The Don Pepin Garcia ‘Blue’ cigar is one of the first blends made by legendary master blender Don (Jose) Pepin Garcia. Full bodied with a rich spicy flavor, Pepin is credited with making some of the highest rated brands on the market.
The El Rey de Los Habanos factory in the Little Havana section of Miami has been the hottest factory in recent years, producing such big names as Tatuaje and Padilla Miami. After years of anticipation, the master blender and owner of the factory has finally debuted a brand worthy of his prestigious name.
The Don Pepin Garcia is a full-bodied robust cigar that combines premium Nicaraguan long fillers with a rich corojo wrapper. This combination of premium tobaccos gives the cigar a spicy and peaty aroma that is very reminiscent of the best cigars made in Cuba today. Rolled in the US in limited quantities, each cigar is made under the watchful eye of Don Pepin himself, ensuring that each cigar that bears his name will have an excellent burn from the moment you light it up to the instant you put it down.
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 50
Ring: 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Body: Full
Price: ~$8.00 each
Smoke Time: 37 min
More info about purchasing: Don Pepin Garcia Blue Cigars
Like the Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic, the ‘Blue’ label was also named one of the World’s Top 25 Cigars in addition to it’s ’93’ and ’92’ rating. The rich corojo wrapper had some minor imperfections which were noticeable to the naked eye. Classified as a full-bodied cigar, it tasted more on the medium side. Definitely not as powerful as the Don Pepin ‘Black’.
The flavor was a bit dry with woodsy and leathery tones. The cigar has a good draw as it produced a lot of smoke. And the burn is even. The ‘Blue’ loses some of it’s medium body taste going into the second third of the stick. That’s when I notice a gaping hole within the ash in the center of the stick. There was a soft spot right in the middle of the cigar. Not big, but big enough to affect the draw. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last as I noticed one more soft spot a little bit further down.
I had to admit, I was somewhat surprised as to the poor construction of this cigar. It’s something you don’t normally see in a Don Pepin cigar. I had to chalk this up as being an isolated incident. Wouldn’t you? That being said, I was not ‘diggin’ this cigar one bit.
Appearance : 
( 17/20 )
Construction : ( 22/30 )
Flavor : ( 27/35 )
Burn : ( 14/15 )
Overall Rating : 80/100
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thirty-seven minutes seems like an awfully short smoking time for a 6 x 50 vitola. I’m thinking about trying a few more of these, as it’s been some time since I last smoked a DPG Blue. I’ve enjoyed many DPG blends–Nestor Miranda, Tatuaje, La Aroma de Cuba, 601, Cubao etc. Thus far, the only one I did not care for was the Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas. It seemed harsh, and I like full-bodied cigars. Do you have a favorite DPG blend?