Back into 2010, My Father Cigars announced an extremely unique release, the My Father Limited Edition 2010. Each cigar came in its own individual coffin and each was rolled by José “Don Pepín” García and bunched by Jaime García. The blend also used the famed Pelo de Oro leaf, a tobacco strain that is notoriously difficult t to grow.

Here is what we said in our review back in September of 2010:

While unnamed at the time, it was eventually dubbed the My Father Limited Edition 2010. At first, it was rumored, but never officially announce, that José Pepín would be rolling each and every cigar that would be released himself, which quite a few people, including me, were skeptical about, considering his age and the amount of time it would take. Eventually, it was announced, officially this time, that Jaime García, Pepín’s son, would do all the bunching, and Pepín himself would do the rolling. In fact,according to reports, Pepín set aside a personal rolling room that only he had access to in order to work on the rolling.

Here is a photo of the coffins that the My Father Limited Edition 2010 came in:

The My Father Limited Edition series was a huge success, selling out extremely quickly in many places. In 2011, My Father released the next incarnation of the line, another 6 1/2 x 52 Toro, this time neither rolled by Pepín nor bunch Jaime García, although again using Pelo de Oro leaf in the blend. In addition production almost doubled from 24,000 in the 2010 version to just over 43,000 for the 2011 release.

Fast forward to October 1 of this year, and we posted a story concerning the 2012 release:

My Father is preparing to release the third installment of its annual limited edition, The My Father Limited Edition 2012. Back again will be much of the My Father Limited Edition 2011 including the 6 1/2 x 52 Toro format and the blend from the 2011 release. The cigar retains much of the same format as last year with the coffins and individually numbered boxes that were featured on the original My Father Limited Edition 2010 once again not present. Last year’s blend featured an Ecuadorian wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers, including some of the García family’s prized Pelo de Oro.

On November 15th, Casa de Montecristo in Chicago held a launch event for the My Father Limited Edition 2012 featuring Pepín, Jaime García, Janny García and Pete Johnson of Tatuaje/Havana Cellars. 

There have now been three releases of the My Father Limited Edition. They are:

• My Father Limited Edition 2010 (6 1/2 x 52) — 2,000 Boxes of 12 (24,000 Total Cigars) — $20.00 (Boxes of 12, $240.00)
• My Father Limited Edition 2011 (6 1/2 x 52) — 3,500 Boxes of 12, 300 Humidors of 50 & 75 Bundles of 15 (58,125 Total Cigars) — $20.00 (Boxes of 12, $240.00)
• My Father Limited Edition 2012 (6 1/2 x 52) — 2,500 Boxes of 12 (30,000 Total Cigars) — $20.00 (Boxes of 12, $240.00)

Here are what the boxes of the My Father Limited Edition 2012 look like:

_______________________________________________________________________

But enough of that, lets get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: My Father Limited Edition 2012
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Criollo 
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $20.00 (Boxes of 12, $240.00)
• Date Released: November 15, 2012
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,500 Boxes of 12 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

The My Father Limited Edition 2012 is an extremely impressive looking cigar with an oily dark mocha brown wrapper that is slick to the touch. It is a bit on the firm side when squeezed and there are a few veins visible. The cap looks perfectly applied and the aroma coming off of the wrapper is a combination of strong espresso, barnyard, cedar and raisins.

_______________________________________________________________________

The first third of the My Father Limited Edition 2012 starts off with nice flavors of nuts, dark chocolate, coffee and leather. The retrohale has almost equal parts cream and black pepper—a very interesting combination—and there is just a slight spice tingle noticeable on the tongue. I can taste a small amount of sweetness underneath the other flavors—and while it continues to strengthen for the entire first third—at this point it is not strong enough to place. Construction is fabulous with a perfect draw and a burn line that is almost totally flawless. Smoke production is above average and the strength ends the first third at a medium minus.

Coming into the second third, and the creaminess has increased a bit, as has the sweetness, which is now strong enough to place as a vanilla note, although it is still not overtly strong. Other flavors continue the trend from the first third, with dark chocolate, leather, slightly bitter espresso and cedar leading the way. There is an interesting musky earthiness that is intermingled with the rest of the profile, but my hopes of it becoming a major player are not realized in the second third. Construction continues to impress with both burn and draw giving me no issues whatsoever. The strength has increased quite a bit by the end of the second third, ending noticeably stronger then the medium mark, although short of the full mark so far.

