Cigar Review: E.P. Carillo Elencos Elites

Toro, 6" x 54 ring gauge / $11.99, Maxamar's

This is the cigar I intended to review last week. That was before the wind took it and busted the wrapper. When I visited my regular shop I picked up another sample to smoke for this review.

The is the other recent release by the E.P. Carillo company. While the New Wave is mild to medium bodied this cigar is billed to be medium to full bodied. It is comprised of Nicaraguan filler, a Dominican Binder, and a Brazilian wrapper. I been told that this cigar is the same blend as the Edición Limitada 2010 (my review of that cigar is here). It comes in 3 sizes; the 5.25"x50 Don Rubio, a 6.25"x52 Acto Mayor, and the size I'm reviewing. They come in a nice glossy black 20 count box. This is either my fourth or fifth one of these I've smoked.

The first thing that I notice is the band and it's color. While it is the same design as the other ones this one's color is very pleasing to my eye. I also think it goes well with the color of the wrapper, sort of a muted elegance. The wrapper on this cigar is an oak brown color. There are some slight veins but nothing detrimental to the look of the cigar. The wrapper is also slightly oily with a velvety feel to it. The wrapper on this sample had a couple very small water spots, but they didn't cause any problems. Giving this cigar a squeeze I didn't detect any soft spots and there was a slight amount of give. Once I put my nose to the wrapper I detected that fairly intense aroma of barnyard, with barnyard and hay coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw on it I was rewarded with the taste of bitter chocolate and a good draw.

As soon as I light this cigar up I get a very intense red pepper spice on the retrohale. Taking a few more puffs on the cigar I'm able to get notes of leather, earth, chocolate, and spice on the tongue. The cigar starts at the bottom end of full on the strength scale. The burn was slightly uneven however the draw was pretty much perfect and it produced lots of smoke. The nearly white ash held on for about an inch before it needed to be tapped off. Towards the end of the first this I started noticing a slightly metallic and a herbal taste coming through. Neither were intense or unpleasant. The spice and the strength also mellowed out a bit towards the end of the first third.

The second third started off with flavors of black pepper, leather, earth with a slight creaminess on the finish. The burn had almost evened itself out, although it wasn't perfectly straight. That is one thing I've noticed about this cigar, while the burn isn't perfectly straight it doesn't cause any problems or need any correcting with a flame. At the end of the end of the second third flavors of chocolate and cinnamon came through. Also the spice of the cigar had died down quite a bit by the end of the second third. However the cigar was still pretty strong as I was feeling a slight nicotine hit at this point.

In the final third this cigar finished strong. The flavors simplified to chocolate, cinnamon and a slight nuttiness. The draw was perfect the whole way through. The burn did still tend to be slightly wavy but I never fired up my lighter to correct it. The spice did come back a bit as well as I was nearing the end of the cigar.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. Although it tastes different than the EL2010, but I can't put my finger what the difference is. I do like the fact that the price point on this cigar is lower that the EL 2010. I do highly recommend this cigar to anyone out there who enjoys a fuller flavored, and fuller strength cigar. Great job Ernesto! I'm looking forward to what you come up with next!

Body: 7/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 7/10

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

Have you tried this smoke and want to share your own experience? Please leave a comment below...