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| E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto |
At Inter-Tabac 2014 in Dortmund, Germany, E.P. Carrillo showcased a new cigar called the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet. This was one of two cigars announced at the European trade show with the other being a new Ecuadorian Connecticut offering called the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Reserva. The plan was for both of these cigars to be released to the European market before making it over to the U.S. market. Shortly before this assessment, the New Wave Reserva made its way in a limited fashion to U.S. retailers, however (at this time) the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet has not arrived as of yet. Recently, we were given an opportunity to smoke the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet in the Robusto size, a new corojo wrapper offering by the company. Overall, this is an excellent cigar and its one that U.S. consumers should definitely keep an eye out for.
The E.P. Carrillo Cabinet has an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper and is the latest offering by the company to use this wrapper. The incorporation of this tobacco into recent blends have definitely opened up some new doors in terms of blend possibilities by blender Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. The Cabinet joins the E.P. Carrillo INCH C-99 (launched at IPCPR) and the Federal Cigar limited production shop exclusive the E.P. Carrillo Medalla D’Platino. Corojo was also used (Dominican) on this year’s E.P. Carrillo INCH Short Run 2014.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The E.P. Carrillo Cabinet is being made at Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic. In addition to the Ecuadorian Corojo 99 wrapper, the cigar features a Dominican binder and Nicaraguan filler.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Corojo ’99
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitolas Available
The E.P. Carrillo Cabinet is produced in four sizes. The cigars are packaged in 25 count boxes. Depending on the size, the price will range from $6.30 to $8.30 (U.S. Dollars). The initial shipment that went to Europe was 200 boxes.
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 52
Supremos Extra: 5 7/8 x 56
Wide Toro: 6 x 60
Appearance
As mentioned above, for this cigar experience I smoked the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet in the Robusto size. The E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto has a medium brown wrapper. Depending how the light hits it, the wrapper can show off almost a rosado tint to it. There is a light coating of oil on the wrapper. While the wrapper itself is on the smooth side, there are some visible veins and visible wrapper seams giving the surface a little bit of a bumpy feel.
The band is similar to the new design introduced with the E.P. Carrillo 5th Anniversary cigar. It features the red square containing the gold “E.P.” cursive logo. Tha square rests on a thick brown stripe that also contains several rows of gold pin striping and dotted lines. Just under the red stripe is the text “CARRILLO” in white font on a black background. Below the thick brown stripe is a thick pale yellow stripe. There are three rows of gold dotted lines sitting on the thick yellow stripe. The text “Cabinet” is in black cursive font sitting on the yellow stripe. On the far right is a smaller version of the red and gold “E.P.” cursive logo on a circular field – this wraps around the back of the cigar.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting up the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. After successfully clipping the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of black pepper, natural tobacco, and cedar. Overall I considered this to be a good pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet and see what the overall smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto had notes of red pepper, cedar, wood, and some natural tobacco. Both the red pepper and cedar were joined at the hip early on and both were a part of the retro-hale throughout the smoking experience.
As the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet moved through the first third, the natural tobacco and cedar notes alternated as to which was primary. Both flavors contributed some nice sweetness to the flavor profile. Meanwhile the red pepper became a secondary note and was not as closely tied to the cedar as earlier on. At the same time the wood notes transitioned to more of a nutty flavor.
In the second third, the nut flavors became more prominent joining the cedar notes in the forefront. The natural tobacco notes joined the red pepper as secondary notes.
By the last third, I found the pepper notes increased significantly and the flavor profile became a combination of pepper, nut, and cedar. The cigar did diminish in sweetness, but did not become harsh. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
Overall I found the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto to be a well constructed cigar and this was reflected nicely on both the burn and draw. The burn performed quite well on the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet. There was a slight bit of jaggedness along the way, but the cigar was never in danger of canoeing or tunneling. The resulting ash varied in color from each of the samples I smoked. It was bright white on one sample and salt and pepper-colored on another sample (see below). In each case the resulting ash was tight and firm and came off the cigar in nice clean chunks. The burn temperature was ideal. The burn rate was a little rapid on one of the samples, but it proved to have no adverse effects flavor or construction-wise.
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| Burn of the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto |
The draw was excellent. The E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto had a touch of resistance on it – which is something I like. This made for an enjoyable smoking experience.
Strength and Body
Overall I didn’t find the E.P. Carrillo Cabinet Robusto to be an overpowering cigar from a strength profile. I assessed this cigar as being on the upper end of medium strength – falling just short of what I would consider the next plateau, medium to full. As for the body, the flavors started out medium-bodied. The flavors slowly increased and by the second half they progressed to medium to full-bodied. Overall when it came to strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned in the introduction, I do feel the incorporation of the Ecuadorian Corojo tobacco into new products by E.P. Carrillo gives this company a nice boost and opens the doors to creativity. We’ve seen it already be used on existing blends (INCH C-99 and the Medalla D’Platino). Now the use of this tobacco on an all-new blend hits pay-dirt for E.P. Carrillo. This is a cigar that also has a decent amount of complexity, but the complexity is subtle – so it is one of those cigars you can get the most out of while relaxing. I’d recommend this cigar to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again – and recommend a box split of.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 91
References
News: E.P. Carrillo Cabinet
Price: ~$6.30
Source: Cigar Provided by Manufactuer
Stogie Geeks Episode: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
The smoke becomes light with a citrusy finish. Very well described, thanks for sharing.
Tried this recently at a cigar lounge I was visiting and found it to be a nice refined smoke, with subtle changes as you mentioned. An excellent value for a cigar of this quality. Your review is spot on, only I would rate it even higher since I have already bought a box. Ha!
Bought the toro size.
Bought the toro size.
Tried this recently at a cigar lounge I was visiting and found it to be a nice refined smoke, with subtle changes as you mentioned. An excellent value for a cigar of this quality. Your review is spot on, only I would rate it even higher since I have already bought a box. Ha!