This Holts houseblend is created by Don Pepin Garcia from Nicaraguan tobacco with a Nicaraguan Corojo or a maduro wrapper from the Connecticut Valley area. The name comes from the dog of the Holts owner that wanted a cigar with this name and his picture on the band in remembrance of his old pal. I can't say that it's a beautiful picture though, but then again, show me a picture of a bulldog that I think is pretty and I'll send you some cigars. With a picture like this on the band I just hope it isn't a dog rocket.

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The 5 x 50 robusto comes in cellophane and once unpacked I can smell a hay & barnyard aroma. The wrapper looks smooth & oily but feels silky and doesn't have a lot of veins. The construction isn't what I expect from a Don Pepin cigar, I can feel some soft spots but to my surprise the predraw isn't loose because of the soft spots. Quite the opposite, the draw is a bit hard and leaves me with a raisin & pepper flavor on my palate.

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I taste coffee and wood with a firm dose of black pepper. The pepper is the dominant flavor with wood as support after half an inch. The coffee is gone by then. After an inch I can taste some toasty flavors with some wood.

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Halfway the support is all wood again with a sweet and peppery aftertaste en far far away a little bit of chocolate. The sweetness grows a bit in strength after 2/3rd but the pepper is still dominant with toast and wood as support.

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The draw is a bit hard but I get enough, medium thick, smoke from this Old Henry. The ash is medium gray and quite firm. The burn is good. This is a medium bodied medium flavored smoke in my book.

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Would I buy this cigar again? If I get back to Philly and Holts has a nice offer, I will get some more.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 6 / 10
Draw: 6 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10
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Nice review, though you didn't smoke the maduro. The maduro has black on the band where the red is. I like the maduro more than the natural in these, it seems to be better balanced.
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Thanks for the great review as always Ferdie. :-)
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Nice review Ferdie. I LOVE these sticks. :-)
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Great review! I've wanted to try those and the Casa Royales for a while.
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Asked the ToE to edit it.
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Very nice review.

I've tried these a few times and they just havn't won me over for some reason.
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Nice review. I enjoy these. I have a dog named Henry, so I guess I have a soft spot in my heart for these.
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Lots of Pretty Bulldogs here Ferdie :-)

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Nice review too brother!
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a better Pepin in this price range is the Tat white label (Atlantic Cigars); better draw, more diverse flavor profile, medium strength.
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Same here.
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I bought some of these last summer and let them sleep for about a year in my coolerdor. I smoked one last night and was very impressed. I had none of the cunstruction issues that Ferdie mentions above. Thew draw was perfect. Really a lovely cigar. Mine was the natural wrapper, probably more mild than the maddie wrapper, but I really enjoyed it. I'd call it a "medium" bodied cigar, with some background chocolate and coffee notes. With the economy being what it is I'm not buying cigars right now, but if I were I'd buy more of these for sure. I'm glad I've got another 11 in the humi.
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:-) I'm glad they've worked out for some of you. I bought a fiver of these and they had the single most pungent ammonia smell I have ever encountered. Even after 6 months, they were unsmokeable!

Now, I suppose I got a bad batch. But, if so, how did they get out of Pepin's vaunted Tabacalera? There are so many other Pepin cigars that I can happily smoke and not be reminded of those sticks.:-)
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I've only had one but it was really good. It was a natural with no burn issues at all and was very tasty. Once I get the cigar funds again these will be on the list.
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I have tried both varieties (there is now a conn wrap I have not tried). I enjoyed the Nat wrap very much but I really enjoyed the Maduro with some age on it. I just picked up a box of the Maduros.
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great review and thanks for it I've been thinking about getting a few of these for a bit.

the english bulldog is a great looking dog as are all of molosser dogs
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These are great cigars for the price! I really like them... good spice and flavor. Thanks for the review :-)
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