Pepin Garcia

Don Pepin’s goal is to re-create the Cuban style as closely as possible without using Cuban tobacco. He has found that Nicaraguan tobaccos render the flavor closest to the Habanos he has in mind, although other tobaccos are used as wrappers from time to time, notably Ecuadoran grown Connecticut shade. His cigars are not for everyone, as they are medium- to full-bodied and can pack quite a punch.

The first brand Pepin made on his own was Tatuaje for Pete Johnson, and after this brand received high ratings in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Pepin was suddenly in great demand and many people wanted a Don Pepin brand. The tiny Miami factory was unable to keep up with the growing demand, and it became necessary to open a second factory, Tabacalera Cubana, in Estelí, Nicaragua. With the opening of the Esteli factory, Pepin changed the overall company brand name to My Father Cigars, derived from a blend son Jaime Garcia had made for him. My Father's rise to prominence was capped when his Flor de las Antillas was named 2012 Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado, an accolade repeated when My Father Le Bijou 1922 received the same honor for 2015.

On August 18, 2010, Eduardo Antonio Fernandez Pujals, who owns 50% of the shares of El Rey de los Habanos Inc., sued the Garcia family claiming, "breach of fiduciary duties, conspiracy to commit breach of fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties, conversion, tortious interference, and ultra vires..."

In the short time he has been on his own, Pepin Garcia has moved from a relative unknown to a major name in the "boutique" brand arena. In addition to his own brands, he has blended and makes several others for various companies. His skill as a master roller has often been recognized. Pete Johnson said that his "unusually adept skill is evidenced by the fine construction of the cigar". By 2007, his reputation as a superior cigar maker had grown and he was tapped to create and manufacture a completely new brand (San Cristobal) for a major premium cigar company, Ashton Distributors, Inc.

Located in Estelí, Nicaragua, Tabacalera Cubana S. A. was established in June 2006 to allow the company to meet the growing demand. It is larger than the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, and currently employs 62 rollers, allowing the company to turn out in excess of 3.5 million cigars per annum. A new factory is being built which will employ 100-110 rollers, allowing the factory to make from 7 to 9 million cigars per annum.

He left Cuba in 2001, going first to Nicaragua, then he went to Miami, Florida but soon established his own company and factory. The company, El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. was begun in June 2002, but was not formally incorporated until December of that year. He is currently the President, and his daughter Janny is the treasurer. The corporate offices are at 1120 SW 8th St, Miami, Florida.

He helped blend cigars such as Cohiba, Partagas, and MonteCristo. During the 1990s, he was in charge of Quality Assurance for the Cohiba brand, and was also a consultant to several Cuban cigar makers. Also during the 1990s, he was accounted Cuba's most productive master roller.

Don Pepin began his life with tobacco in December 1961 at the age of 11 when he began working in a factory in Báez owned by an uncle. In March 1963, he began working at the Félix Rodríguez export cigar factory in Báez where he worked until he emigrated to Nicaragua in 2001. He spent thirty years in Cuba developing his skills as a torcedor (cigar roller) and blender, earned numerous accolades for his blending abilities and achieved the highest ranking possible as a cigar roller, Class 8 (Master). Among the awards he won was the Productivity Prize for rolling 320 Julietas (a vitola of 7 x 48 in size) in four hours. The Cuban press often compared the speed and dexterity of his rolling to that of a magician. He is also a Tabaquero Maestro (Master Blender), and was also a “teacher of teachers” in the arts of blending and rolling cigars.