tobacco that we have grown for decades,” Justo explains. “The farm is the same, and the seed is the same. The difference is in the presentation. Blends might change by wrapper, size or box count. We are now adjusting everything to what we did before to maintain the predicate designation. We have catalogs dating back to the 1990s that show all of our products. From seed to shop, we have a data trail that shows that we have been doing this since long before the predicate date. We feel very fortunate in this transition with the FDA that all of our tobacco that is on the market is the same tobacco product that we did with other brands.”
Another factor working in JRE Tobacco Co.’s favor is the reputation that Julio has earned throughout the years as being one of the best tobacco growers in the business, who meticulously works hard every day to ensure that his tobaccos are of only the highest quality. Julio once famously burned several million dollars of tobacco grown at his farm because it didn’t meet his quality standards, and he still rises early each day to spend his mornings on the tobacco farm and at the processing facility. He then spends his afternoons at Fabrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas, Jamastran, overseeing production.
“Dad never compromises or circumvents the quality of his tobacco or his cigars,” Justo says. “We are fully committed to providing the very best in consumer satisfaction, and we guarantee that all our brands provide them the same authentic Corojo taste as the Cuban cigars from the 1950s and 1960s provided.”
Who would expect anything less from one of the last members of that legendary generation of cigarmakers who overcame adversity to achieve more than anyone could have thought possible?
This story first appeared in the May/June 2020 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– Story by Stephen A. Ross, editor-in-chief of Tobacco Business Magazine.
