Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo 5th Year Anniversary Limitada

In my recent review of the Padrón Family Reserve No. 50 (Maduro), I wrote 2014 is a year with a few notable anniversaries. And, of course, such anniversaries are often accompanied by limited edition cigars.

One milestone worth celebrating is the fifth anniversary of the founding of E.P. Carrillo Cigars, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s second cigar company. His first, El Credito, was sold to General Cigar in 1999 (long before CAO, Toraño, or Leccia Tobacco).

Ernesto gives the rundown about his fifth anniversary cigar in this video. Made at his Dominican Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory, the smoke (6.5 x 54) has a special Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper from the 7th priming that was purchased by EPC for a future project back in 2010 or 2011.

The binder is Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 and the filler is 100% Nicaraguan with tobaccos from all three major Nicaraguan growing regions: Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The cigar comes in 10-count boxes ($75-80 per box) and has double bands: the top band is an updated style of EPC’s traditional band (the same style is being used in the company’s new European market cigars) along with a second circular band highlighting the company’s five years.

Pre-light the cigar is surprisingly tame, with only damp earth and a hint of sweetness from the Sumatra wrapper. Once lit, however, the cigar is anything but subdued. There’s a fresh, almost minty element along with a more traditional combination of bread, baking spices, and hints of pepper. It’s a full-bodied cigar, although it settles into the medium-bodied spectrum in the final third.

What caught me off-guard about the EPC 5th Anniversary was the surprising strength that showed some real nicotine kick. (And I write this as someone who rarely even notices nicotine in a cigar.)

Only 30,000 EPC 5th Anniversary cigars will be made. That’s a shame because it characterizes the best of E.P. Carrillo: flavorful, complex, and affordable. At a time when many special limited edition cigars command double-digit prices, the E.P. Carrillo 5th Anniversary Limitada is the rare and limited, yet affordable, offering. That earns it a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys