PCA 2023: My Father Cigars

Don Pepin Garcia set up shop at the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Little Havana in 2003. That year, he created a cigar for a newcomer named Pete Johnson and released his own brand called Don Pepin Garcia. That first Don Pepin Garcia (aka the Don Pepin Garcia Original or Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label) would eventually lead to the formation of My Father Cigars – a powerhouse vertically integrated operation out of Nicaragua. This year, the Garcia family and Pete Johnson are both celebrating their 20th anniversary – and the two released a collaboration called La Union which might have been the most exciting release at the 2023 PCA Trade Show. Meanwhile, the Garcias have a couple of limited edition cigars to commemorate 20 years of the Don Pepin Garcia brand. They have also decided to take one of their older brands, Vegas Cubanas, and bring it fully into the Don Pepin Garcia brand as the “Green Label.” Finally, there are some new and exciting sizes for the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial brand. All of this made the My Father Cigars booth one of the most impressive ones at the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. The icing on the cake for the Coalition Team was to present our selection for Large Factory of the Year for 2022 to the Garcia family.

For the most part, the Garcias kept their 2023 offerings under wraps heading into the Trade Show. There were hints of the My Father-Tatuaje collaboration and a Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary release. The only thing I knew for sure was about the Vegas Cubanas rebrand. Another observation is the packaging by My Father Cigars. It’s safe to say that when it comes to packaging – My Father Cigars is one of the top companies in the business. Most of the packaging reflects that it is an ultra-premium line. It’s even evident on the rebranded Vegas Cubanas, which are priced under $10.00.

As mentioned, La Union was a star of the show. I was surprised the cigar media wasn’t all over this release in terms of coverage. There will be two releases of limited edition humidor sets, each containing cigars blended by one company for the other. First up will be the La Union “Black” Humidor. Inside the humidor are 40 cigars. There are 20 cigars blended by Pete Johnson for Pepin and Jaime Garcia, and the Garcias blended the other 20 cigars for Pete Johnson. The Johnson-blended cigar (on the left side) features a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper over all Nicaraguan tobaccos.

The La Union Red Humidor will follow this up. The left side will contain a Sumatra release blended by Johnson for the Garcias, while the right side will contain a Connecticut Broadleaf release blended by the Garcias for Johnson.

All of the La Union vitolas included in the humidor set are a “Prominente Especial” measuring 50 x 7 1/4 and featuring a 109-style bullet cap. Each of the humidors will also contain a special Xikar Xi1 Perfect Cut cutter. There will be a total of 1,500 of each of the humidors. The humidors are not expected to ship before 2024, and pricing is to be determined. My guess is we will see these showcased again at the 2024 PCA Trade Show.

There are two separate releases for the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary. Keeping to what was done for the 10th Anniversary and 15th Anniversary, there is now a Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Limited Edition. It is branded with “Blue,” paying homage to the Don Pepin Garcia Original (Blue Label). This is a Nicaraguan puro with tobaccos grown on the Garcia family farms. A Corojo wrapper highlights the cigar. Like many My Father limited cigars, the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary comes in a 6 1/2 x 52 Toro. The blend incorporates the scarce pelo de toro tobacco. Each box contains 20 cigars. There is a total production of 5,000 boxes, with 1,100 handled to the international market – leaving 3,900 for the U.S. Pricing is set at $40.00 SRP/cigar. The ship date is still to be determined.

In addition, there is the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary Humidor release. An Elie Bleu humidor highlights this. The humidor features 100 cigars – including 50 Connecticut Shade-wrapped cigars and 50 Habano Ecuador-wrapped cigars. A total of 75 units are being produced. The pricing for the humidors and when they will ship is to be determined. This release also pays homage to Don Pepin Garcia (Blue Label).

The Vegas Cubanas brand is now the Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas. It is also being called the Don Pepin Garcia Green Label. The branding is now consistent with other Don Pepin Garcia cigars, which feature the Don Pepin Garcia Original (Blue Label), Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic (Black Label), and the Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ. The distinguishing factor is the “Green Label” design. When we visited the booth, most of the My Father staff was outfitted in green shirts.

The blend for Vegas Cubanas consists of a Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan tobaccos grown and harvested at the Garcia family farms in Nicaragua. Produced at the My Father Cigars factory, it will be offered in five sizes: Coronas (5 1/2 x 44, SRP $7.60/cigar), Invictus (5 x 50, SRP $8.50/cigar), Generous (6 x 50, SRP $8.70/cigar), Toro Gordo (6 x 60, SRP $10.00/cigar), and Imperiales (6 1/8 x 52, SRP $9.00/cigar). These sizes will now all be offered in 20-count boxes.

In 2010, Pepin’s son Jaime Garcia released his Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line – a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos. It has been a while since some new sizes were added, but this year three sizes were added: The sizes include the Figurado – J.G. (5 5/8 x 48 x 52, SRP $10.50), Corona Grande (6 1/4 x 48, SRP $9.30 ), and Gordo Extra (7 x 70, $12.40 SRP/cigar). Like the rest of the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line, the Figurado and Corona Grande come in 20-count boxes.