Exclusive Sizes Highlight Holt’s Pepin Mania III Sampler

Holt’s Cigar Company has announced their ‘Pepin Mania III” sampler, a seven cigar collection featuring new, exclusive vitolas of cigars from José “Don Pepín” García.

On Friday, Anthony Mazzola, general manager of Holt’s, Tweeted an image of one of the cigars in the sampler, a new round vitola of the Flor de las Antillas line is being referred to as Short Churchill:

The cigar measures 6 1/2 x 48, and is the first round vitola in the Flor de las Antillas line, as the regular production vitolas are all box-pressed:

• Belicoso — (5 1/2 x 52)
• Robusto — (5 x 50)
• Toro — (6 x 52)
• Toro Gordo — (6 1/2 x 56)

Mazzola confirmed to halfwheel the remaining six cigars in the Pepín Mania III sampler, all of which will have a round 6 1/2 x 48 vitola:

• La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
• Old Henry (Holts exclusive)
• San Cristobal
• My Father Le Bijou
• Tatuaje Verocu
• Tatuaje HCS Maduro (Holts exclusive)

The sampler will debut at a two-day event being held at Holt’s two locations on June 13-14 that will feature José “Don Pepín” García, Jaime and Janny García as well as Pete Johnson of Tatuaje. As in previous years, the sampler will be available for free with a box purchase of select Pepín-made cigars, and any remaining samplers will be made available for sale following the event. Pricing has not been set on the sampler yet.

This is the third consecutive year that the retailer has released such a sampler, with last year’s box containing five unreleased sizes of  Pepín-made cigars and the debut of “The Hassell” from Tatuaje:

• La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Robusto Especial – (5 1/2 x 54)
• Old Henry “El Jefe” – (5 1/2 x 54)
• My Father Robusto Especial – (5 x 54)
• My Father Le Bijou Robusto Especial – (5 1/2 x 54)
• Tatuaje HCS Robusto Especial – (5 1/2 x 54)
• Tatuaje “The Hassell” – (5 1/2 x 54)

Holt’s and Garcia have had a long relationship, as the latter has made a line called “Old Henry” that is one of the store’s most prominently featured house blends. Garcia’s cigars are often featured in samplers offered by the store, and the Tatuaje HCS and Tatuaje HCS Reserva are lines made exclusively for Holt’s by Pepín and Johnson.

Additionally, Holt’s is owned by the Levin family that also owns Ashton, for whom García has crafted the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor and Edición Especial lines, as well as a reworking of the La Aroma de Cuba core line.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.