Cigar: Don Pepin Fumadores Robusto
Size: 5 X 50
Origin: Ecuador wrapper / mixed country filler and nicaraguan binder
I saw these in the most recent Holt's catalogue (as they are exclusive to Holt's), and was intrigued by another lower priced blend from Pepin. I am a HUGE fan of the Tatuaje P series cigars as they are priced well and are almost as good as their Havana VI big brothers. So I decided to order a bundle and see what they were about - priced at $42 shipped, if they were duds, it wouldn't be too big of a deal. I received these today & decided to smoke on OTT. I live in Arizona and it was 110 today, so I decided to let them cool off for a couple hours before lighting one up.
Upon initial inspection, the wrapper was kind of molted, but not too ugly in appearance. Opening the box revealed a smell of pure dookie, which isn't necessarily a bad sign - but this is the strongest aroma I have ever smelled from a box of cigars. Each cigar felt heavy in the hand without any soft spots. The wrapper didn't really give off any prelight aroma. The foot of the cigar just showed some nice dark brown tobaccos, without any real notice of black or darker tobaccos. Clipping the cigar with my Xikar was easy and clean, without any pieces of short filler falling out of the cigar. I am not sure if this cigar is like the P series, which is long and medium filler, or if this is medium filler and short filler.
Prelight draw didn't really reveal anything and off we went. Lighting the cigar was easy and initial smoke was slightly acrid, which quickly disapated and turned straight into a classic Pepin profile. This cigar has some nice spice too it with an earthy background. The first quarter inch kept this wonderful Pepin profile mixed with some earth and left a short finish on the palate.
The second quarter of the cigar then dropped the Pepin profile and turned into an absolute spice bomb that tasted like a jalapeno. This spice was unrelenting, so I tried to clear the cigar, which didn't really help all that much. The earthy profile was still in the background, but the sweet spice Pepin profile of the first quarter was gone.
The next quarter of the cigar returned the loved Pepin profile that was exactly like the first third. This cigar was producing ample smoke that had a sweet arome and the ash held somewhat tight that wasn't flaky and could hold up to almost an inch before falling off. The ash was also dark grey with some darker spots intermixed within.
The last quarter of the cigar became slightly bitter and informed me that it was done.
Overall, not bad for ROTT, but some humidor time will really reveal how this value priced Pepin does. Right now, if this was how they truly were, I would still stick with the P series as they aren't too much more expensive and have a profile that is absolutely fabulous.
Seth :thumbs:
Size: 5 X 50
Origin: Ecuador wrapper / mixed country filler and nicaraguan binder
I saw these in the most recent Holt's catalogue (as they are exclusive to Holt's), and was intrigued by another lower priced blend from Pepin. I am a HUGE fan of the Tatuaje P series cigars as they are priced well and are almost as good as their Havana VI big brothers. So I decided to order a bundle and see what they were about - priced at $42 shipped, if they were duds, it wouldn't be too big of a deal. I received these today & decided to smoke on OTT. I live in Arizona and it was 110 today, so I decided to let them cool off for a couple hours before lighting one up.
Upon initial inspection, the wrapper was kind of molted, but not too ugly in appearance. Opening the box revealed a smell of pure dookie, which isn't necessarily a bad sign - but this is the strongest aroma I have ever smelled from a box of cigars. Each cigar felt heavy in the hand without any soft spots. The wrapper didn't really give off any prelight aroma. The foot of the cigar just showed some nice dark brown tobaccos, without any real notice of black or darker tobaccos. Clipping the cigar with my Xikar was easy and clean, without any pieces of short filler falling out of the cigar. I am not sure if this cigar is like the P series, which is long and medium filler, or if this is medium filler and short filler.
Prelight draw didn't really reveal anything and off we went. Lighting the cigar was easy and initial smoke was slightly acrid, which quickly disapated and turned straight into a classic Pepin profile. This cigar has some nice spice too it with an earthy background. The first quarter inch kept this wonderful Pepin profile mixed with some earth and left a short finish on the palate.
The second quarter of the cigar then dropped the Pepin profile and turned into an absolute spice bomb that tasted like a jalapeno. This spice was unrelenting, so I tried to clear the cigar, which didn't really help all that much. The earthy profile was still in the background, but the sweet spice Pepin profile of the first quarter was gone.
The next quarter of the cigar returned the loved Pepin profile that was exactly like the first third. This cigar was producing ample smoke that had a sweet arome and the ash held somewhat tight that wasn't flaky and could hold up to almost an inch before falling off. The ash was also dark grey with some darker spots intermixed within.
The last quarter of the cigar became slightly bitter and informed me that it was done.
Overall, not bad for ROTT, but some humidor time will really reveal how this value priced Pepin does. Right now, if this was how they truly were, I would still stick with the P series as they aren't too much more expensive and have a profile that is absolutely fabulous.
Seth :thumbs:
