Best Don Pepin Garcia Cigars
Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia, aka Don Pepin, began rolling cigars in Báez, Cuba, at the age of eleven. Don Pepin learned to roll cigars from an uncle who ran a small cigar factory. He went on to work at the Felix Rodriguez factory where he spent decades honing his craft rolling some of Cuba’s most renowned brands, including Montecristo, Cohiba, and Romeo y Julieta, eventually training hundreds of other cigar rollers in Cuba.
In 2002, Garcia departed Cuba for the States to follow his son, Jaime, and daughter, Janny, who had begun exploring opportunities in the premium cigar industry in America. The Garcias established a small factory in Miami where they blended and produced small-batch cigars for young upstart brands like Tatuaje. Their cigars caught the attention of critics and cigar lovers, and it didn’t take the Garcias long to secure a massive contract producing the San Cristobal and La Aroma de Cuba brands for the Levin family, the owners of Ashton Cigars.
Demand for cigars blended by Don Pepin Garcia exploded as the family opened their sprawling new My Father Cigars S.A. cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, where their clients’ cigars are produced as well as their prestigious My Father brand. Today, Don Pepin is responsible for some of the highest-rated cigars the critics in Cigar Aficionado have reviewed and ranked. Here are the best cigars blended by Don Pepin Garcia that deserve a place in your humidor.
1. My Father Le Bijou 1922
My Father Le Bijou 1922 earned ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ honors with a 97-point rating from Cigar Aficionado for 2015. The spicy and intense smoke is drawn from a dark and oily Ecuador Habano wrapper over potent long-fillers grown on the Garcia family’s Nicaraguan estates and aged to perfection. Bold notes of black pepper, espresso, earth, and leather emerge in a strong and masterful cigar.
2. Flor de las Antillas
Flor de las Antillas marks the first ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ title for Don Pepin Garcia. The critics rated this all-Nicaraguan masterpiece 96 points in a soft-box-pressed Toro. An oily reddish-brown Sun Grown Nicaraguan wrapper harbors a spicy and nutty interior of well-aged Nicaraguan long-fillers. Tasting notes of cedar, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg mingle with hints of cinnamon in a well-made collection.
3. My Father
With so many award-winning cigars credited to Pepin Garcia, the original My Father blend gets overlooked despite its status as a pillar in the Garcia family’s portfolio. A medium-brown Ecuador Habano wrapper leaf binds a brilliant recipe of vintage Nicaraguan long-fillers in several popular shapes. Notes of wood, nuts, cocoa, and pepper imbue a formidable backbone of leather ahead of a long, creamy finish.
4. My Father La Opulencia
Another ‘#2 Cigar of the Year’ award went to Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia for the 95-rated My Father La Opulencia when the critics reviewed this succulent smoke in 2018. Hearty notes of oak, cocoa, anise, and nougat meld with a plethora of spices and nuts before a full-bodied finale resonates in several classic My Father sizes. A lustrous San Andres Oscuro wrapper leaf covers the finest Nicaraguan long-fillers cultivated on Garcia family farms.
5. My Father The Judge
My Father The Judge is a big and blocky collection of box-pressed cigars blended from a succulent Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and a bold amalgam of well-aged Nicaraguan long-fillers. The 94-rated cigar develops with notes of chocolate, nuts, and cedar with a good amount of red pepper before an imposing finish. The Judge is strong, balanced, and ideal for fans of thick box-pressed sizes.
6. Don Pepin Garcia Original
Seasoned cigar lovers look for the navy-blue cigar bands on the Don Pepin Garcia Original blend in cigar stores around the country for good reason. A Corojo-seed Oscuro wrapper leaf cradles a substantial interior of premium Nicaraguan long-fillers in several sizes for a great value. Notes of leather, earth, and cocoa cross paths in a toasty full-bodied profile befitting of the cigar-maker’s name on the boxes and the bands.
7. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial
The apple doesn’t fall from the tree in any discussion of the best cigars blended by legendary cigar-maker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia whose son, Jaime Garcia, has been his father’s right-hand man for decades. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial may be named for Pepin’s son, but it’s truly impossible to separate the two when considering their prolific cigar production. Reserva Especial layers the palate with robust notes of dark cocoa, coffee bean, oak, and pepper.
8. Flor de las Antillas Maduro
Toasty notes of cocoa, spices, and wood emerge in Flor de las Antillas Maduro, a darker, spicier, and sweeter incarnation of the award-winning original Flor de las Antillas blend. An oily Cuban-seed wrapper conceals a meaty interior of vintage Nicaraguan long-fillers that pulse with an earthy intensity.
