My Father’s El Centurion Returns
Quick cigar test—do you El Centurion? The smoke came on the market in 2007, but it didn’t stick around very long. The first limited-edition smoke from José “Pepin” Garcia, the cigar was limited to only 2,550 boxes.
A lot has changed for Garcia since 2007, and today Pepin’s son Jaime does most of the blending for the family business out of a grand factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, called My Father Cigars. This coming May, the Garcias—makers of Cigar Aficionado’s No. 1 Cigar of 2012—are commemorating reaching 10 years in the cigar business, and as part of the celebration they’re bringing back El Centurion.
Unlike the original, the new El Centurion will be a regular-production smoke. On paper they seem to have the same blend (all Nicaraguan) but the cigars are made from a different formula, this time using four Nicaraguan seed varietals: Criollo, Corojo Habano, Sancti Spiritus, and Criollo 98 for the wrapper.
The original cigar, which was made in Miami, had quite long names for its sizes, but this blend will come in Robusto, Belicoso, Toro, and Toro Grande sizes. The strength level is being described by the Garcias as “three quarters to full-body.” They will be packed in boxes of 20, and will retail for $7.50 to $9.00 per cigar, considerably less expensive than the original El Centurion, which was priced at $12 to $14.
