Don Pepin Serie JJ Belicoso Natural

This evening I pulled out this nice looking DP Serie JJ Belicoso with a chocolate brown wrapper that was quite smooth and oily with noticeable veins. The cigar was firm when squeezed, had a good weight in the hand, and with the tapered head clipped, I found a perfect draw with a rich cocoa taste that had a bite to it.

With the foot nice and toasty, I took a couple puffs and then a good draw to find an immediate strong black pepper spice on the back of the tongue and throat. The strong spice lasted the first few draws, and then settled down a bit to reveal very rich flavors of cocoa, earth, dark roasted nuts, and a sweet bread taste. Delicious! My buddy Bill (Whopper) showed up to do the final trades, which put the final chapter on another successful pass. Bill decided to fire up the Cuba Aliados Pyramide #3 Maduro that was in his pile of takes.

The burn on the Serie JJ wanted to run a little, however overall the burn was good at first. A number of cracks started to appear in the wrapper and continued to swell and burst in several places. No matter as I continued on with smoking it and enjoying it a great deal. The smoke was a good medium body with the flavors continuing as described before, actually getting progressively better as I smoked on through. There was an excellent finish that was very lasting.

Unfortunately the cigar was quite a mess with splits all around, however I still managed to smoke it down to almost a nub. This was an excellent smoke with good black pepper spice throughout and delicious, rich flavors and lasting finish. Bill seemed to enjoy the Aliados well enough, smoking it down to about an inch or so. The wife came to the door mouthing that dinner was ready, and so Bill headed out. Was a nice, relaxing evening of nice smokes and good conversation.

Good seeing ya Bill!









C’mon Bill! Don’t be shy!



Yep! Bill was reeeeally enjoying that Aliados! :laugh:

Sorry to read about the swells and cracks but another great review thanks!

You have a great BOTL with you there. Bill is good people for sure!

I have never been able to smoke a JJ without the wrapper splitting and the burn going crazy. Interesting to see you had the same experience.

If you use an old dryer as an end table, you might be a redneck. :laugh:

Nice pictures and review Greg. I have been having a lot of problem with wrapper cracks on Pepin stuff as well. I think the leaf he uses is very thin and fragile.

Thanks for posting the review. I smoked one of these for the first time a few weeks ago and though I had some splitting, it wasn't nearly as bad as yours. From what I have read, this is a corojo wrapper and really seems thinner then most other lines using corojo. Anyone have more insight into this?

Regardless, I really enjoyed mine and look forward to another though maybe at a lower price point then $10.

-Chad

Bsneed51 said:

If you use an old dryer as an end table, you might be a redneck. :laugh:

Nice pictures and review Greg. I have been having a lot of problem with wrapper cracks on Pepin stuff as well. I think the leaf he uses is very thin and fragile.

Click to expand...

The El Centurion had an exceptionally delicate wrapper, most of DPG's stuff is reasonably hardy. Corojo is a finicky beast though.

chadth said:

Thanks for posting the review. I smoked one of these for the first time a few weeks ago and though I had some splitting, it wasn't nearly as bad as yours. From what I have read, this is a corojo wrapper and really seems thinner then most other lines using corojo. Anyone have more insight into this?

Regardless, I really enjoyed mine and look forward to another though maybe at a lower price point then $10.

-Chad

Click to expand...

Rule of thumb on all Pepin sticks is to keep them at 60-65% humidity. Pepin seems to roll his stuff a bit tight, so keep the humidity down to compensate. I personally like all of my smokes, not just Pepin stuff at 62% or so. Chad, I have a Pepin Black Petite Corona at 62% for you this Thursday if you're at the event at SJ's.

That being said, I don't know what humidity the review sample was at, it definitely looked like it just plain blew up though. ETA: In the pictures, you can see expansion just before the cherry in most parts of the cigar. That would lead me to believe that it was at higher than 65%, but it could be an exceptionally tight roll too. King, was this from your box or the pass box? I'm curious.

I've gone through a box of JJ Maduros that I bought last year at a Pepin event, and plan on buying one this week with possibly a box of My Fathers riding along if the keeper of the purse agrees.

TheVitaleMob said:

Bsneed51 said:

If you use an old dryer as an end table, you might be a redneck. :laugh:

Nice pictures and review Greg. I have been having a lot of problem with wrapper cracks on Pepin stuff as well. I think the leaf he uses is very thin and fragile.

Click to expand...

The El Centurion had an exceptionally delicate wrapper, most of DPG's stuff is reasonably hardy. Corojo is a finicky beast though.

chadth said:

Thanks for posting the review. I smoked one of these for the first time a few weeks ago and though I had some splitting, it wasn't nearly as bad as yours. From what I have read, this is a corojo wrapper and really seems thinner then most other lines using corojo. Anyone have more insight into this?

Regardless, I really enjoyed mine and look forward to another though maybe at a lower price point then $10.

-Chad

Click to expand...

Rule of thumb on all Pepin sticks is to keep them at 60-65% humidity. Pepin seems to roll his stuff a bit tight, so keep the humidity down to compensate. I personally like all of my smokes, not just Pepin stuff at 62% or so. Chad, I have a Pepin Black Petite Corona at 62% for you this Thursday if you're at the event at SJ's.

