new pepin brand?

[Mr. Ed]

Originally Posted by Dunkel

Hopefully it won't be high priced like every other stick with DPG's name associated with it. LOL

Actually a lot of Pepin's own sticks he makes are quite affordable. The DPG. Blue, Black, and White labels. The Tobaccos Baez as well as the Cubao, La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especial are fairly priced as well.

The cigars that he makes for Pete Johnson are expensive, (excluding the Tatuaje P Series and Red Label).

[taltos]

He's turning into a bigger marketing whore than Rocky Patel. The only Pepins that I really enjoy are the Blacks and Blues.

[Mr. Ed]

Originally Posted by taltos

He's turning into a bigger marketing whore than Rocky Patel.

I have to disagree. While Rocky's only schtick is marketing cigars, Pepin actually blends and works on his product. He is a real cigar guy and stands behind what he makes. All of his cigars are average at worst () and when comparing all of the cigars made by Pepin and distributed by Rocky, I don't think the quality comes close.

Will this new cigar blow anyone's socks off? I don't know, but he's had some really good releases in the past year including the Cubao, LAdC, and My Father.

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

I have to disagree. While Rocky's only schtick is marketing cigars, Pepin actually blends and works on his product. He is a real cigar guy and stands behind what he makes. All of his cigars are average at worst () and when comparing all of the cigars made by Pepin and distributed by Rocky, I don't think the quality comes close.

Will this new cigar blow anyone's socks off? I don't know, but he's had some really good releases in the past year including the Cubao, LAdC, and My Father.

I was gonna say, compare RP to DPG at every level and see if you come up equal. He might have a lot of brands, but at least at this point, they are all great values for their prices, as well as great smokes. Not to mention is good smokes are GREAT, where as at this point RP's only really GREAT smoke is the Decade (arguably the Sun Grown as well, I would agree), DPG has so freaking many GREAT smokes... My Father, Tatuaje (everthing), San Cristobal, LAdC, the list goes on and on.

[taltos]

See, I'm on the other side where I prefer many of Rocky's smokes to those of Pepin. However, neither of them can hold a candle to Oliva. This is why they market so many brands of cigars.

Originally Posted by taltos

See, I'm on the other side where I prefer many of Rocky's smokes to those of Pepin. However, neither of them can hold a candle to Oliva. This is why they market so many brands of cigars.

I find Oliva to be a much more focused and limited production house than RP and Pepin, and I really like their stuff too.

whats so special about oliva, the ones i've had from them are bland and dry my mouth out. It sounds like these new pepins will be cheap. In cuba they call them peso cigars.

[TomHagen]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

I have to disagree. While Rocky's only schtick is marketing cigars, Pepin actually blends and works on his product. He is a real cigar guy and stands behind what he makes. All of his cigars are average at worst () and when comparing all of the cigars made by Pepin and distributed by Rocky, I don't think the quality comes close.

Will this new cigar blow anyone's socks off? I don't know, but he's had some really good releases in the past year including the Cubao, LAdC, and My Father.

Why are me and this 'horse' always on the same page!?!

[Mr. Ed]

Seriously, it's like beating a dead horse!

As far as the La Reloba, as long as it's a "DPG" brand not made for Pete Johnson, chances are it will be good and affordable.

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by dunkel

Hopefully it won't be high priced like every other stick with DPG's name associated with it.

Ashton Benchmade, Holt's Fumadores and Little Havana Overruns are quite inexpensive and quite good. And remember, the cigars he produces in Little Havana cost alot more to make. He has to pay his people there much more than in Nic. He does have tons and tons of grade b and c tobacco that hopefully he will use to make more less expensive cigars too.

Originally Posted by taltos

He's turning into a bigger marketing whore than Rocky Patel.

I have to disagree as well, brudda. That will never happen. Pepin knows his limits and he is a tobacco man first. His whole life has been devoted to tobacco. As most know, Rocky is/was a lawyer and in the movie business before getting into cigars on a whim. He only got into cigars much later in his life at the start of the boom. Dealing in movies, I'm sure he mastered "hype" marketing. He depends solely on others to grow tobacco and blend cigars where as Pepin now has fields of tobacco and, of course, is one of the world foremost blenders and has been for many years. Pepin has said he produces almost 6 million cigars a year and has the capacity to produce 7 to 8 million. After that, the product quality would suffer and he said he will not do that.

