Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary is a good looking cigar. The wrapper has a light Colorado-Maduro coloring, and it has a great faded wood coloring. There is a hint of milk chocolate coloring as well. The wrapper is silky in texture with some soft tooth. Veins are small to medium in size, and present to touch. There is a nice firmness with the cigar, and the aromas are that of barnyard, tobacco, soft spices and rich earth.
John: The Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary has a Colorado Maduro color wrapper and appears to be just over a Toro in size, roughly six and a half inches by 54 ring gauge. The wrapper is very smooth and silky in appearance, and the cap looks well applied. I weighed the cigar at 18.7 grams and measured the humidity at 59.3% using the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included cedar and sweet tobacco, while the foot offered hay and light wood.
Jiunn: The Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary has an oily and even Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give rich cedar and barnyard funk.

Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with cedar, tobacco, earth and warm spices. There is a musty quality and some creamy aspects as well. The cigar is lovely and smoking around a medium level in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with creamy tobacco, followed by delayed earth and wood through the post draw. As the cigar continues, the profile remains largely stable. The only notable change is the addition of some mild spices settling into the post draw. The earth on the finish lingers into the post draw and picks up in strength to medium-minus, accompanied by a gritty quality.
Jiunn: The first third starts off with a delicious mixture of balanced dried red pepper spice, game/meatiness and leather. Soon, a roasted nuttiness joins the profile. Retrohaling has all these flavors but in intensified goodness. The finish is soft with lingering roasted nuts. Strength and body and medium.

Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary

Second Third

Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Nice cedar, tobacco and warm spice notes. It still has that mustiness with wood and earth on the finish. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third opens with creamy earth and wood, with the earth lingering into the post draw and bringing significant grittiness at medium strength. The earth continues to pick up in intensity as the cigar progresses, reaching over medium strength at this point. The gritty, loamy earth completely dominates the post draw and sits heavily on my palate between draws.
Jiunn: The awesome mixture of game/meatiness and roasted nuts has now disappeared, replaced by tinny minerals and printer paper. Retrohaling also mimics these notes. The finish picks up some red pepper spice, and as such feels a bit more robust. Strength and body is still medium.

Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary

Final Third

Seth: The final third is in line with the first and second. No change from the second, but a smooth and easy finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: The last third gets going with that same heavy loamy earth, which is beginning to take over the entire profile. Some bitterness begins to come through the finish, and by the halfway point it makes an already unpleasant third even worse. Through the bottom half, the profile is overwhelmingly heavy loamy earth at medium-plus strength with a bitter finish.
Jiunn: The final third shows a return of some of that tasty meat/gaminess but it’s paired by not so great tinny minerals and stale leather. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary

Burn

Seth: The burn was good for the most part, but there were times where it was slightly off.
John: The burn was razor straight through the entire review. Completely effortless to review.
Jiunn: Burn performance was nearly perfect. The burn line was wavy the entire time with a quick touch-up needed. Aside from that, all else was fine.

Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary

Draw

Seth: The draw was great from beginning to end.
John: The draw measured 60 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was between three and three-and-a-half notches into the resistant spectrum, making it snug.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary is an average to good cigar. I enjoy the flavor profile, but with a cigar of this size, it needs more depth and complexities. The flavor profile in general would be great in a smaller offering, but with a cigar of this size I need some transitioning. The same goes for a lancero. I am interested in the blend and brand, but I would definitely come back to this cigar.
John: Blind Cigar #1594 is a good example of how a cigar can present itself very well before lighting and then fall apart as the smoking experience progresses. The pre-light presentation was excellent, with a very smooth and silky Colorado Maduro wrapper, a well-applied cap and pleasant cedar and sweet tobacco aromas. Unfortunately, very little of that promise carried over into the actual smoking experience. The first third was relatively mild and approachable, with creamy tobacco providing a pleasant foundation while earth and wood gradually developed through the post draw. Even at this stage, however, the earth was becoming increasingly gritty and intrusive. That progression accelerated dramatically in the second third, where the earth moved beyond being a supporting component and became the defining characteristic of the cigar. The gritty, loamy quality was particularly difficult to overlook, lingering heavily on the palate between draws and steadily increasing in intensity. The final third was where the cigar completely lost its way. The heavy loamy earth dominated virtually everything else, while bitterness joined the finish and made the already unpleasant profile even more difficult to enjoy. There was very little evolution beyond the increasing intensity of those two characteristics. Construction was essentially the only unquestionable positive. The burn was razor straight from start to finish and required absolutely no attention, while the draw was snug but still functional. Unfortunately, excellent construction can’t compensate for a smoking profile that deteriorates this significantly. The Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary started with an average first third but ultimately finished with a Subpar overall experience, largely because the increasingly heavy, gritty earth completely overwhelmed everything else the blend had to offer. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 2 minutes.
Jiunn: After smoking this Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary, I kind of feel like a coach where I went against the consensus and put my hopes on a less popular player. I had so much hope and excitement but the player ended up not working out and was a disappointment. Translation, the first third was good but the latter two thirds, although nuanced and transitional, didn’t build off the first third like I hoped it would, which ultimately was disappointing.

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$3.61

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

3.88

Cost/Point

$5.67

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$3.67

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Don Pepín García Clásico 20th Anniversary