The Regalias d’Celia is slated to become the first line extension to the E.P. Carrillo Perez-Carrillo La Historia line.  It was at the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show when the La Historia line made its debut.  This had been a project originally referred to as “Perez-Carrillo” and had been on the radar as far back as January 2013.   A few months after its release, the cigar garnered considerable attention when the cigar was named Cigar Aficionado’s #2 Cigar for 2014.  Regalias d’Celia will be the fourth vitola in the La Historia line – and it will be the first figuardo in the line.  Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the  La Historia Regalias d’Celia – and this cigar has all of the potential to be the best vitola in the line.

When Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. left General Cigar Company over five years ago to found the E.P. Carrillo company, it very much became a family operation.  Perez-Carrillo brought in his daughter Lissette and son Ernesto III to work along aide with him.  As Perez-Carrillo explained in a video, La Historia is a tribute to both the women (his mother wife, and daughter) and men (his father and son) in the family.  It is also a tribute to the family’s roots in Cuban tobacco.  For Regalias d’Celia pays homage to the grandmother of Perez-Carrillo’s wife.

Let’s break down the E.P. Carrillo La Historia Regalias d’Celia and see what this cigar brings to the table.  Given the samples for this assessment were pre-release, we will default to our usual “Pre-Review” format to share our thoughts and perspectives.  Once Regalias d’Celia hits the market, we will revisit this cigar again and provide an assessment rating and score.

Blend Profile

The blend is a multi-national blend with tobaccos from four countries.  The wrapper is a San Andres Mexican, the first regular production E.P. Carrillo cigar to use it.  In 2013, the E.P. Carrillo Edicion Limitada 2013 was the first E.P. Carrillo cigar to use it, however that one time release.

Wrapper: San Andres Mexican
Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican

Vitolas Available

The E.P. Carrillo La Historia will now available in four sizes.  Each of the sizes are box-pressed (a first for E.P. Carrillo).

Regalias d’Celia: 5 7/8 x 58 (Named for Perez-Carrillo’s wife’s grandmother)
El Senador: 5 3/8 x 52 (Named for Perez-Carrilo’s Father)
Dona Elena: 6 1/8 x 50 (Named for Perez-Carrillo’s Wife)
E-III: 6 7/8 x 54 (Named for Perez-Carrillo’s son, Ernest Perez-Carrillo III)

Appearance

The San Andres Maduro wrapper of the La Historia Regalias d’Celia has a mocha color with a light coating of oil. There are some visible veins which contribute to the ruggedness of the wrapper, but the wrapper seams are decently hidden.  The box-press itself was firm with no soft spots.  The torpedo tip has nearly an inch in length on the cigar.

There are two bands on the cigar. The primary band is the most intricate in terms of design by E.P. Carrillo to date. The center of the band features a red and gold chest-like design. Sitting on the chest is the text “Perez Carrillo” is in a large silver cursive font and the text “La Historia” just below it in white cursive font.” To the left of the chest is the portrait of a woman in a tobacco field which is said to be Perez-Carrillo’s grandmother. To the right is a portrait of a woman with Miami in the background who resembles Lissette Perez-Carrillo. On the far left of the band is the Perez family coat of arms. On the far right is the Carrillo family coat of arms. The band itself has a gold foil-like trim around it.

The secondary band is much simpler. It is red with gold trim. On the red background is the text “PEREZ CARRILLO” in white font.  There is also a sky blue footer band on the cigar.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the La Historia Regalias d’Celia, I went with a straight cut and removed approximately 1/2 of the torpedo tip.  I then proceeded with the pre-light draw experience.  The dry draw provided a mix of chocolate, earth, and cedar spice. I didn’t get much in the way of the syrupy sweet notes I had gotten on other sizes of the La Historia (most notably E-III).  Overall I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw.  At this point, I was ready to light up the Regalias d’Celia and see what the overall smoking experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

Overall, I found the Regalias d’Celia to be in the wheelhouse of the rest of the La Historia line, yet I also found his cigar delivered its own story.

The start to the La Historia Regalias d’Celia delivered notes of chocolate and earth right out of the gate.  The chocolate notes didn’t have the syrupy quality that I detected on the E-III size.  In the background, I picked up a combination of cedar and black and white pepper.  The pepper notes were also prominent on the retro-hale and at times it were on the sharper side.  Meanwhile I also detected some of black cherry notes, but this wasn’t quite as prominent as on the E-III size.

By the second third, the chocolate notes receded into the background and the earth notes were in control.  The background still had the combination of pepper, cedar, and black cherry.  As the cigar progressed through the second third, the spices increased and the black cherry diminished.

By the last third, I found the Regalias d’Celia was mostly a combination of earth and pepper.  The chocolate and black cherry notes were pretty much diminished.  This is the way the flavor profile held until the end.  The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

From a burn perspective, I found the Regalias d’Celia to have a burn that tended to meander from time to time – resulting in a burn that was more uneven.  While the cigar was never in danger of tunneling or canoeing, this was a burn that required more touch-ups than I preferred.  The resulting ash was on the firm side with salt and pepper color skewed a little more toward the darker side.  The burn temperature was ideal.  I did find this cigar burned a little faster than I expected.  I don’t think the faster burn can be attributed to the tapering effect.  Despite the faster burn, this had no adverse effects other than just a shorter smoking time.

I did find the draw to the Regalias d’Celia to be very good.  Although this cigar did burn a little faster, I didn’t find it to be overly loose.  For a torpedo, I found this cigar performed quite well – namely despite the shooter circumference on the tip, it didn’t get overly soft.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I found the Regalias d’Celia to fall in the same wheelhouse as the rest of the line.  I assessed the Regalias d’Celia to be a medium strength cigar from start to finish.  As for the body, I did find the Regalias d’Celia to have some more depth.  I assessed this size as being medium to full-bodied.  The other La Historia sizes I have smoked over the past few months had more aging time in my humidor.  Whether or not there was more body on the Regalias d’Celia due to less aging time simply is an unknown factor at this time.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was quite pleased with the E.P. Carrillo Perez-Carrillo La Historia Regalias d’Celia.  While the flavors were not radically different from the rest of the line, they seemed to work better together and were smoother overall.  While the burn required a little more maintenance than I preferred, it didn’t impact things flavor-wise.  I would feel safe saying that if one has enjoyed the La Historia line, one will enjoy this cigar.  Even if someone doesn’t enjoy a larger ring gauge, I encourage them to still try this as the tapering effect of the belicoso mitigates “big ring gauge” syndrome.  This is a cigar I’d recommend an experienced cigar enthusiast, but I certainly wouldn’t discourage a novice from smoking this.  As for myself, this is a cigar I’d definitely reach for and smoke again.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good

References

News: E.P. Carrillo Perez-Carrillo La Historia Regalias d’Celia
Price: $9.50
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 117, Episode 124
Stogie Feed: E.P. Carrillo La Historia, E.P. Carrillo Perez-Carrillo La Historia E-III