Hi Cigar Pals: When I think of boutique cigar manufacturers, the first name that comes to mind is Ernesto Perez Carrillo.
Deb and I had the privilege of meeting Manuel Diaz, who is the marketing director for Carrillo and he gave us a tour of the factory and some great cigars, you can read all about that in my post: Carrillo Cigars – A private tour! Dominican post 4
So I recently purchased a 5 pack of Carrillo cigars and that gave me the idea to review a cigar a day, for 5 days of flavorful pleasure and pack them all into one blog post.
Click The Pic To Getcha Some
In this post you will get to watch and read five different reviews and will want to make sure to watch my review of the La Historia, because in that video, you will learn how to truly tastes all of the flavors in your cigar the way the Groupos (who are the Master blenders) do it,
This is where I learned the trick of the masters
During my review of the INCH, I will actually use the technique and will reveal to you, how my experience was enhanced.
You will want to be there for the Super Surprise turn of events in the final third of the INCH.
I will also be covering some tips and tricks to get the most from your cigar and not look like a newbie when smoking with your Pals!
Cool video where I picked up these tips:
We will also leave links where you can getcha some E P Carrillo Cigars and I will also leave the link for the 5 pack
Lets get to smokin!
EPC Elencos From The Elite Series
Ratings & Awards
Acto Mayor, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
Don Rubino, rated 91 by Cigar Aficionado.
What’s Under the Hood
Size:6×54 Elites
Strength:Full
Wrapper:Brazil
Binder:Ecuador
Filler:Nicaragua
How’d She Run
Start: 6:59 PM End: 8:33 PM Burn Time: 1:34
Aroma:Earthy, oily, walnut, espresso, floral
Cold Draw: Earthy, raw walnut, espresso, floral
Construction:Dark brown toothy black walnut wrapper, tight seams, thin veins, triple cap, open foot
Burn:Nice even burn throughout, had slight canoeing in the first third, but it corrected itself.
Draw:full and open from the start
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Flavor Profile:
Light Up: Very earthy, picked up that walnut taste right away, some spice on the retro-hale, and on the tongue, very meaty, hints of espresso and floral, long finish.
First Third: Earthy with black walnut, spice fades some but still pick it up on tongue and retro hale, still meaty and the espresso is moving to the front and floral has faded way back
Second Third: Starts out earthy and black walnut, the espresso has turned to a dark roast coffee, pepper picking up again on the retro-hale and on the tongue. Late in the second third, still picking up the black walnut, earthy, dark roast coffee, and pepper on the retro-hale and on the tongue
Final Third: Still earthy and black walnut, starting to taste a little bitter, still dark roast coffee and pepper on the tongue and retro-hale. Remains very flavorful and enjoyable, but very strong with that full body flavor. “You probably want a full stomach to smoke this stick”
Notes:Overall, I think this is a very nice stick, with quite a bit of complexity.
EPC New Wave Connecticut, From The Clasics Series
Sizes
Brillantes: 5 X 50
Stellas: 5 1/8 X 42
Divinos: 6 X 52
El Decano: 6 X 60
Gran Via: 7 X 49
Ratings & Awards
Brillantes, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
Gran Via, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
Stellas, rated 91 by Cigar Aficionado.
What’s Under the Hood
Size:6×52 Divinos
Strength:Mellow
Wrapper:Ecuador Connecticut
Binder:Nicaragua
Filler:Nicaragua, Dominican
Click The Pic To Getcha Some
How’d She Run
Start:10:00 AM End:11:15 Burn Time: 1:15
Aroma: Barnyard, honey and almond
Cold Draw: Hay, faint sweetness of honey, and bitter almond on tongue
Construction:Beautiful toffee colored wrapper, small veins and tight seams, triple cap and open foot
Burn:
Draw:Slightly tight, thought it might be an issue at first, but wasn’t.
Flavor Profile:
Light Up:Started off with the barnyard taste, with bitter almond on the tongue and a sweet honey on the background
First Third: Began with the barnyard, the honey started becoming more pronounced, the almond morphed into a mild coffee and the almond bitterness disappeared, fairly long finish.
