The Good Stuff:

The EP Carrillo Dusk was named #18 cigar of the year by Cigar Aficionado. The Dusk is one of the newer additions to Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s portfolio making it’s debut in 2016 at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas. The Dusk is part of the Classics series and is a full-production cigar. The EP Carrillo Dusk carries an undisclosed Maduro wrapper form the United States, Ecuadorian binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. The cigars are being manufactured at the Tabacalera La Alianza factory in Dominican Republic and come in four sizes: Robusto (5 x 50), Stout Toro (6 x 52), Obscure (7 x 54), and the Solidos (6 x 60). All formats are packaged in boxes of 20 and run between $7.15 and $9.55 a stick.  A big thanks goes out to Cuenca Cigar for sending these our way. You can purchase these directly from Cuenca, or as part of their Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars of 2017 sampler pack.

Size: 6 x 60
Wrapper: Undisclosed United States
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.55
Pairing: Founders 2018 Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) (12.3% Imperial Stout)

Prelight:

The EP Carrillo Dusk is wrapper in an extremely dark brown, “Dusk themed” wrapper which is consistent in color minus the darker natural webbing scattered throughout the wrapper’s leaf. The texture on the wrapper is pretty coarse and toothy with a very large amount of oils coating the wrapper. The wrapper feels very thick, dense, and firm while the filler is packed extremely tight resulting in a cigar that feels like a dry erase marker. The cigar is then polished off with a round, double wrapped cap and a beautiful navy blue and gold band sporting the EP Carrillo crest and the Dusk logo embosses in the front.

The wrapper on the EP Carrillo gives off great cocoa and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar carries much more pepper, spice, and natural tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces great chocolate, spice, pepper, and dirt flavors.

First Third:

The EP Carrillo Dusk starts out with a blast of black pepper which quickly faded after the first few puffs to reveal a soft palate of dark chocolate, coffee, slight sweetness, brown sugar, and cedar. The draw is great. There is something about larger ring gauge cigars that causes the cigar to release a great amount of smoke with little effort. At first, I was scared the cigar would be packed too tightly, but it’s smoking like a dream. The burn line is slightly wavy, but razor sharp. The Ash is decently compacted and medium gray which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the EP Carrillo Dusk the cedar has really taken the prominent role in the flavor palate backed by dark chocolate, soft coffee and a bit of musk. The sweetness has almost completely faded out. The retrohale is nice and smooth coating my nasal passage with coffee, cocoa, and soft spice which isn’t too prominent in the standard experience. The burnline is still slightly wavy but holding strong as I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine kick.

Finish:

The cedar has really started to overpower all the other flavors in the final third of the EP Carrillo Dusk. While the cocoa, musk, and coffee still remain they really just kind of pop in and out at this point as they battle through the overwhelming cedar flavor. While I do enjoy it, I wish the cigar ended just a bit more balanced. The burn line was a bit wacky throughout but I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar so no marks taken there. I never once experience any harshness nor extended heat in the 2 hours it took to take this cigar down to the nub. I close out with no signs of nicotine at all.

Overview:

I am a big fan of EP Carrillo cigars, but this one just didn’t do it for me. The flavors seemed a bit muted from the beginning and as I hoped they’d ramp up as the cigar progressed, they actually dampened. I smoked three of these cigars and two of the three (not this particular one which came from a different box than the previous two) had a strange metallic flavor throughout the experience. Since it didn’t happen on all of them I didn’t feel right mentioning it in the review, nor dock the cigar marks for that. The burn and construction were great though as the cigar performed flawlessly. So if the above flavor profile matches something you think you’d like then by all means pick it up, and let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear it.

Pairing:

Let’s face it, we all know and love Founder’s KBS. Each year this is one of the most sought after beer releases. Brewed at the Founder’s Brewery in Michigan this Imperial stout with Coffee and Chocolate added is aged is Oak Bourbon Barrels before getting bottled and poured with a 12.3% ABV. KBS starts out with a great amount of sweet chocolate, mild coffee, bourbon bite, vanilla, and malt with a heavy mouthfeel before finishing sweet with more chocolate, coffee, vanilla, toffee, and a slight bourbon bite. The alcohol is very well hidden in this dangerously drinkable stout. I paired it with the Dusk hoping that the complimentary flavors would help pull some more body out of the cigar, which it did, but still not enough to get my attention.

