El Tiante will come in two blends, Habano Oscuro and Habano Rosado.

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El Tiante Cigars Return as a "Pepin" Garcia Blend

Andrew Nagy
Posted: October 20, 2011

After a brief hiatus, legendary Boston Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant is back in the cigar game with a revamped blend created by fellow Cuban José “Pepin” Garcia.

Made in Nicaragua at the My Father Cigars S.A. Factory, El Tiante will come in two blends, Habano Oscuro and Habano Rosado. Each version features an Ecuadoran-seed wrapper that covers an all-Nicaraguan binder and filler. The blends come 20 to a box in four sizes: a 5 inch by 50 ring gauge Robusto, 6 by 52 Pyramid, 6 by 50 Toro and a 6 by 60 Toro Gordo. Approximately 32,000 cigars have been rolled and will sell for the suggested retail price of $6.80 to $8.60.

The cigars will be launched tomorrow night at Butthead’s Tobacco Emporium in Danbury, Connecticut, and Luis Tiant will be there.

Some may recognize the name El Tiante (aside from being Tiant’s nickname during his playing days) as the name of the company that father-son team Luis and Daniel Tiant originally started. According to Daniel Tiant, they dissolved the original company and changed the name to Tiant Cigar Group LLC. The bulk of the work is carried out by Daniel, who serves as founder and CEO, and president Mike Bellody.

“Dad’s still involved,” says Tiant. “He was there when we came up with the blends, and if he didn’t like it, then we didn’t put it out.”

Tiant says he wants the company to develop “a more serious image” and one that does not necessarily revolve around baseball. The desire for customers to take his cigars seriously was one of the main reasons why Daniel and his father sought out the Garcias.

“Working with Jaime, Janny and the whole My Father staff has just been amazing,” Tiant said. “Lot of mutual respect between my Dad and Pepin.”

Tiant acknowledges, though, that baseball will always be somewhere within the company.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to fully get away from it,” he says. In fact, the company’s headquarters is located in Fort Myers, Florida, about 4 miles away from where the Red Sox hold spring training.

While El Tiante is being sold mostly in the Northeast, Tiant plans to establish nationwide distribution soon.