Smoke Inn Blog
Cigar Master Blenders III
Welcome to the third installment of Smoke Inn’s Cigar Master Blender Series. In each of these pieces, we will profile one of the cigar industry wizards known as Master Blenders. If you’re new to the world of cigars or still learning, the Master Blender is the artist behind your favorite premium cigars. The Master Blender designs the cigar from concept to creation, usually selecting everything from the vitola to the tobaccos to be used.
This month we introduce Master Blender Ernesto Perez Carrillo
Cigar Master Blender: Ernesto Perez Carrillo
Perhaps “introduce” was the wrong choice of words here because Ernesto Perez Carrillo, is well-known by nearly everyone in the premium cigar world. The captain of the ship at the eponymous E.P. Carrillo Cigar company has been a star in the firmament of the cigar universe for some 50 years now. This is a man who is truly living the dream and has the premium cigar industry in his blood. It all began when his father, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Sr. cut his teeth in the trade as a purchasing agent for a tobacco broker in pre-revolution Cuba, when capitalism was still permissible.
Ernesto Perez Carrillo Sr. and El Credito
Perez-Carrillo Sr. also grew wrapper tobacco in San Cristóbal at the time. By 1950 or so, Ernesto Sr. owned the El Credito cigar factory in Havana and the family was fully invested in the cigar trade. Perez-Carrillo Sr., like many businessmen in Cuba at the time had no taste Castro’s politics and Castro had no taste for self-made men and entrepreneurs like Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Sr., so he emigrated to the U.S. in the first wave of Cubans leaving for a better life and brighter horizons.
Naturally he took the name El Credito and his love of cigarmaking with him and opened a small cigar factory on the legendary Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana. Business was tough in the early days. Remember this was before the premium cigar renaissance of the mid-90s, so boutique brands weren’t really a thing yet. It was pretty much only the 100+ year old legacy makers who had the market locked down. All of that was soon to change however.
The Beginning of an Illustrious Career
The son, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, would take the reins of the company after his father passed away in 1980. He continued to sell the U.S. legal version of La Gloriana Cubana that his father initiated in the 1970s but changed the packaging to match the Cuban original.
The El Credito factory finally started to come into its own at the dawn of the premium cigar revolution when, in 1992, the La Gloria Cubana Wavell received a 90-point rating from the cigar media. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo was at the annual PCA cigar trade show at the time and saw his orders multiply almost 50 times over the previous year. The brand was off and running like a thoroughbred.
The premium cigar revolution was on and it didn’t take long before El Credito and the La Gloriana Cubana brand needed to expand. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo opened his Dominican Republic factory in 1996 and by the following year it was producing 6 million cigars, about 5 times the number of the original Little Havana factory at full tilt. Perez-Carrillo was established as a heavy hitter in the industry and the brand was well-known.
La Gloriana Cubana and General Cigar
The year was 1997. A large conglomerate called General Cigar Company took an interest in Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s cigars and factories. But they also realized that none of them would be what they are without the expertise of the man at the helm. They wanted to take the brand to higher heights, so they made an offer which included bringing Ernesto Perez-Carrillo on board as an executive to ensure the future success of the brand.
For the next decade, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo dedicated himself to great cigarmaking and growing the La Gloriana Cubana brand under the General Cigar Company flag. This period saw some important innovations, like the La Gloria Cubana Serie R which helped push the trend towards large ring gauge cigars among other things. It was this time when Perez-Carrillo’s talents really matured and his scope widened. Perhaps it was inevitable that after 10 years, he would get an insatiable itch to strike out on his own and begin an independent brand.
The E.P. Carrillo Cigar Brand is Born
The die was cast. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo set out to build a brand of his very own. The house that would become known as E.P. Carrillo Cigars, or EPC, for short. The new brand made a point of distinguishing itself from La Gloriana Cubana. EPC cigars didn’t look or taste like La Gloriana Cubana and thanks to the ingenuity of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo III, the packaging and branding was well-differentiated too. The new EPC cigar company would also put Perez-Carrillo’s talents to use for other brands, creating masterpieces on contract, a practice that continues today.
