Quick Smoke: E.P. Carrillo Dusk Solidos

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Introduced a few months ago at the industry’s annual trade show, Dusk is a four-vitola line from E.P. Carrillo that resides in “The Classics” level of the company’s recently revamped portfolio. It sports a dark, undisclosed wrapper from the United States, an Ecuadorian binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. Dusk is crafted at Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic. The Solidos format (6 x 60) retails in the $8 to $9 range and delivers a medium- to full-bodied profile that’s moderate on spice yet heavy on damp earth, cocoa powder, raisin, nut, and cream. The resting smoke is particularly sweet and mightily enticing. Construction is a bit lacking, though, with a burn line that tends to meander and a draw that’s a tad too tight for my liking. Still, this is a good cigar, and I suspect I will like it considerably more in one of the thinner vitolas.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys