Fall 2020 PCA Magazine

24 PCA The Magazine | AUTUMN 2020 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG his cigars were being sought out, not just by consumers, but also by established cigar companies looking for new lines, or line extensions to their existing brands. Around that time, Pete Johnson was seeking someone to make a brand for him: a cigar that would recreate the best qualities of his beloved Cuban cigars. Once Johnson communicated his dream to Garcia, a sample was rolled on s in the classic Horatio Alger stories, Jose “Don Pepin” Garcia left home to make a name for himself. Unlike those classic rags- to-riches tales, which encouraged poor youths to “go west, young man,” he was not all that young, not all that poor, and when he departed Cuba he headed to Nicaragua, more south than west. By that point in his career, Garcia had risen to the stature of Class 8 Master Roller in Cuba, supervising the blending and construction of such storied brands as Cohiba, Montecristo and Partagas. He was invited to go to Nicaragua as a consultant to the cigar industry there, and from Nicaragua emigrated in 2001 to Miami, Florida, joining his daughter Janny, who had preceded him there four years earlier. They were joined later that year by Don Pepin’s wife, Maria, and their son Jaime, who would not only join his father in the creation of their cigar lines, but was also responsible for the eventual rebranding of the company to My Father Cigars. By June of 2002 Don Pepin had established his own small factory, El Rey de los Habanos, inMiami. As his reputation became known, and his blending and rolling skills were revealed, BY LARRY WAGNER The Blend A the spot, and Tatuaje Cigars were born. The success of Tatuaje propelled Garcia to roll out his own line of Don Pepin Blue Label, now named Don Pepin Original. As the brand took off, in conjunction with his other lines and the contract work, the small Miami factory was outgrown, and in 2006 a new, large factory was built in Nicaragua, allowing the company to increase production far beyond the My Father Cigars La Promesa — A Promise Made, a Promise Kept