In the years since E.P. Carrillo Cigars opened its doors, its creations have received countless awards and accolades, which have only helped fortify Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s position as a Master Blender among Master Blenders. Today, the EPC cigar brand is synonymous with quality, heritage and innovation and their cigars and Perez-Carrillo’s expertise are voraciously sought after. Despite the fame and fortune though, the man remains dedicated to the craft, first and foremost. It’s clear that Ernesto Perez-Carrillo isn’t concerned about having his cigars in every tobacco shop and website in the country. He remains forever focused on quality first and creating luxuriant smoking experiences.
Some of Our Favorite E.P. Carrillo Cigars
E.P. Carrillo Cigars La Historia
Ernesto Carrillo describes the La Historia cigar as a celebration of the Carrillo women. The No. 2 Cigar of the Year in 2014 is decorated in attractive gold, red, and sky blue banding, making for the the most beautiful EPC cigar we’ve seen. La Historia was also the first box-pressed EP Carrillo cigar. It’s rich, espresso bean-colored Mexican San Andreas wrapper embraces an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and carefully chose Nicaraguan filler tobaccos, the EPC La Historia shows a medium-full body and a complex smoking experience. Expect to find rich, full flavors of coffee, chocolate, leather, and a sweet and creamy finish.
You can buy the EPC La Historia cigar right here.
E.P. Carrillo Cigars Pledge
This smoking experience begins with a unique Connecticut Havana wrapper, a leaf that Ernesto had become fond of during the early ’80s. This wrapper has been combined with an Ecuadorian binder and all-Nicaraguan fillers, with the recipe being finalized with a box-press. The resulting experience lives up to the high expectations of Perez-Carrillo cigars, offering a medium/full intensity and long-lasting complexities of red pepper spice, hickory, candy-covered chocolate, aromatic botanicals, nougat, and a dark underbelly of ripe stone fruit.
You can buy the EPC Pledge cigar right here.
E.P. Carrillo Cigars Encore
These cigars were first introduced in 2016, but Mr. Perez-Carrillo decided that the wrapper leaf needed more fermentation. With that accomplished, the cigar has been appropriately named, Encore, and reached its full potential. The blend is Nicaraguan puro, using filler ingredients from each of the country’s major growing regions (Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa). Encore then showcases an Estelí-based binder and Jalapan wrapper. The final blend is nothing short of significant, offering a medium/full body and rich flavors of hardwoods, cabinet spices, baker’s cocoa, floral attributes, cinnamon, and rich nuts.
You can buy the EPC Encore cigar right here.
Aura E.P. Carrillo Shengxiao
This one is a little unusual. It’s EPC’s first ultra-premium cigar…actually it’s 12 different cigars in an exclusive box set, limited to 2,500 boxes in total. It won’t be within everyone’s reach, but it’s just so damn cool that we thought it would be a mistake to leave it off the list. Based upon the Shengxiao (the Chinese zodiac), it features 12 different artisanal smoking experiences. Each zodiac cigar’s personality harmonizes with its corresponding astrological sign in the Shengxiao.
Each of the EPC Shengxiao Limited Edition zodiac cigars themselves are crafted in the same shapely 6⅛” x 52 torpedo form from tobaccos hand selected by E.P. Carillo personally and aged a minimum of 5 years. The price isn’t for the faint of heart (or wallet) but lovers of the leaf all understand the kind of rarified cigar experience this represents. The Aura E.P. Carrillo Shengxiao Limited Edition is truly a masterpiece. If you’re an EPC aficionado, this is it right here.
You can purchase The Aura E.P. Carrillo Shengxiao Limited Edition HERE.
Smoke Inn is Your Cigar Shop
We hope you enjoyed our short biography and retrospective on Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with him at the 2023 The Great Smoke, if you weren’t lucky enough to be there in person or virtually, you can catch it on YouTube here.
While we’ve got you—Please be sure to check out our new content features if you haven’t already. You don’t want to miss The Sarge’s Corner section for customer reviews or Smoke Inn Speaks, where you’ll find articles and stories from Smoke Inn staff members. Finally, there’s the new Cigar of the Month Club section which offers a snapshot of the month’s selections. As always, if you’re local or happen to be visiting South Florida, be sure to reward yourself with a visit to one of the country’s best cigar shops in person. We’d love to see you.