Second Third: Barnyard took on more of a cedar flavor, honey fades back, coffee is pretty mild. Not a lot happening, just a smooth smoke.
Final Third: Still maintains the cedar, honey starts moving forward again as well as the bitter almond, coffee hangs in there. Late in final third, became spicy through retro-hale and on tongue, cedar fades and the coffee becomes more pronounced, more like a burnt coffee.
Notes: Overall this was a pretty smooth cigar, with a level of complexity that I didn’t expect from a mild cigar. For me it is very unusual to have so many flavor changes with a stick of this strength, but then again, we are talking about E P Carrillo, who is a master at complexity, in my opinion.
EPC Seleccion Oscuro, From The Elite Series
Sizes
Robusto Gordo: 5 X 54
Small Churchill: 5 1/2 X 50
Especial No. 6: 6 X 52
Piramides Royal: 6 X 52
Ratings & Awards
Small Churchill, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
Robusto Gordo, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
Especial No. 6, rated 91 by Cigar Aficionado.
Piramides Royal, rated 94 by Cigar Aficionado. 2016 Top 25 Cigars of the Year – No. 4.
What’s Under the Hood
Size: 5 ½ x 50 Small Churchill
Strength: Full
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Nicaraguan
Click The Pic To Getcha Some
How’d She Run
Start: 8:50 AM End: 10:13 AM. Burn Time: 1:23
Aroma: Very Earthy, spice,
Cold Draw: Earth, spice ,
Construction: Dark oily Hickory brown wrapper, slightly toothy, tight seams, very small veins, triple cap, open foot
Burn: beautiful, even, almost perfect
Draw: A little tight, but still produces a lot of smoke
Flavor Profile:
Light Up: Earthy and spicy on the retro-hale and the tongue
First Third: Very earthy, spice becomes pepper, espresso starts to come in boldly, fairly short finish
Second Third: Remains earthy, pepper fades in and out and the espresso has changes to more of a dark roast coffee.
Final Third: The earthiness and pepper are in a race for first and the dark roast coffee takes on more presence
Notes: This stick is not terribly complex, but had a nice mix of flavor that kept me interested throughout. The burn was almost perfect, the draw while just a tad tight, produced plenty of smoke. There is a pleasant boldness about this cigar, the kind of cigar that I would love to smoke with friends in a cigar lounge. I have no doubt that I will purchase more of these in the future.
EPC La Historia, From The Perez Carrillo Series
Sizes
El Senador: 5 3/8 X 52
Regalias D’ Celia Piramides: 5 7/8 X 58
Doña Elena: 6 1/8 X 50
E-III:6 7/8 X 54
Ratings & Awards
El Senador, rated 92 by Cigar Aficionado.
E-III, rated 95 by Cigar Aficionado. 2014 Top 25 Cigars of the Year – No. 2.
What’s Under the Hood
Size: 6 1/8 x 50 Donna Elana
Strength: Medium – Full
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Filler: Nicaragua
Click The Pic To Getcha Some
How’d She Run
Start: 9:30 AM End: 11:20 AM Burn Time: 1:50
Aroma: Earth, spice, dark chocolate, saltiness
Cold Draw: Earthy, hay, dark chocolate and salted caramel
Construction: Dark chocolate colored wrapper, slightly toothy, tight invisible seam, very small veins, triple cap, open foot
Burn: Had a little canoeing late in the first third, but after a touch up I became an almost perfect burn.
Draw: nice with just a touch of resistance.
Flavor Profile:
Light Up: Strong tobacco hit, reminded me of the first cigarette I ever smoked, earth and pepper
First Third: Strong tobacco presence, dark chocolate, salty and pepper on tongue and retro-hale.
Second Third: Earth, dark chocolate, salt with pepper fading to the background, these flavors continued through the second third, and the pepper started coming back to the front.
Final Third: No real changes in the final third, it did become stronger and the pepper was stronger. This cigar had a long finish throughout.
