Pepin Garcia
Don José "Pepin" Garcia is the CEO of El Rey de los Habanos, Inc, a cigar company in Miami, also known as Don Pepín Cigars. He is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creator and maker of numerous popular cigar brands.
Early life
Christened José García, Pepin was born into a large family of tobacco growers/cigar makers in Báez, a town in Villa Clara province, Cuba.
Marriage and children
His son, Jaime Garcia is following in his father's footsteps. He and his father created the blend for the Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ brand. His daughter, Janny O. Garcia, is also involved in the family business.
Tobacco career
Cuban years
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.
