Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Good Mornin’!
70 degrees, and sunny. That’s what the weather is here in east Tennessee this Saturday. However, I STILL have yet to make the trip to Wal-Mart to get some patio furniture. Because of this I will be enjoying a cigar at the local cigar establishment in Alcoa known as Smokin’ Joe’s.
The cigar I’m going with today is one that I have been looking forward to, and do every year since 2010. The one I speak of is the E.P. Carrillo Short Run 2013.
I came into the shop and asked for something I haven’t had and it was the first one they recommended, so I jumped all over it. The blend on this one is as follows.
Wrapper; Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Piloto Cubano (Dominican)
Filler: Nicaraguan, Ecuadorian
Size: 5 x 50 Robusto
Sounds good to me, let do this!
Prelight
Okay, so I have to be honest. The first thing I noticed about this cigar was it isn’t the prettiest thing in the world. The coloration on the wrapper is a little blotchy, and it has a couple of veins, however, I don’t care about that I care about the flavor. The nose has a unique sweetness to it with a little bit of spice. Time to apply fire.
(Side note: Darius Rucker covering “Wagon Wheel” was a terrible choice)
First Third
This starts out much like the 2012 edition of the short run. Very mild, a nice creamy profile, not very much in the way of spice at all. I generally like a more full bodied cigar, but there is something to be said for a good mild cigar every now and then, and this is very good off the light. That is one thing I must say about any Carrillo cigar I’ve had, he makes several mild-medium bodied smokes,
but they all have enough complexity to keep me involved.
Second third
Things are starting to pick up a little at this point. One
thing I notice about this is the amount of smoke it produces. It also has a perfect draw and construction. The flavors are starting to increase at about the halfway point. The creaminess is starting to turn into more of a palate saturating leathery-ness. There is also some sweetness starting to arise. Still not much in the line of spice
though.
Final third
Theres the spice! Well, through the nose anyway. But it definitely kicked up a notch during the final third. The leather and sweetness sort of decreased, and it turned into more of a earthy profile, and through the nose it really jumped up in the pepper realm. Great flavor development from start to finish.
Conclusion
I was not disappointed. Every year Carrillo steps it up another notch with his short run series, and he did not fail to deliver this year. I really enjoy this smoke and will be buying more while supplies last. You should do the same, call your local B&M or holler at Cody, Mike, Chris, and the crew here at smokin’ joe’s to pick some up at (865) 380-4298
Happy Smoking!
-Donovan
@dstapp88