Through the search function:thumbsup: I gathered that Padilla and Pepin split sometime in 2008.
I just bought a Padilla sampler is it safe to assume that they were not be blended by Pepin? Is there a way to tell if they are the Pepin blend? How do the "new" ones compare to the Pepin blends? I wasn't that impressed with the ones that I recently bought.
Thanks in advance for any help or info.
Cheers
Great questions, there has been a lot of confusion over this.
First off, Pepin NEVER blended any Padilla cigars. Ernesto Padilla came up with the blends. In the case of a few sticks (the Signature series--1932, 1948, and 1968) and the Miami 8&11, Padilla hired Pepin to roll the sticks at his factory. Last year Padilla's new factory in Miami was nearing completion (and Pepin was getting swamped with all this own stuff, Tatuaje, etc) so Padilla took up production of the cigars himself. So to clarify--Padilla blended them (i.e. created the cigars), Pepin just rolled them.
[I think the distinction between "blended" and "rolled" is important. Who initially created the cigar has more bearing than who rolls it. If Pepin rolled Puros Indios they would still taste like crap.]
All of the cigars are made of the exact same stuff now as they were before, with the exception of the Maimi 8&11 -- they ran out of that wrapper, so they put a new wrapper on it and renamed it simply the Miami.
I love Padilla cigars, and my favorite is the 1932. That cigar is the same now as it was 2 years ago. Some people claim that the Pepin-factory versions are better -- well, they are OLDER, and so a side-by-side comparison is not really possible.
I won't claim that who's rolling the sticks has no bearing on the taste of the cigars, as it certianly can [where are the Hamlet fans?]. Pepin's rollers are some of the finest in the world, to be sure. But I've found the "new" Padilla to be awesome. Ernesto has trained some great rollers himself (they even manage an awesome lancero!) and I honestly have found no change at all in terms of construction.
And just so it's said formally: I think the Padilla Signature 1932 is one of the absolute finest cigars on the planet. Period.
