Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Inch Maduro No. 60

Toro Gordo, 5.875” x 60 ring gauge / $8.99, Maxamar's

Today I'll be reviewing one of E.P. Carrillo's latest releases.  At an event at Maxamar's a couple months ago Ernesto gave me one of the natural pre-releases for this cigar to smoke.  While it is normally not a size I prefer, when the master hands you a cigar, you light it up.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how flavorful and enjoyable the cigar was.  I was definitely looking forward to giving this cigar a try in the maduro wrapper.  These cigars come in three different sizes, a 6.25" x 64 No. 64, a 5" x 62 No. 62, and today's cigar a 5.875" x 60 No. 60.  As you can tell the name of the cigar is also the ring gauge.  They come in rough dark wood boxes kind of reminding you of something you'd find in a wood shop.  Which goes along well with the tape measure stylized on the band.  The cigars are comprised of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, with a Nicaraguan binder all wrapped in a Connecticut maduro wrapper  This was the third maduro I smoked for this review.

The wrapper on this sample was a nice, even reddish brown in color.  There were some medium and fine veins and the wrapper was sort of velvety to the touch.  There weren't a lot of oils, and I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that they aren't cello-ed.  Putting my nose to the wrapper or foot didn't bring much aroma.  It could have been the remnants of the cold I had making this difficult.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I got notes of milk chocolate with a great draw.

Once I lit it up I got a blast of spice on the tongue with tastes of chocolate, wood, coffee and cream.  The retrohale had a wasabi like burn to it as well.  The draw was just about perfect and it produced a large volume of smoke.  After a short while I started to get some cola flavors along with a sweet finish.  The cigar started off at the upper end of medium.  The burn was slightly off, but that was probably because of my bad lighting job.  The ash was a little flaky, but didn't seem to get all over me.  By the end of the first third the spice had toned down quite a bit, but not gone completely away.

The second third saw a continuation of the flavors from the first third.  This wasn't a bad thing as I was enjoying the cigar.  The draw continued to be great and the burn evened itself out.

As I moved into the final third the sweetness and chocolate flavors kind of died out.  The flavors I was left with were of leather, earth, coffee, and wood.  The spice did start to come back as well.  The strength ramped up into the full range and I started to get a nicotine hit from it.

Even though the size of this cigar isn't something that I'd normally smoked I really enjoyed it.  The flavors were very enjoyable and the spice was nice.  I would like to see how this cigar performed in a smaller ring gauge (hint, hint Ernesto).  I did try a couple of the release natural cigars and I can definitely say I prefer the flavors of the maduro.  But of course that is my preference.  I do think that if you like Ernesto's other offerings, and aren't scared of a little strength, you should definitely give the cigar a try.

Body: 7/10

Strength: 8/10

Complexity: 6/10

AFP Scale

Prelight: 2/2

Construction: 2/2

Flavor: 4/5

Value: 2/2

Total: 9/10