Notes: This was a nice medium to full body stick, that I found leaned more toward full body. It was pretty strong and I almost had to take a sugar shot to keep from getting ill. This cigar turned out to be a very slow burner, that took almost two hours to smoke. The La Historia is not very complex, but leaned more toward what I call a manly cigar, with a boldness that I would not recommend to the novice or those who prefer a mild to medium stick.
EPC Inch Natural, From The Dimension Series
Sizes
No. 62: 5 X 62
No. 60: 5 7/8 X 60
No. 64: 6 1/8 X 64
No. 70: 7 X 70
No. 58: 8 X 58
Ratings & Awards
No. 60, rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado.
What’s Under the Hood
Size: 5 7/8 x 60
Strength: Full
Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua, Dominican Republic
Click The Pic To Getcha Some
How’d She Run
Start: 9:50 AM End:Burn Time:
Aroma: Earth, leather, salted caramel, hint of bakers chocolate
Cold Draw: Earth, leather, salted caramel
Construction: Dark oily Walnut wrapper, toothy texture with tight invisible seams, some fair size veins, triple cap and open foot
Burn: Nice and even. Did two minor touch ups, once in the first third and once in the final third and had to relight once (probably my fault).
Draw: Open
Flavor Profile:
Light Up: Earth, leather and salted caramel, slight spiciness
First Third: Earth, leather and salted caramel continues to dominate, near the end of the first third, noticed some orange citrus zest developing when doing the taste test the way I showed you in the La Historia video that the Groupos do it
Second Third: Earth and leather stay strong, salted caramel still prominent on the tongue, zesty orange in the background and dark coffee starts coming into the picture, also I started noticing a creaminess, that may have been there and I didn’t notice or maybe it just started developing at the end of the second third
Final Third: Rather interesting developments in the final third, the earth and leather, salted caramel and zesty orange have become evenly mixed with the coffee and I am now tasting a milk chocolate
Note: While not an extremely complex cigar, the INCH does have a pretty nice flavor profile that held my interest throughout. This cigar is full body, but the strength is more medium and not a threat to those who smoke milder cigars.
I was really surprised in the final third, when all the flavors came together and provide me with a creamy mixture, that I don’t recall tasting this far into a cigar before.
This stick falls into a category that Steve Saka told me about: A great Cigar is one you hate to see end and can’t wait to smoke another one.
What’s Not To Like In EP Carrillo Cigars
Wow, this has been an interesting 5 days, just packed full of flavorful pleasure from EP Carrillo.
I have reviewed some EPC cigars in the past, always with great reviews. I find it kinda funny, that of all of the Carrillo cigars that I have smoked, the Encore, which was name cigar of the year, by Cigar Aficionado a couple years ago, is my least favorite of them all.
Not that I don’t like it, it just hasn’t rung my bells like so many others did.
I hope you have enjoyed this cigar review and hope you will use the links I have provided to try some of these fantastic cigars yourself.
Just click the pic and you can be smoking one of these awesome vitolas within the week!
Hey: almost 2000 words, well, now it is!
As always, feel free to leave comments, suggestions or questions in the box below.
Till next time Cigar Pals
Smooth Smokin!
Love all the new information.Is there a difference in taste or burn,if you V cut or straight cut?Great idea to see a flavor wheel.
No Renee, the cut doesn’t really affect the burn or flavor, it just plays into how much smoke you can draw in and how much tobacco pieces get in your mouth.
Thanks for instructions on how to get the taste.What great memories you can get just like listening to oldie but goodies music.
That is exactly right Renee, when I hear an old song, I can remember all kinds of things, that I associate with it, and the smell and taste of a cigar can do the same thing.
What is the difference in a triple cap?I noticed a big difference in the amount of smoke from the EPC Inch. Is there a reason?
Hi Renee: Thanks for checking out the post. I think what your are asking, is in relationship to the cut and I guess the easiest way to answer that is to say that when you have a single cap, it is easily disturbed and will peel off, or the cut can damage it. With a double cap, not so easy and with a triple, nearly impossible.
The second part of your comment, I probably had a lot of smoke ,because of the larger ring gage.