Vitola: Corona- 5.5” x 44 ring gauge
- ~$7.50
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I fairly clearly remember having my first Vegas Cubanas by Don Pepin Garcia. It was after I moved to Tennessee and I found it in a store in Knoxville. I was very pleasantly surprised by it and reviewed it well (for the Tiki Bar Online, the predecessor of Leaf Enthusiast), but by the time I discovered the blend, it was already on the market for close to a decade…and very close to being practically discontinued. Soon the production of Vegas Cubanas became very small and most stores never saw them.
In 2017, the My Father Cigar Company announced the widespread return of the blend, though, with slightly updated artwork, but still using the original blend of Nicaraguan fillers, dual Nicaraguan binders—from the Garcia family’s farms in Estelí and Jalapa—and a Corojo wrapper of unspecified country of origin.
Since they came back, a whole new generation of cigar smokers has discovered Vegas Cubanas and some that had experienced it before have been very happily reacquainting ourselves with it. I have smoked quite a few of the Corona size in the last 6 or 8 months, and a couple of other vitolas as well, before settling on the Corona as the best size to do a review on. I bought this review sample at Burns Tobacconist.
Both our site sponsors carry Vegas Cubanas, although not in the Corona size. Check out Small Batch Cigars and Cigars and Pipes. I got background information on this re-release from the Cigar Aficionado website.
Prelight
The box is a traditional old-school look using paper-covered wood and decorated with bright-colored artwork on a white background. The edges have black and gold tape all the way around, completing the traditional look. The band is a little less traditional, utilizing a piece of the art from the box lid, in such a small space that it’s really difficult to make out what it is using the naked eye. The center frame of the band is flanked by arms of red, green and gold.
The wrapper of the cigar was medium brown with a slightly grayish tint, sort of what you might see in Cameroon leaf, but not exactly the same. It was smooth and slightly oily to the touch and smelled of a mix of earth and cedar. The foot of the cigar was a much richer earth with a sweeter, almost chocolate note with it.
After clipping, the cold draw was excellent. I got flavors of chocolate, berries, earth and bell pepper.
Flavor
The Vegas Cubanas lights up with a grassy funk flavor that I normally associate with Dominican cigars, but with a earthy back to it, along with notes of cedar and black pepper. The retrohale gave up a little more funk, along with some nuttiness and a blast of red pepper that really took me back to the early days of the Don Pepin blends when that immediate pepper blast was almost a trademark. After a few minutes the pepper mellowed out and the funkier notes were traded out for some sweet grassiness and cedar.
Getting into the second third, the cigar kept getting sweeter with notes of citrus creeping in to join the cedar and grass. The pepper heat held the line on the palate and a little earth got in on the act as well. The retrohale was grassy with tons of red pepper still.
The last third of the Vegas Cubanas was citrusy and cedary with a bit of earth and even more pepper on the palate than in the first two thirds.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
Very good blend and a price tag that doesn’t seem to have moved much in the last decade…adds up to great value in my book.
Conclusions
Vegas Cubanas was and continues to be a very good medium-bodied cigar that exemplifies the best of what Don Pepin Garcia blends can be…sweet and savory along with plenty of pepper spice. I am very happy to see this blend back in wide distribution.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
