EP Carillo Classic Series Dusk Solidos Cigar

Yesterday I finally had the chance to revisit the EP Carillo Dusk. I smoked this a year and a half ago and really liked it, and was spending a few hours at the cigar store and this cigar caught my eye.  I’ve been terrible about sampling the EP Carillo range, there have only been a couple I’ve tried, which is weird considering my admiration for Ernesto’s past work (and present, the La Gloria Cubana Coleccion Reserva was one of my most memorable cigars of 2017).  I’m trying to remedy that, and am going to try to remember to pick up something from the EC range when I’m in the shop.  I met up with a couple friends at the local CigarCigars branch to kill some time, and started off with the EP Carillo Classic Series Dusk Solidos , the 6″x 60  offering.  I had previously smokes and enjoyed the “Obscure” double corona, so I figured I’d work my way down. I used my Adorini punch on this one, the 13mm side worked very well to open it up.  I smoked a second one later that I straight cut and I think I liked the punch better for this one.  Why, you ask? Only because there were a couple “flyaway” bits of cap that were a little annoying on the straight cut. This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (which drew my eye to the cigar in the first place), an Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I lit this cigar up around 11 am, and didn’t find it to strong for the time of day, I actually thought it would be stronger. I was not disappointed by this cigar. The burn and draw were spot on, which is a testament to the conditions in the humidor. The first time I visited this shop a few years back the humidor was not great, there were cigars with wrappers coming off, some moldy cigars, ever-all it was off-putting. Over the years they have gotten it under control and it’s now a very nice humidor and shop, I don’t mind visiting there at all, and it’s 2 miles from home. Back to the cigar.  It’s good. Lots of rich espresso notes with some cocoa, just war I like. I ended up smoking the second one on my evening walk because I was talking and trying to get the Flyers game on the lounge TV, which turned out to be no easy feat. They have Dish Network which doesn’t seem to have the channel that the games are broadcast on, but Apple TV provided a workaround. I wanted to give the cigar my full attention.  It’s very good, and I look forward to meandering my way through some other EPC offerings. I think I smoked my first one in 2011, so I have some catching up to do. It was great hanging out with Bruce and Mike for an afternoon!

I smoked another Tortuga Reserva Maduro El Coyote Negro, No. 500 yesterday too. The Frazer, PA CigarCigars shop has the better part of a box on a bottom shelf that has been there for some time. I grab a couple every time I go in, and I’m tempted to adopt the whole bunch and give them a good home, but what holds me back is that I really would like others to enjoy these, they just aren’t getting much of a chance down there at floor level. I also want to avoid seeing these on the deep discount table, that makes them look bad, and they are, in my humble opinion, exceptional cigars that deserve a better fate. I’m quite conflicted on this.  It’s not like they wouldn’t be shared if they were in my humidor, that’s for sure.  Maybe I’ll ask Steve, the manager, to throw a number at me…

Finally, here is an interesting infographic from the folks at Smokers Discounts. I imagine there isn’t anything new here for most of you, but there isn’t any bad advice, and the stats at the top are interesting, although I think the numbers probably include all cigars, not just the premium cigar we focus on here. I’d probably add a couple of parentheticals in the “picking the right cigar” part like don’t squeeze it enough to break it, and don’t wipe your nose all over it, especially before you buy it, but that;s just me.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig