Cigar Review: EP Carrillo 5 Year Anniversary

Vitola: Toro
Size: 6.5” x 54 ring gauge
MSRP $8.50
Purchased at Maxamar Cigars

Background

Where does the time go? It seems only yesterday I was looking at the EP Carrillo Edición Inaugural 2009 at my local cigar shop. Over the next few years the shelves were almost flooded with new EPC product, from the Core line and Core Maduro, to the New Wave Connecticut, Cardinal, Cardinal Maduro, INCH, INCH, Maduro and E-Stunner, not to mention two waves of limited editions per year…a truly Edición Limitada in one size and a Short Run that was usually available in 2 or 3 sizes and was a variation on one of the regular releases. Besides that they produced Four Kicks, Headley Grange and J.D. Howard Reserve for Crowned Heads, keeping some Dominican rollers very busy. And now we’ve hit the 5 years mark.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr., has been in the cigar business the better part of 4 decades, building the La Gloria Cubana brand and selling it to General Cigar, working for General running the brand, and developing his own brand with his children. This year’s LE release is a celebration of that last item, which has been ongoing now for 5 years. The 5 Year Anniversary is shipping in a single size and at a price that is truly shocking…$8.50. This is shocking because all the previous years’ LEs were in the $14 to $17 range, making it cost-prohibitive for many of us to buy many (and I certainly did want to buy heavy on the EL 2001, Dark Rituals). The blend uses Nicaraguan fillers, an Ecuadorian Corojo 99 binder, and an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf. I bought one stick at Maxamar Cigars when I was out in California in September and this review is based on that stick.

Prelight

This is the first time EP Carrillo has really significantly altered the original band they started with in 2009. That original band was used for the Core lines, as well as most of the EL and Short Run releases since then, seeing some color scheme alterations with the Cardinal and NWC releases, then the INCH and E-Stunner used entirely different banding. This calls back to the original band, but with a change in shape and color, with a bit of Cuban Cohiba influence. Then it adds a secondary band with an image of a tobacco field and repeated reference to the anniversary they are celebrating. I like what they’ve done with this as it is familiar, yet new, at the same time.

The wrapper leaf looked immediately to me like those used by La Flor Dominicana on their Double Ligero lines, which probably isn’t too surprising because they, too, use Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf. The color was a milk chocolate shade with lighter streaking along the veins, and it smelled sweet with notes of hay and chocolate. The foot had a ripe earthiness and a touch of cedar. The cold draw was just a bit too open, but better too open than too tight. The cold flavors were of earth and grass, with a touch of red pepper spice that lingered on my lips.

Flavor

Once I got the end of the EP Carrillo 5 Year Anniversary properly combusting, I picked up more of that grassy and earthy core flavor along with a touch of copper, which is something I often get from Ecuadorian Sumatra. There was a bright and upfront sweetness in the blend, too…toasted caramel at first, then morphing into a more chocolatey character…either way it was wonderful. I got a good pepper spice burn on the tongue and on the nasal passages. I also detected some other type of spice on the retrohale…not so much a “heat” spice as a savory spice, but it still reminded me of chili powder, so cumin or one of the other common (but less fiery) components of that substance. All in all, there was a lot going on in the first few minutes of this cigar and it made it very interesting; I could be wrong, but this might just be the most complex EP Carrillo blend out there, at least in the early going. I’ll admit to not always enjoying Sumatra wrapper, but by the end of the first third, I could tell this one was different.

In the second third I got more red pepper fire on the palate and lips, while there was still plentiful sweetness and an undercurrent of earthiness and grassiness.

The last third was mostly characterized by grassy and earthy notes which finally took the fore again after being shoved out of the way early in the first third. There was a bit of underlying sweetness and some pepper spice, as well, but little of the minerally copper note from earlier. This started as a medium-plus bodied cigar and ended up in the medium to full range.

Construction

I found no flaws in the build quality of this cigar; the ash was solid, the draw was perfect and the burn line was very even.

Value

Any time you get an EP Carrillo Limited Edition release at half of what they’ve been in previous years, you have to consider that great value. The fact that it’s one of their best LEs certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

Conclusions

The EP Carrillo 5 Year Anniversary is simply one of their best Limited Edition cigars yet, eclipsed for my palate only by the Dark Rituals (EL 2011). It was tasty from start to finish, displaying a good amount of complexity and a decent amount of body and strength. Add to that the fact that the price is right in the middle of the market’s sweet spot at just under $9 per stick, and this one is a no-brainer. The only problem is the fact that they only made 3,000 boxes…get yours while you can!

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10