new pepin brand?

[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.

[kgraybill]

Some good points here. I am quikly becoming a Pepin fan and I have to agree with Eric that I have yet to have a decent RP and have yet to be disappointed in any Pepin products.

I think padron is the only brand on that list that can make quality affordable smokes like pepin. I ve tried LFD and thought they were garbage. Pepin does what camacho wishes they could do. Perdermo, CAO, and Oliva dont even compare.

[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.