Just in time for monster season to give way to the holidays, Tatuaje is bringing Boris Karloff back to the humidor. As first reported by halfwheel, Pete Johnson’s company has announced a new size for its Boris Karloff line: a 6 1/4 x 47 grand corona, limited to 2,000 boxes of 20 cigars and headed to select retailers this week.
We spotted the news through an Instagram post from @epicureansmokes and @smoke.alarm_ summarizing halfwheel’s story, and everything below has been checked against halfwheel’s original article. Full credit to halfwheel and writer Patrick Lagreid for the reporting.
The 2026 Boris Karloff at a Glance
- Brand: Tatuaje
- Size: 6 1/4 x 47 (grand corona)
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder: Nicaraguan
- Filler: Nicaraguan
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A., Estelí, Nicaragua
- Production: 2,000 boxes of 20 cigars
- Shipping: to select retailers beginning this week
- License: produced under license from Karloff Enterprises / Sara Karloff
Sumatra-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador over an all-Nicaraguan core is familiar territory for the My Father factory, and the longer, slimmer 47 ring gauge format tends to keep the wrapper front and center. If you need a refresher on terms like vitola, ring gauge or binder, our Cigar Talk 101 glossary has you covered.
Why the Size Keeps Changing
One of the more charming details of this line is that the shape never stays the same. Tatuaje explained the thinking in its press release, as quoted by halfwheel:
“Since he was a constant shape shifter, adapting to every role as a consummate actor, it always made sense to change the vitola each time this limited release was produced.”
It’s a fitting tribute. Karloff is best remembered as Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy, but his career ran roughly 50 years and covered a huge range of characters. He even voiced the Grinch in the 1966 television special, a role that earned him a Grammy Award, and he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
The timing is deliberate too. According to halfwheel, the cigars are shipping now so that they reach shops ahead of Karloff’s birthday on Nov. 23.
A Line With Deep Monster Series Roots
The Boris Karloff line itself is fairly new. It debuted in January 2025 as a 5 5/8 x 49, and a second installment, a 5 1/4 x 52 robusto, followed in November 2025. This grand corona is the third size in the series.
The story goes back much further, though. In 2008, when Tatuaje launched its now-famous Monster Series with The Frank, it also introduced The Boris. That cigar was meant to be the first in a companion line called The Actor Series. As halfwheel notes, the Actor Series never developed the way some fans hoped, but The Boris lived on. Tatuaje followed it with spin-offs in 2012, 2018, 2020 and 2025.
The 2020 release deserves a special mention. The Tatuaje Karloff, a 6 5/8 x 49 grand corona, was named halfwheel’s 2020 Cigar of the Year. That’s a big reason collectors pay close attention whenever a new Karloff size shows up, and with a grand corona back in the lineup, comparisons to that 2020 cigar are inevitable.
The Cigar Guys’ Take
Tatuaje has had a busy week. It also just revealed the TAA 2027 release that pays homage to its original 2011 TAA cigar. The Karloff line shows what Pete Johnson does best: he takes a pop culture idea, gives it a real backstory, and changes it just enough each time that collectors stay curious.
We like that the shape-shifting idea isn’t just a gimmick. Each new vitola changes how the same basic blend smokes. A 6 1/4 x 47 should burn differently from the 5 1/4 x 52 robusto, and lining the three Karloff sizes up side by side would make a great lounge experiment. If you’ve had any of the earlier Boris or Karloff releases, let us know in the comments how they compare and which one is your favorite.
With only 2,000 boxes made, this one probably won’t sit around long. We’ll be watching for first impressions as the cigars reach shops ahead of Nov. 23.
Source: halfwheel, “Tatuaje Announces New Run of Boris Karloff” (Nov. 2, 2026). Images courtesy of Tatuaje, via halfwheel.
