Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Toro

[King Catfish]

This afternoon I smoked a Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic that was given to me by a friend. Here are my notes. Sorry, I am a little short on time and could not write a full review.

Construction was solid, with a nice dark brown wrapper. Classy black double band with gold lettering and Cuban and United States flags. This cigar had been sitting in my coolerdor in good conditions for about a month.

6 x 52, dark Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan filler and binder. Medium body.

First third: dry and mild. Slightly uneven burn, flaky, loose gray-and-white ash that did not hold well. Leather starting to ascend, some earthiness and dryness. Draw nice and easy, smoke volume very good. Burn not very even.

Second third: Initially weak taste really starting to improve. Aftertaste nice and leathery and lingering. Smoke volume and draw still the best characteristics of this stick. Leather really dominating in the middle of the cigar. Flavor building nicely, though. Burn slightly more even.

Final third: Burn mostly evened out. More of the same, taste-wise. Reminds me a little bit of the Camacho 1962, but not as rich-tasting. The wrapper split wide open with almost two inches left. At this point the cigar fell apart and was unsmokeable.

Very nice stick, but not really worth MSRP. Great cigar if you can get it on a deal. Does not quite stand up to the major hype surrounding it.

Score: 81.5

[bigwhiteash]

Nice review!

I would suggest giving them another shot, I've smoked a bunch of the Black labels, from lancero to figurado, (my favorite), never had any wrapper or burn issues. I love them myself.

[ashauler]

I enjoy this one as well, 1977 being my favorite size. I agree with BWA......give it another shot.

[King Catfish]

I enjoy this one as well, 1977 being my favorite size. I agree with BWA......give it another shot.

Yeah, I will probably wander back around to this one eventually. Just to make sure.

[Shelby07]

Had one of these yesterday with the exact same issue during the last 2 inches. I think you're saying that it is an exceptional yard gar. I agree. Nothing really bad about the cigar, but nothing great, either. An enjoyable cigar when you're doing something else. I agree on your conclusion about the price.