Pepin: Tropical

[kurtdesign1]

After my previous post in the Daily Smoke thread I began thinking. What do we actually know about Pepin's time after he left Cuba? Did he leave "recently" did he leave at any of the notable exodus times? How long was he at Tropical? Did he work elsewhere? For such a public guy in the industry, he's rather an enigma to me.

[kurtdesign1]

Very interested in this information. I can do a google search but I'm looking for threads of info here. If you've heard a rumor or think you remember something, I want to hear about it. Nothing will be treated as Gospel. Rather, all will be researched or cataloged as unsubstantiated/unverified. Eitehr way, we all win.

In terms of my own knowledge that fits the above, I believe I was told that Pepin was a roller & blender (!) of Montecristo in Cuba, in the 70's. That's a huge, huge thing. Montecristo contained (still contains) the most popular cigar in the world, the Monte #4. It's a Petite Corona at 5-1/8"x42. When on it can be a beautiful thing, marrying mocha flavors and a sweet berry sweetness. I love them. Anyone who worked with this blend was able to focus on flavors that I refer to as "soft". The heavy pepper and spice of his current Nicaraguan cigars makes me only wonder if he, perhaps, "burned himself out" on the secondary or newschool non-tobacco rooted tastes one can get in a cigar. It tends to justify why all his offerings tend to center around a strong tobacco flavored core instead of focusing elsewhere. Just a thought.

Secondly, when Casa de Montecristo opened in Countryside, Illinois in 2009 (2010?) they had a small room with only "special" cigars in it. This room was perhaps 7'x7' with bins mounted on wall similar to the diagonal wine bottle storage type. Obviously Montecristo (Altadis) and 8 to 8 Cigars (the sister store to CdM) had a lot of connections in the industry and thus used them to receive special cigars from many different manufacturers. It was reported that Pepin or Tropical Tobacco provided a few hundred cigars from one of the last batches he made while working at Tropical. The story shared with me was that his welcome was worn out because of his desire for blending authority. He then departed and started his own gig. These sticks were strong, peppery and not straying very far from a tobacco core of flavors. Perhaps these were the precursor for how his style has evolved leading up to ERdlH and My Father. I smoked one of these cigars on the "cigar of the day" thread earlier in the month.

We shall never know but it's fun to wonder about these things...