The Many Faces of Don Pepin Garcia

Jose "Don Pepin" Garcia first garnered attention when Pete Johnson of Havana Cellars in Los Angeles asked him to help create a small line of cigars for Johnson to sell to his friends in smokeshops around the country. That brand was Tatuaje, which launched in 2004 and became an almost overnight success for its bold flavor and outstanding craftsmanship. Soon Johnson was taking orders faster than Garcia could fill them and it's just gone crazy from there. Tuatuaje now is a regular in Cigar Aficionado's Top 25.
Then there's Cabaiguan, named after a city in the northern Sancti Spíritus province of Cuba. Pete Johnson desicribes it as, an Old World, Medium Bodied, Cuban Style Cigar. Blended in the style of the flavorful yet Medium Bodied Cuban Cigars, rolled in classic Cuban tradition by Garcia in Miami. These cigars feature the beautiful Cuban-style triple-cap and are Medium to Mild in flavor.
The thrust of success with Johnson allowed Garcia to begin offering his own lines on the national market: the Don Pepin Garcia (blue label), Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ (white label), and Don Pepin Cuban Classic (Black Label) have done very well.
Garcia’s reputation was even further enhanced with the introduction of the Padilla Miami 8 & 11, also well received and strongly promoted by the Padilla brothers. The combination of high quality, strong promotion, good reviews and a powerful word-of-mouth campaign among smokeshops and smokers made Garcia a sought-after cigar maker.
The Troya brand had been floundering, even after being re-blended in 2004. The company asked Garcia to come up with a new, bold blend to do honor to the Troya name, an old and respected Cuban brand. Troya Clasico was Garcia’s answer, a mild-to-medium-bodied blend that sports a rich and spicy flavor in three classic shapes with a Nicaraguan-grown Corojo wrapper. Bingo! It's estimated that the Troya Clasico line would yield sales of more than one million cigars in its first year.
Eddie Ortega of United Tobacco has introduced the 601 line, also made by Garcia at the Tabacalera Cubana, with a Nicaraguan binder and filler and a choice of an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper or a Nicaraguan-grown Habano Oscuro wrapper. These cigars are full of flavor and with their gorgeous construction have met with immediate – and increasing enthusiasm. Ortega said he is already backordered for their newest cigar which debuted just last month!
Sam Driban of Black Cat Cigar Company introduced two lines by Don Pepin to retail distribution recently: Rey Miguel and El Titan de Bronze Gran Reserva Cameroon. The medium-bodied Rey Miguel line uses an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper around Nicaraguan-grown binder and filler while the El Titan de Bronze Gran Reserva Cameroon offers a Cameroon-wrapped blend employing a Honduran binder and filler leaves from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua for a medium-to-full-bodied smoke.
It seems everyone wants a piece of Garcia's action. With this kind of success, it's easy to see why.
Credit to: cigarcyclopedia.com