Have Pete & Pepin Gone Too Far???

[Dispatcher]

IMO Pepin Garcia has turned himself into what Nestor Plasencia was during the cigar boom. A guy that will produce a hundred different brands for anybody with a buck. While I can't blame the guy for trying to make a living, I've always found it humorous to see all the self proclaimed "Pepin whores" who claim the ability to differentiate the "subtle nuances" (!) from one brand to another.  To that end I share this quote from Lew Rothman:
"I know that most of you have read all the bullshit that manufacturers and magazines have written about how this guy or that guy spent 5 or 10 years developing some new brand. Well, let me tell you, that is exactly what it is...BULLSHIT. What really happens is that you take what the factory is already producing (and has the raw materials to back up), and you change 1 or 2 things, like the wrapper, or the sizes and shapes. The basic makeup from a given factory is pretty much the same. If you want something that is completely different, you have to go to a different factory, with different raw materials."
It's common sense. Unfortunately, cigar advertising and promotion has nothing to do with common sense, because the manufacturers get many newer smokers to buy their BS. I like Pepin Garcia's cigars for what they are. Nice tasting cigars, with mediocre construction, that can be purchased from online retailers for about $3 a stick (but sell for around $7-$17 at retail B&M's). The crap about them being indistinguishable from Cuban cigars is complete BS. I found a website called "Cigar Envy" that all but proclaims Pepin Garcia to be the next coming of God. After reading their website I felt that they believed that DPG was an angel walking on earth, personally responsible for every great cigar ever made, and gifting us mortals with the ability to purchase his handmade gifts. The website even touts Pepin Garcia as being responsible for creating Cohiba and Montecristo!  (DPG is 50 years old-Montecristo was created in 1935 and Cohiba in the 1960's.) I guess either the webmasters at Cigar Envy aren't too good at math, or just decided to throw truth under the bus and print any crap they could come up with.
It's a shame that most of the "Pepin Whores" of today haven't been smoking long enough to remember the "La Lunatics" of the past. Same shit, different time.

[njstone]

There is a degree to which what Lew says about factories is true ... it's why you can smoke an LFD and say "it tastes like an LFD."  But it's going too far to say that [i]everything[/i] from a given factory is pretty much the same.  For example, the LFD Airbender uses a lot of different tobacco than the Ligero line (though maybe a leaf or two is shared in common, I don't know).

As far as Pepin-factory stuff, sure a lot of it uses the same tobaccos.  That's why those who love those cigars tend to like most of what that factory produces.  But the tobacco in, say, the El Triunfador is still different than what's in, say, the Cuban Classic.  The advantage of being a large factory is that you can expand and branch out to new tobaccos (though in their case, exclusively Nicaraguan tobacco, and mostly from Oliva Tobacco ... except wrapper leaf, of course).

In the case of the small-batch Tatuajes (as was much discussed in this thread), it is absolutely true that most of them are just Brown Labels with different wrappers.  It's no secret, Pete Johnson talks about that all the time.  Most of those blends are good, but didn't "make the cut" as he puts it ... meaning they are fun for fans to try out, but aren't going to be put into regular production.  For those who want to see what the Verocu blend would be like with a Rosado wrapper ... the Federal 90th is out there, etc. etc.  The Frank was a Tainos with a Broadleaf wrapper, the Pork Tenderloin was a J21 with a Broadleaf wrapper (though the 2010 BL wrappers were particularly spicy), etc.

Very few of the small-batch Tatuajes are actually new blends (the T110 was the exception to this--perhaps there are others, I'm not really up on them all).

We don't even need to start on Cubsn manufacturing, lol.

[Knuck42]

[quote]IMO Pepin Garcia has turned himself into what Nestor Plasencia was during the cigar boom. A guy that will produce a hundred different brands for anybody with a buck. While I can't blame the guy for trying to make a living, I've always found it humorous to see all the self proclaimed "Pepin whores" who claim the ability to differentiate the "subtle nuances" (!) from one brand to another.  To that end I share this quote from Lew Rothman:
"I know that most of you have read all the bullshit that manufacturers and magazines have written about how this guy or that guy spent 5 or 10 years developing some new brand. Well, let me tell you, that is exactly what it is...BULLSHIT. What really happens is that you take what the factory is already producing (and has the raw materials to back up), and you change 1 or 2 things, like the wrapper, or the sizes and shapes. The basic makeup from a given factory is pretty much the same. If you want something that is completely different, you have to go to a different factory, with different raw materials."
It's common sense. Unfortunately, cigar advertising and promotion has nothing to do with common sense, because the manufacturers get many newer smokers to buy their BS. I like Pepin Garcia's cigars for what they are. Nice tasting cigars, with mediocre construction, that can be purchased from online retailers for about $3 a stick (but sell for around $7-$17 at retail B&M's). The crap about them being indistinguishable from Cuban cigars is complete BS. I found a website called "Cigar Envy" that all but proclaims Pepin Garcia to be the next coming of God. After reading their website I felt that they believed that DPG was an angel walking on earth, personally responsible for every great cigar ever made, and gifting us mortals with the ability to purchase his handmade gifts. The website even touts Pepin Garcia as being responsible for creating Cohiba and Montecristo!  (DPG is 50 years old-Montecristo was created in 1935 and Cohiba in the 1960's.) I guess either the webmasters at Cigar Envy aren't too good at math, or just decided to throw truth under the bus and print any crap they could come up with.
It's a shame that most of the "Pepin Whores" of today haven't been smoking long enough to remember the "La Lunatics" of the past. Same shit, different time.[/quote]Perhaps one of the most cogent posts on the topic I have ever come across.

