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Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas Cigar Review
By Marcian | January 10, 2008
Brand: Don Pepin Garcia
Line: Vegas Cubanas
Vitola: Coronas 5 1/2 x 44
Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo
Price: $116 (Box of 25)
Description: This cigar was completely off the radar for me, I had never even heard of it. This was shock seeing that it had arguably the greatest cigar maker of our time’s name attached to it. The wrapper and the foot had a strong tobacco scent. It was a bit toothy with small veins throughout. Pre-light draw was a little tight, but produced a straight forward woody tobacco taste. The cigar seemed to have that typical rock solid Pepin construction going for it.
Once I had the cigar lit it offered up a sweet corojo taste with that signature Pepin spice to boot. The ash was a little flaky, but the light grey color with traces of goose bumps from the wrapper made up for that. The cigar’s draw had that same resistance from pre-light, which was more than I like. However, it did not stop me from get good amounts of smoke from the cigar. In the second third that criollo and corojo taste got really bold with an undertone of sweetness and spice.
As I was entering the final third of the cigar the wrapper started to crack on me. The final third got really spicy and the burn that was even throughout got crooked. I blame the uneven burn on the cracked wrapper, not a cigar flaw really, cracked wrappers just happen. The label saved the cigar from opening the whole way. The cigar ended with a really tasty blend of corojo and rich tobacco flavors.
Verdict: I would smoke the Vegas Cubana again. I really love transitions of this stick. It had similar flavors throughout, but the various intensities made it very enjoyable. Even after a decent size crack the cigar burn line corrected itself. Another hit from Mr. Garcia.
Check the review index for reviews of other cigars by Don Pepin Garcia.
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Tags: Cigar Reviews, Don Pepin Garcia
Topics: Cigar Reviews |
January 10th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I smoked one of the torps a while back, although the band was completely different. Not sure what’s up there. He must have changed them at some point. I really wasn’t overly impressed with this smoke. it was one of the first Pepin smokes that thought “eh, it’s ok but kinda boring”. I also thought for what it was, the price was a little too high. With so many great sticks from him, I have no plans to ever revisit this one. Your review tells quite a different story though. Maybe I had a bum stick. You got me thinking I should perhaps give it at least one more shot.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Thanks for you comment Matt. Your response is completely understandable. In some ways your completely right. Pepin does make better smokes, the Cuban Classic being my personal favorite. The Vegas Cubanas and the Cuban Classic are worlds apart. So I don’t plan on buying a box of the Vegas Cubanas … But I will buy a five pack sit them in the bottom of my humidor and see how there change over time. Over a few months to a years as I make my way through them I may discover added qualities in this cigar that I like … or not.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Wow……..are there any recent corojo releases Don Pepin isn’t involved in? He and Rocky Patel must put the Energizer bunny to shame! The Series 601 Red label is still my favorite.
January 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Camacho is probably better known for corojo, I’m not sure how many of Pepin’s Blends contain corojo, I don’t believe the EO Brands do.
January 10th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
The Tatuajes and DPGs use Corojo. Pepin does make good use of it, but the Eiroa’s (Camacho) are the only ones with authentic Corojo to my knowledge.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I am a bit confused on the 601 series wrappers as I see it reported that the wrapper is corojo on the general description on many sites but, when you look at the individual descriptions of each cigar, you don’t see corojo listed. However, the 5 Vegas Miami, Cigar.com Corojo Label, Cuban Classic, JJ series, Legends from CI, Don Pepin Blue Label, Padilla Miami, Old Henry and others are ALL corojo and all made by Don Pepin. Yes, I know that Camacho claims to have the only authentic corojo tobacco in the world. Balderdash! That’s a marketing ploy. After all, if you really want to get picky, the only authentic corojo tobacco in the world grows in Cuba and Cuba only.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Cuba no longer uses Corojo, but a hybrid of it. If a seed came from a Corojo plant it doesn’t matter where it grows it is still a Corojo plant.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
That’s like saying grapes from California make Champagne. They just don’t and corojo grown anywhere else is not corojo.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Holy crap Jesse. Looks like we’re both wrong!!!! Check out this link:
Cigar Envy
Real authentic corojo (and I don’t accept that anything grown outside of the original farm in Cuba is authentic corojo) no longer exists!!!!!!!
January 11th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Another link about corojo. This article describes why I believe authentic corojo can only be from Cuba and real Champagne can only be from France. That doesn’t mean Cuban seed corojo tobacco isn’t great(it is) and California makes great sparkling wine they call champagne but, neither is the authentic product which must be a combination of plant and soil.
Cigar Aficionado
January 24th, 2008 at 6:46 am
[…] cigar because of the strength you may want to give this one a try first. Similar Cigars: The Don Pepin Vegas Cubanas is another blend that I think is mellower than your typical Don Pepin […]