I'm not saying the Rocky hasn't learned alot since he has been in the business, it's obvious he has. I like the Vintage line, ITC and CI's Connecticut but not any of the others. I don't fault him for trying to make a buck but when I think of Rocky today, I think he has become the modern day Perdomo. Churning out alot of cigars whether they are good or not. Whereas Pepin seems to hit a homerun with every new cigar he produces. I personally think the Cubao and the LADC EE are some of his best blends to date.

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

Ashton Benchmade, Holt's Fumadores and Little Havana Overruns are quite inexpensive and quite good ....

I just bought a box of Fumadores for $30 and I really like 'em.

[TomHagen]

Originally Posted by cricky101

I just bought a box of Fumadores for $30 and I really like 'em.

Fumadores were better than benchmade imho. If not for the ash consistancy and soft spots, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart from more expensive DPG smokes... inf fact I almost liked them better, flavorwise, than others, just weird smoking short/med filler...

never had the little havana overruns, are they good?

[vankleekkw]

Originally Posted by TomHagen

Fumadores were better than benchmade imho. If not for the ash consistancy and soft spots, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart from more expensive DPG smokes... inf fact I almost liked them better, flavorwise, than others, just weird smoking short/med filler...

never had the little havana overruns, are they good?

The LHOs are very good. I have had the LHO lights and the new LHO IIIs and IMHO you can't find a better smoke for under $2. I would put this in top contention with smokes in the $5 range.

[TomHagen]

Originally Posted by vankleekkw

The LHOs are very good. I have had the LHO lights and the new LHO IIIs and IMHO you can't find a better smoke for under $2. I would put this in top contention with smokes in the $5 range.

Thanks for the info!

Wait a minute, LADC regular line is a Pepin blend? I only thought the Especial Edicion were Peipn.

[e-man67]

I can't think of anything I would rather smoke than Pepin's stuff...ESPECIALLY the stuff he makes for that dude named Pete!

RP doesn't hold a candle to Pepin and I have yet to find a decent stick from them....but that's just me. I think the only man that can stand with Pepin is Fuente...and he stands #2 in line behind Pepin as far as I am concerned.

[scoot]

Originally Posted by e-man67

I can't think of anything I would rather smoke than Pepin's stuff...ESPECIALLY the stuff he makes for that dude named Pete!

RP doesn't hold a candle to Pepin and I have yet to find a decent stick from them....but that's just me. I think the only man that can stand with Pepin is Fuente...and he stands #2 in line behind Pepin as far as I am concerned.

Padron, Oliva, Litto Gomez, Camacho, CAO, Perdomo...etc. Pepin certainly makes great cigars but saying that he's so far ahead of the all other cigar maker is, imo, a pretty big exaggeration. Pepin might make cigars that suit your palate moreso than others, but there are certainly several other manufacturers that are on the same level as Pepin.

As far as Rocky goes, he makes good cigars. His Edge, Decade, Old World Reserve, and even the Sungrown and 1990/1992 are very good cigars. Does he approach the industry differently than Pepin? Of course. Is his approach worth less, or not as legitimate than Pepin's? No. They are simply different styles of cigars that suit different people.

[RichardW]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

[snip]
I'm not saying the Rocky hasn't learned alot since he has been in the business, it's obvious he has. I like the Vintage line, ITC and CI's Connecticut but not any of the others. I don't fault him for trying to make a buck but when I think of Rocky today, I think he has become the modern day Perdomo. Churning out alot of cigars whether they are good or not. Whereas Pepin seems to hit a homerun with every new cigar he produces. I personally think the Cubao and the LADC EE are some of his best blends to date.

...except I think the My Father blend is one of the best -- although, I guess that is supposedly blended by Jaime.

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

Actually a lot of Pepin's own sticks he makes are quite affordable. The DPG. Blue, Black, and White labels. The Tobaccos Baez as well as the Cubao, La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especial are fairly priced as well.

The cigars that he makes for Pete Johnson are expensive, (excluding the Tatuaje P Series and Red Label).

The Vegas Cubana is also a very low priced cigar that is full flavored and easy to find.