[family guy]

They are beyond the point of no return. He probally makes more money selling swag than cigars. He has not mastered the art of marketing like the Fuentes.

As for Cuban prices and availability. The gates are open and most find zero need to buy here and over paid or get scammed. With the right source they are far lower in price than non cubans. The top five Cuban robusto's range from $5.50 to 11.50. IMO, they are far better and cheaper than there non Cuban counter parts.

[Bosa]

[quote author=jayro75 link=topic=9378.msg52312#msg52312 date=1305563368]
I've been seriously contemplating this strategy lately as well as I'm sick of all these sub-par LE's these guys keep pumping out. If I miss out on something I can always pick up a 5er or something here at OLH.
[/quote]

That's part of the problem I have with LE stuff.  It seems like your only choice is either buy a box, or take a gamble and see what they end up costing from a private party.  As production goes down, this gets worse, so the manufacturers have an incentive to roll very few cigars.

I like one-off annual productions, but I ignore the stuff that sells out in a week.  I figure (hope) that if a blend is good enough, it'll come back.

[randomhero1090]

Well, and what's with the sizes?  Either jawbreakers or tiny SOBs.  The MOAB/WMD release, at roughly $10 a stick, was crazy.  I can get a lot for $10 per stick.

M80 release price point is much better, but still $6.67 a stick for a 4 x 52.

[Sky7]

I'm pretty much done chasing the LEs from Pete and the wannabe-Tatuaje, Viaje. Going back to the good ol Brown labels and its been great.

[randomhero1090]

[quote author=Sky7 link=topic=9378.msg54799#msg54799 date=1308730232]
I'm pretty much done chasing the LEs from Pete and the wannabe-Tatuaje, Viaje. Going back to the good ol Brown labels and its been great.
[/quote]

Made me sad to look in my humi and only see a handful of brown labels left.  Do have almost a full cab of 7th Reservas and Petit Cazzy Reservas.  I figured by now the price of brown labels would be down quite a bit.  Couple select vendors have good deals.

I was discussing this with another member yesterday...

[url=http://thecigarfeed.com/2011CigarReleases]http://thecigarfeed.com/2011CigarReleases[/url]

I count 16 limited or single-store releases from Tatuaje in 2011.

[Thegreek]

[quote author=njstone link=topic=9378.msg52511#msg52511 date=1305702908]
Back to the topic at hand ... my original post was meant to say that I like that Pete is focusing on putting out lower-priced cigars to the market.  La Verite aside, his recent and upcoming releases are all well-priced (El Triunfador, Fousto, La Casita Criolla, Series P Sumatra, etc.).

I have no problem with the My Father LEs at $20 a stick, I just won't buy them myself.
[/quote]


Nate, great post.

I give Pete credit for responding to the reviews and market and adjusting what he is doing with the 2009 Verite and L'Esprit and turning it into what it was meant to be. The pre-release I smoked was downright fantastic and I believe these cigars will sell.

As far as Tat LEs are concerned, give me all the Rexes on the planet and I will be happy.

Finall, MFLE isn't being bundled and rolled by, Jaime and Pepin and no coffin. NO THANKS.

WE are the market. You vote and critique by and with every cigar you purchase.

[Grammaton Cleric]

[quote author=Thegreek link=topic=9378.msg54939#msg54939 date=1308892238]

Nate, great post.

I give Pete credit for responding to the reviews and market and adjusting what he is doing with the 2009 Verite and L'Esprit and turning it into what it was meant to be. The pre-release I smoked was downright fantastic and I believe these cigars will sell.

As far as Tat LEs are concerned, give me all the Rexes on the planet and I will be happy.

Finall, MFLE isn't being bundled and rolled by, Jaime and Pepin and no coffin. NO THANKS.

WE are the market. You vote and critique by and with every cigar you purchase.
[/quote]

I tried the MFLE 2011 and was not impressed. I felt I had wasted my money after smoking it. I was just glad it was the only one I'd purchased.