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The Good Stuff: That Carrillo gang really wanted to stretch Connecticut blended cigars to a new level when the started formulating the New Wave Connecticut blend, hence the “New Wave” in the name. Will such a bold statement stand the test? I have never been much of a Connecticut cigar smoker, but everything put into this blend makes me thing that it just may have what it takes to get my attention. These sticks were sent to me directly from Ernesto, and will soon be released in four different sizes: The Stellas (5 1/8 x 42), the Brialliantes (5 x 50), the Divinos (6 x 52), and the Gran Via (7 x 49), and will range from $4.50 to $7.00 a stick. Unlike a lot of other EP Carrillo blends, this will be a full addition to their portfolio and will be available year round.

Size: 5×50  –  Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut  –  Binder: Nicaraguan  –  Filler: Nicaraguan/Dominican

Prelight: First of all, I love what E.P. Carrillo is doing with these bands. Very presentable, elegant, and classy. Matching with the lighter wrapper color the band on the New Wave Connecticut, the band switches up a bit with a red and gold embossed crest on a white and light yellow band with goldish brown accents. The wrapper on the New Wave Connecticut is a absolutely consistent, light brown. The wrapper gives off a nice little sheen from it’s silky texture. There are a few larger veins running the body of the cigar leading up to a beautiful Cuban-style triple cap. The cigar is extremely firm to the touch with no noticeable soft spots. The Construction on this cigar isn’t anything less than stellar. Perfectly manufactured cigars seem to be the trend coming from every that Ernesto has put his name on since leaving La Gloria Cubana.

The Wrapper gives off ta very strong barnyard odor. Sweet and stinky with a more pronounced barnyard and earth toned foot.  EP Carrillo’s New Wave Connecticut cut perfectly clean and easy using my handy dual bladed cigar cutter. The cold draw is incredibly smooth, hitting me with a neat little milky, caramel flavor with some hints of tobacco mixed in.

First Smoke: The EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut lit up with extreme ease under my triple flame butane torch. Right off the bat you can tell that this experience wont be that of you average Connecticut cigar. The experience starts off very smooth with a nice sweet, tobacco with some caramel, a dash of coffee and a dash of cedar. Not really the softer flavor profile I have grown to expect from Connecticut wrapped cigars. The New wave Connecticut boasts of almost cubanesque flavors, and a  lot of them. The draw is thick, and plentiful while showing just a little resistance. With the Cuban-like flavors comes the matching burnline. The burnline is a bit crazy with a large canoe that started out early into the smoke. The ash that the New Wave Connecticut leaves behind is very flaky, and spotty with a few lighter greys mixed in with a ton of darker ones. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: That crazy canoe has actually disappeared. Surprisingly the burn caught up to it and the cigar is now burning dead even. The flavors haven’t changed up too much. There was a very slight spice that came and went. Outside of that the flavors are still a very smooth, milky, sweet tobacco and caramel, with a little bit of toffee sneaking in. There was a little bit of wrapper cracking in both samples I smoked, but nothing that caused any problems during the experience. It’s just something that I have grown to expect from Ecuadorian tobacco. I didn’t expect to really feel any nicotine from this cigar, and my instincts, so far, have been correct. It’s been just completely smooth up to this point, with a very refreshing retrohale that coats the nasal passage with a very creamy cedar prime.

Finish: Just as I was hoping for, the last third of the New Wave Connecticut really ramped up in the flavor department once I got to the final third. I’m not saying there was a bunch of different flavors, the flavors just became more pronounced and a bit more stout. The dominant flavor was a really milky cedar, with the sweet candy-like backing flavors, and even some mixed in almond. I still haven’t feel a lick of nicotine from this cigar. All I can say is expect a very nice, smooth, and mild experience from start to finish with no harshness at all even into the final inch. In total, it took me about an hour and a half to tear through this New Wave Connecticut Robusto.

Overview: Although EP Carrillo’s New Wave Connecticut hasn’t hit the market yet, I can already predict it being a huge hit. Not just because everything he has made to date is golden, but because this cigar really takes Connecticut to a new level without losing it’s roots. The flavorful, Cuban type flavors combined with the smoothness of this cigar will reach a huge range of cigar smokers, and a just over $5 a pop who isn’t going to love these cigars?

Pairing: I took a huge risk with this pairing. Cherry Wheat Samuel Adams? That’s right. The beer boasts very strong cherry and fruit flavors. Enough to overpower almost any cigar. Why did I choose it? Cause it’s Connecticut. I find that most Connecticut cigars are a bit lacking in the flavor department so I figure I could pair it with this beer to bring out the sweetness in the tobacco and hopefully not overpower the cigar. Did it work? Hell yeah it did! This pairing was REMARKABLE.  In fact, the New Wave Connecticut even added to the taste of the beer! This beer is pretty easy to find (in the states) and I would STRONGLY recommend you guys to try this pairing out once you can get your hands on this cigar. Outside of the cherry wheat, this cigar would pair perfectly with your morning coffee or tea. Even a nice glass of apple juice.

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