Pepin Garcia

Don Pepin Garcia is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creator and maker of numerous popular cigar brands.

Early life
Christened José García, Pepin was born into a large family of tobacco growers/cigar makers in Báez, a town in Villa Clara province, Cuba.

Marriage and children
His son, Jaime Garcia is following in his father's footsteps. He and his father created the blend for the Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ brand. His daughter, Janny O. Garcia, is also involved in the family business.

Cuban years
Don Pepin began his life with tobacco in December of 1961 at the age of 11 when he began working in a factory in Báez owned by an uncle. In March of 1963, he began working at the Félix Rodríguez export cigar factory in Báez where he worked until he emigrated to Nicaragua in 2001. He spent thirty years in Cuba developing his skills as a torcedero (cigar roller) and blender, earned numerous accolades for his blending abilities and achieved the highest ranking possible as a cigar roller, Class 8 (Master). Among the awards he won was the Productivity Prize for rolling 320 Julietas (a vitola of 7 x 48 in size) in four hours. The Cuban press often compared the speed and dexterity of his rolling to that of a magician. He is also a Tabaquero Maestro (Master Blender), and was also a “teacher of teachers” in the arts of blending and rolling cigars.

He helped blend cigars such as Cohiba, Partagas, and Montecristo. During the 1990's, he was in charge of Quality Assurance for the Cohiba brand, and was also a consultant to several Cuban cigar makers. Also during the 1990's, he was accounted Cuba's most productive master roller.

Post-Cuba


He left Cuba in 2001, going first to Nicaragua where he worked with AGANORSA, a major tobacco grower. In 2002, AGANORSA merged with Tropical Tobacco, and the combined company continued as Tabacalera Tropical. Don Pepin stayed on for a while as a blending consultant to the new, combined company. He then went to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work with Tropical, and also set up a small rolling operation of his own in the Tropical warehouse,  but soon established his own company and factory. The company, El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. was begun in June of 2002, but was not formally incorporated until December of that year. He is currently the President, and his daughter Janny is the treasurer. The corporate offices are at 1120 SW 8th St, Miami, Florida.

Cigars
In the short time he has been on his own, Pepin Garcia has moved from a relative unknown to a major name in the "boutique" brand arena. In addition to his own brands, he has blended and makes several others for various companies. His skill as a master roller has often been recognized. Pete Johnson said that his "unusually adept skill is evidenced by the fine construction of the cigar". By 2007, his reputation as a superior cigar maker had grown and he was tapped to create and manufacture a completely new brand for a major premium cigar company, Ashton Distributors, Inc.

The first brand Pepin made on his own was Tatuaje for Pete Johnson, and after this brand received high ratings in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Pepin was suddenly in great demand and many people wanted a Don Pepin brand. The tiny Miami factory was unable to keep up with the growing demand, and it became necessary to open a second factory, Tabacalera Cubana, in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Don Pepin’s goal is to re-create the Cuban style as closely as possible without using Cuban tobacco. He has found that Nicaraguan tobaccos render the flavor closest to the Habanos he has in mind, although other tobaccos are used as wrappers from time to time, notably Ecuadoran grown | Connecticut shade. His cigars are not for everyone, as they are medium- to full-bodied and can pack quite a punch.

All of the cigars made at his factories are made in the Cuban style and are finished with a triple cap. In addition, every box is marked with the date of manufacture, a practice which is beginning to gain favor outside of Cuba, where it has always been done.

The El Rey de los Habanos factory
The El Rey de los Habanos factory, the first cigar factory established by Pepin, shares the address of the corporate headquarters in Little Havana at 1120-1124 SW 8th St., Miami. The factory was started by Don Pepin in 2002. The factory manufactures not only Pepin's own brands, but several brands for major clients and house brands for various cigar stores. The factory currently employs 12 rollers, all Class 8 (Master), and they can turn out about 800,000 cigars per year.

Pepin Garcia brands

 * Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label
 * Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ
 * El Centurion
 * El Rey de los Habanos
 * Vegas Cubanas

Client brands

 * Black Cat Cigar Company, Philadelphia, PA
 * Rey Miguel
 * Sam's GS Stash
 * The Cigar Merchant, Alpharetta, GA
 * Trahan Reserva Serie T
 * Cigar King, Scottsdale, AZ
 * Cuban Diplomat
 * Habana Leon
 * Havana Soul
 * Hirsh y Garcia
 * Nacionales “W”
 * Sancti Spiritus
 * Tatuaje Cigars Inc
 * Tatuaje
 * Cabaiguán
 * Padilla Cigar Company, Hialeah, FL
 * Padilla Miami 8 & 11
 * Padilla Signature 1932
 * Top Shelf Cigar Company, Skippack, PA
 * Signature Select

Tabacalera Cubana (TACUBA)
Located in Estelí, Nicaragua, the factory was only recently established to allow the company to meet the growing demand. It is larger than the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, and currently employs 100 rollers, allowing the company to turn out in excess of 3.5 million cigars per annum.

Pepin Garcia brands

 * Don Pepin Garcia Black Edition Cuban Classic

Client brands

 * 5 Vegas
 * Miami (one vitola in this line is made at the Miami factory)
 * Ashton
 * San Cristóbal
 * Cigars International
 * CI Legends Pepin Garcia - Yellow Label (one size: 5.75" x 54; Corojo wrapper)
 * Cigar.com, Inc.
 * Corojo Label
 * EO Brands (United Tobacco)
 * EO Premium 601 Serie
 * Holt's Cigar Company, Philadelphia, Pa
 * Connoisseur Selection
 * Fumadores
 * Old Henry
 * Tatuaje Cigars Inc
 * Tatuaje Havana VI
 * Tatuaje Serie P
 * Troya Cigars
 * Troya Clasico

Miscellaneous
In addition to the regular production cigars noted above, Don Pepin has from time to time created special limited edition cigars for clients. Some of those are listed here, as well as some odds and ends.


 * Padilla Edición Especial Achilles . Ernesto Padilla concocted the blend for this limited edition cigar which was made exclusively for Cigars International. It was manufactured in the factory at Estelí, Nicaragua. Production was limited to 60,000 of only one size, a Toro (6" x 50). A full-bodied cigar, the wrapper is a Corojo. Despite the low production numbers, it was reasonably priced.


 * Tatuaje Bombazos. The Bombazos (4" x 46) were produced for Fumare Cigar in Reno, NV. It is a strong, spicy blend.
 * Tatuaje La Maravilla. This cigar was produced for Leaf and Ale. The La Maravilla is a Punch Punch-sized cigar at 5-5/8" x 46.
 * Tatuaje Cohetes (Rocket). This limited edition cigar was made exclusively for Tower Cigars. A short, fat cigar (4 x 50), it was packed in cabinets of 25, each numbered, dated and signed by Pete. There were only 50 such cabinets available. It was made in the Miami factory.
 * Rio Tabac Alpha Series R was created and originally manufactured by Don Pepin, but is now made by another manufacturer in Nicaragua. The blend had been maintained as it was originally created by Don Pepin.
 * Don Pepin M was a brand that Pepin blended for a client of Tabacalera Tropical when he was working with them and it was made by Tropical. The client asked if he could use Don Pepin's name (this was before he thought to use it for himself) and permission was granted. For various reasons, the cigars were returned to Tropical who then sold them to all comers. The "M" was for "maduro," as it had a maduro wrapper. It is no longer being made. There was also a natural version (the Don Pepin N) which met a similar fate.
 * Bad to the Bone was a special limited production made for the Outlaw Cigar Co., of Kansas City, MO. It was released during a rolling demonstration held in Kansas City by Don Pepin in June of 2007.