That being said, I don't know what humidity the review sample was at, it definitely looked like it just plain blew up though. King, was this from your box or the pass box? I'm curious.

I've gone through a box of JJ Maduros that I bought last year at a Pepin event, and plan on buying one this week with possibly a box of My Fathers riding along if the keeper of the purse agrees.

Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure if this was from the pass box as I put different smokes in different humis. I'm almost positive it was from the pass box though, and I keep most of my smokes at a relatively higher humidity than most. I have another Serie JJ that I'm going to dry box for a day or two and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the review. :thumbs:

I will revisit this cigar soon. The natural JJ didn't quite do anything to me. But the JJ Maduro, that's an incredible cigar. I really need to stock up soon.

Thanks for the great review Greg! I had one of these a few months ago and it kicked my ass. Very strong. I have another one resting. I'll have to fire it up soon.

TheVitaleMob said:

Rule of thumb on all Pepin sticks is to keep them at 60-65% humidity. Pepin seems to roll his stuff a bit tight, so keep the humidity down to compensate. I personally like all of my smokes, not just Pepin stuff at 62% or so. Chad, I have a Pepin Black Petite Corona at 62% for you this Thursday if you're at the event at SJ's.

Click to expand...

Good to know Chris. Been having issues the last 4 months with my 65% beads wanting to be 70% beads which has caused a number of issues and surely didn't help the DPs. Good news to hear you will be at the Pepin event Thursday. Things are getting a bit rocky this week but still hope to make it.

Typical Pepin wrapper.

Great review. I have been curious about this smoke.

Nice review man.

I enjoy these more than the JJ maduro, which is also very nice. For me, the combination of nutty flavor and woody/sweet taste make it my favorite DPG (and I'm down to my last couple from a batch I bought a year ago on a CI special, sniff sniff).

I, too, have had some wrapper challenges. But, like you, I've found that the splits are never severe enough to completely unravel and ruin the smoking experience. They do seem to be thin, fragile leaves compared to the Blue and Black labels. Still, I love them so what can a guy do?

sticksnstones said:

Nice review man.

I enjoy these more than the JJ maduro, which is also very nice. For me, the combination of nutty flavor and woody/sweet taste make it my favorite DPG (and I'm down to my last couple from a batch I bought a year ago on a CI special, sniff sniff).

I, too, have had some wrapper challenges. But, like you, I've found that the splits are never severe enough to completely unravel and ruin the smoking experience. They do seem to be thin, fragile leaves compared to the Blue and Black labels. Still, I love them so what can a guy do?

Click to expand...

Smoke! :sign:

In all seriousness though, great review, Greg, as always! I've yet to try the DPG JJ, but I have had the Blue Label and I very much enjoyed it. Pepin rolls some great smokes! How much stronger would you say this was compared to the Blue Label?

Greg may want to chime in, but I'd say these are not as strong as the Blues. And, at least to me, less peppery than the Blacks.

CRQuarto said:

sticksnstones said:

Nice review man.

I enjoy these more than the JJ maduro, which is also very nice. For me, the combination of nutty flavor and woody/sweet taste make it my favorite DPG (and I'm down to my last couple from a batch I bought a year ago on a CI special, sniff sniff).

I, too, have had some wrapper challenges. But, like you, I've found that the splits are never severe enough to completely unravel and ruin the smoking experience. They do seem to be thin, fragile leaves compared to the Blue and Black labels. Still, I love them so what can a guy do?

Click to expand...

Smoke! :sign:

In all seriousness though, great review, Greg, as always! I've yet to try the DPG JJ, but I have had the Blue Label and I very much enjoyed it. Pepin rolls some great smokes! How much stronger would you say this was compared to the Blue Label?

Click to expand...

sticksnstones said:

Greg may want to chime in, but I'd say these are not as strong as the Blues. And, at least to me, less peppery than the Blacks.

Click to expand...

I'd say you're spot on with your thoughts on the blue and blacks.

Excellent, thank you both of you! :thumbs:

sticksnstones said:

Greg may want to chime in, but I'd say these are not as strong as the Blues. And, at least to me, less peppery than the Blacks.

Click to expand...

Kingantz said:

CRQuarto said:

sticksnstones said:

Nice review man.

I enjoy these more than the JJ maduro, which is also very nice. For me, the combination of nutty flavor and woody/sweet taste make it my favorite DPG (and I'm down to my last couple from a batch I bought a year ago on a CI special, sniff sniff).

I, too, have had some wrapper challenges. But, like you, I've found that the splits are never severe enough to completely unravel and ruin the smoking experience. They do seem to be thin, fragile leaves compared to the Blue and Black labels. Still, I love them so what can a guy do?

Click to expand...

Smoke! :sign:

In all seriousness though, great review, Greg, as always! I've yet to try the DPG JJ, but I have had the Blue Label and I very much enjoyed it. Pepin rolls some great smokes! How much stronger would you say this was compared to the Blue Label?

Click to expand...

sticksnstones said:

Greg may want to chime in, but I'd say these are not as strong as the Blues. And, at least to me, less peppery than the Blacks.

Click to expand...

I'd say you're spot on with your thoughts on the blue and blacks.

Click to expand...