Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas Staff Review
Award-winning cigar-makers Pepin and Jaime Garcia recently revamped one of the first cigars they produced when they set up shop in Miami after emigrating from Cuba over twenty years ago, Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas, and today I’m smoking it in the 6-by-50 Generosos.
Before the Garcias were established as the blenders behind top-rated brands like My Father, Flor de las Antillas, and La Aroma de Cuba, they were making small-batch cigars in a humble operation called El Rey de los Habanos in Miami’s Little Havana district. The first brands the Garcias produced included Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label and Tatuaje cigars, along with Vegas Cubanas, which eventually got lost in the shuffle and was discontinued for a time as demand grew for other cigars in their burgeoning portfolio. The Garcias moved their operation to Estelí, Nicaragua, where they opened their massive new My Fathers cigar factory in 2009.
In 2012, the Pepin and Jaime won ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ honors from the critics Cigar Aficionado for the 96-rated Flor de las Antillas blend, and they won it again in 2015 for their 97-rated My Father Le Bijou 1922. The family’s obsession with tobacco cannot be overstated, and they’ve expanded their factory and farms dramatically over the past decade to produce more cigars. But they’ve never lost sight of their roots, and the Don Pepin Garcia line has remained a staple in their portfolio. That’s why it’s nice to see them refresh an old classic like Vegas Cubanas in the DPG franchise.
For this latest incarnation of Vegas Cubanas, the cigars are dressed in a pair of elegant lime-green cigar bands with a matching ribbon at the foot, and they’re packaged in 20-count boxes. Pepin and Jaime chose a Nicaraguan Rosado wrapper leaf, grown from Corojo seeds, and a well-aged blend of premium Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos on the inside.
When I pull a Generoso from a fresh box, the wrapper is a lighter shade of brown than you might expect for a Nicaraguan Corojo. Nonetheless, its seamless appearance leaves an excellent first impression in conjunction with the perfect density the cigar exhibits when I pinch it. An aroma of cedar, nuts, and fresh tobacco creates a great preview of the cigar’s leathery cold draw when I clip the cap and take a few puffs.
Like so many cigars in the My Father portfolio, the Vegas Cubanas Generoso pulls like a dream. It only takes a moment for the binder, filler, and wrapper tobaccos to fully ignite once I hit the foot with a few flashes of my Jetline Hurricane triple torch lighter. DPG Vegas Cubanas starts off spicy and nutty. I taste an array of black pepper and baking spices over a welcoming foundation of smoked almond. There’s a creaminess in the smoke that I wasn’t expecting, and it creates a delightful balance within the first seven to ten minutes.
The DPG Vegas Cubanas blend isn’t as peppery as other My Father cigars. The Generosos progresses with a slightly herbal note balanced by hints of nutmeg and wood. For an $8-10 cigar, Vegas Cubanas is a solid value with its complex flavor and even burn. I’ve knocked the cigar’s sturdy ash off three times over forty minutes, and the profile has been consistent the whole way.
By the time I peel off the band to polish off the nub, a noticeable current of cedar and leather layers the palate throughout a toasty finish. Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas is an old standby worth revisiting with its re-blended recipe when you’re looking for a quality Nicaraguan premium to add to your rotation for a fair price. Put a few in your next order for a delicious smoke that’s different from some of the more potent blends Pepin and Jaime Garcia are known for.
