Christened José García, Pepin was born into a large family of tobacco growers/cigar makers in Báez, a town in Villa Clara province, Cuba.

Among the awards he won was the Productivity Prize for rolling 320 Julietas (a vitola of 7” x 47 ring gauge in size) in four hours.

The company, El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. was begun in June 2002,[1] but was not formally incorporated until December of that year.

[5] In the short time he has been on his own, Pepin Garcia has moved from a relative unknown to a major name in the "boutique" brand arena.

With the opening of the Esteli factory, Pepin changed the overall company brand name to My Father Cigars, derived from a blend son Jaime Garcia had made for him.

In addition, every box is marked with the date of manufacture,[10] a practice which is beginning to gain favor outside of Cuba, where it has always been done.

[11] On August 18, 2010, Eduardo Antonio Fernandez Pujals, who owns 50% of the shares of El Rey de los Habanos Inc., sued the Garcia family claiming, "breach of fiduciary duties, conspiracy to commit breach of fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties, conversion, tortious interference, and ultra vires..."[12] Located in Estelí, Nicaragua, Tabacalera Cubana S.

It is larger than the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, and currently employs 62 rollers,[15] allowing the company to turn out in excess of 3.5 million cigars per annum.