E.P. Carrillo La Historia

 

 

The LA Historia by EP Carrillo

I haven’t smoked more than a few EP Carrillo cigars but I see them quite often on social media sites. I figured it was time to try one of their better sticks, the La Historia. I chose the Doña Elena size, which is a soft box-press at 6 1/8 x 50.

The wrapper is Mexican San Andres (very dark and rich-looking), with a Ecuador Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan filler. I am a bit of a cigar-band dork and as you can see, this is a beautifully detailed and colorful band. I love it. Time to cut this and smoke it.

The first light reveals an absolutely perfect draw, with plenty of medium to full-bodied flavors. I’m getting notes of deep tobacco, coffee, roasted nuts and dried fruit- like dried cherries and raisins. There is a pepper note in the background, but not overly pronounced. It’s also putting off a ton of chewy smoke. The first third burns rather quickly but the burn is near-perfect.

The second third starts ramping up in both strength and flavors. The dried cherry and raisin notes are prominent, as is the nuttiness, and now I’m getting a bit of a cinnamon-like sweetness. Still putting off thick smoke, while performing beautifully. It’s a dry smoke and I find my mouth is a bit parched.

I hated to take the band off but I had to as I started the final third. The strength faded just a tad and the pepper diminished. But still plenty of flavors. The cinnamon notes started to take over giving it a mildly sweet and spicy profile. The burn remained consistent requiring no touch-ups.

I did some research on the La Historia and found it pays homage to Ernesto Perez’s family, including his mother and wife, both of whom were instrumental in his success in the cigar industry. It also pays tribute to his Cuban heritage. It earned a 95 point rating and was named the #2 Cigar of 2014 by Cigar Aficionado.

La Historia band

I smoked this down as far as I could. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

-RR

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