The final third of the My Father Limited Edition 2012 sees an increase in the musky earthiness, morphing into a somewhat interesting mushroom note and becomes the dominant flavor for the remainder of the cigar. Other notes remain pretty much the same from the first two thirds: espresso, dark chocolate, leather, cedar and a hint of nuts. The vanilla sweetness is still present, but sadly has not increased in strength. The construction remains excellent, and it is a very easy cigar to nub. The strength continues to increase until the end of the cigar, finishing up at a full minus mark. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Final Notes:

• An interesting note on the Pelo de Oro—which translates to “golden hair”—tobacco: apparently, the production of this specific type of tobacco leaf has been banned in Cuba, mostly due to it’s propensity to become infested with blue mold. Pepín has mentioned publicly that while he loves how it tastes, the My Father Limited Edition 2010 was to be the last time he produced the leaf, as it is so difficult to grow. That turned out to not be the case, as both the 2011 and 2012 versions of the My Father Limited Edition also have some of the famed leaf included.
• Nowhere on either of the two bands does it specify that this version is from 2012. However, the secondary band on two of the three releases read different things:

1. On the 2010 release, the secondary band reads, “Hand Made by PG & JG”
2. On the 2011 release, the secondary band reads, “By Master Blender Jaime Garcia”
3. On the 2012 release, the secondary band reads, “By Master Blender Jaime Garcia”

• In addition, the 2010 version of the band has the signature of both Pepin and Jaime, while the 2011 and 2012 versions only feature Jaime’s signature.
• Speaking of the bands, they are hard to miss, so I measured them to see how much of the cigar they cover. The cigar is 6 1/2 inches long, and the two bands together measure exactly 2 1/2 inches, which means they cover up exactly 38.46% of the total length of the cigar.
• Having said the above, I do like the look of the bands, and think they work well with the purpose of the release, and are quite striking to look at. They also come off of the cigar very easily with no damage to the wrapper, always a good thing and not as easy to achieve as you might think.
• The mushroom flavor that started in the second third but was most prevalent in the final third was an interesting note, but not overly enjoyable to my palate. The flavor was also noticeable on the finish, so if you like that profile, this is a cigar you are going to love.
• The presentation of the box is extremely impressive with each cigar resting in their own indention, six on top and six on bottom. Each of the cigars is in cello (removed for the photographs above), and the tab of the cello on each of the bottom cigars is easy to grab to take them out of the box. 
• There were 75 unbanded bundles of 15 of the 2011 version of the My Father Limited Edition sold at an event at Federal Cigar before they were available in boxes. There were also 300 My Father Humidors released containing 50 My Father Limited Edition 2011s and Jaime Garcia Limited Edition 2011s.
• As with last year’s version, I really don’t understand why these cost the same as the 2010 version considering the fact they are not rolled by José Pepín and Jaime García and don’t come in individual coffins, both of which would seem to lower the price.
• The burn and draw were the epitome of perfection for both samples I smoked. You seriously could not ask for a better constructed cigar.
• The ash is extremely well-formed and did not fall for the first time until about 1 1/2 inches in on each of the samples.
• The cigars smoked for this review were sent to us by site sponsor Casa de Montecristo.
• The average smoking time for both of the sample was about one hour and 40 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase some of the My Father Limited Edition 2012, at this moment, the only place you can get them is at site sponsor Casa de Montecristo. Don’t forget to tell them halfwheel sent you.

_______________________________________________________________________

The Bottom Line: This is one of those yearly releases that—in my opinion—has never lived up to the combination of hype and high price that is charged for it. No doubt, a very good cigar with a profile a bit more delicate and nuanced than I expected and flavors that are balanced quite well with the black pepper and spice that is present throughout the smoke. It also features absolutely fabulous construction and smoke production is well above average. The problem is that the flavors that are present—mushroom note notwithstanding—are fairly ubiquitous and not at all unique to this cigar, or even to My Father in general. While I will be getting more of these, I am always curious how these specific blends age, if I was thinking box purchase, I would buy the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Limited Edition 2012 over these any day of the week.

Final Score: 87