TheDon Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas Coronas is the kind of cigar that reminds experienced smokers why traditional ring gauges still matter. Vegas Cubanas traces its history to José “Pepín” García's early years in Miami, before the creation of My Father Cigars and before the García family controlled the extensive Nicaraguan farms and production facilities it does today. Originally rolled atEl Rey de los Habanos in Little Havana, the line is now made at My Father Cigars in Estelí, preserving an important connection to the period when Pepín's distinctly Cuban approach to Nicaraguan tobacco first began earning him a following.
At5½" x 44, the Corona gives the cigar'sNicaraguan Corojo Rosado wrapper considerably more influence than you'll find in the broader formats. Beneath it are Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos cultivated by the García family, creating a puro with a decidedly old-school personality. Cedar and pepper arrive with clarity, followed by earth, toasted nuts, coffee and a restrained natural sweetness. The slender tobacco column keeps the flavors sharply defined, while the wrapper contributes aromatic spice and the reddish, slightly rustic character that has long distinguished Vegas Cubanas.
This may be the Vegas Cubanas I'd steer an experienced smoker toward first. The 44-ring Corona isn't interested in producing enormous clouds of smoke; it's about proportion and tobacco definition. Smoke it patiently and you get a particularly clear look at the Corojo wrapper and García-grown Nicaraguan leaf underneath. In an era increasingly dominated by 54-, 60- and even 70-ring cigars, the Vegas Cubanas Coronas feels refreshingly traditional—and very much connected to the Cuban cigar-making sensibility that Pepín García brought with him.
