When did Pepin take over La Aroma de Cuba?

[hammondc]

So...I have seen these floating around on the forum lately. LAdC has always been one of my favorite 'go to' sticks. When did Pepin take this over from Ashton? How's the new blend and is there a way to tell them apart at a B&M? I need to get my hands on some.



-Chip

[kydsid]

about a year or more ago. the new one has a red band on the foot, and iirc are slightly diff sizes from the old. the new ones are better, but the ee's arent as good imo.
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[hammondc]

Thanks. I'll have to check the shop up the road and see if they have them.

[pinotguy]

Originally Posted by kydsid

about a year or more ago. the new one has a red band on the foot, and iirc are slightly diff sizes from the old. the new ones are better, but the ee's arent as good imo.
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Was there a different version of the EE that I'm not aware of? I'd always thought that Pepin had made the EE from the very beginning .

[kydsid]

if he did it just isnt the same to my tastes, or its all in my head. maybe one of the rocks up there got in the way
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[neoflex]

Originally Pepins only stick for LADC was the EE which I want to say has been out at least 4 years now. I am not sure if he has total control over the brand and it no longer belongs to Ashton but the EE seemed to be an instant hit so I would guess that they had him make more blends to breathe some new life into the brand. I would be curious to hear from those in the know if Pepin has more in LADC than just blending for them.

[kydsid]

i think he is rolling them too
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[CigarGuy88]

Ashton is still in control of LAdC however pepin blends and I think rolls them as well

[pinotguy]

Originally Posted by neoflex

Originally Pepins only stick for LADC was the EE which I want to say has been out at least 4 years now. I am not sure if he has total control over the brand and it no longer belongs to Ashton but the EE seemed to be an instant hit so I would guess that they had him make more blends to breathe some new life into the brand. I would be curious to hear from those in the know if Pepin has more in LADC than just blending for them.

This is interesting. I was definitely not aware that the brand is no longer owned by Ashton. Who owns it now? Interesting as well, is that they just brought out the Mi Amor earlier this year. Did this change only occur recently?

[neoflex]

Pinot, I think you may have misread my post. I was not sure if Ashton let go of the brand but I doubt it as I believe it would have been pretty big news if they did. I am just curious to how much Pepin has in the company other than just the sticks that he blends/rolls.
Sorry I usually lump blend and roll together as one. Pepin definitely is rolling his the sticks that he blended.

[pinotguy]

John - I did mis-read your post. Thanks for the clarification.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by neoflex

Originally Pepins only stick for LADC was the EE which I want to say has been out at least 4 years now. I am not sure if he has total control over the brand and it no longer belongs to Ashton but the EE seemed to be an instant hit so I would guess that they had him make more blends to breathe some new life into the brand. I would be curious to hear from those in the know if Pepin has more in LADC than just blending for them.

The LAdC EE came out in 2008 and yes, it was always a Pepin blended & rolled cigar. It was in 2009 that Ashton had Pepin take over production of the the "regular" LAdC from Altadis in Honduras, which included his reblending of the cigar with more Nicaraguan tobacco.

I can't honestly say if Pepin now has a partial stake in the ownership of the LAdC name or not, I really don't know - I will say that I haven't heard anything to that effect though.

Originally Posted by T.G

The LAdC EE came out in 2008 and yes, it was always a Pepin blended & rolled cigar. It was in 2009 that Ashton had Pepin take over production of the the "regular" LAdC from Altadis in Honduras, which included his reblending of the cigar with more Nicaraguan tobacco.

I can't honestly say if Pepin now has a partial stake in the ownership of the LAdC name or not, I really don't know - I will say that I haven't heard anything to that effect though.

Ok, ok, guys....I just texted Jose and he told me to tell you guys to settle down...he only blends these and has no ownership of the brand. He also said to those of you who say you're not a big fan of the EE anymore, he's black-listing you and will personally come to your home and stip you of all Pepin-blended sticks in your humi. I realize you're all jealous that Pepin and I are close and text all the time as well as me being invited to Nicaragua to roll the My Father Limited Edition with he and his son. I'd also like to remind everyone that I'm totally serious and never sarcastic. Ever. I promise.

On a serious note....the new blend of the LadC is fantastic and at under $6 for the belicoso, it's a fantastic value. The EE has better flavor to me- outstanding flavor as a matter of fact- but I seem to always have construction problems with this one. I dunno if they don't roll them tight or if there's just not much tobacco in them, but across the board (from a sampling of the same cigar from different humidors), they almost always seem to tunnel very badly in the middle. Has anyone else noticed this with the EE?