Early this year, EP Carrillo announced a new line of cigars known as the Essense. The line currently is expressed in two blends a Sumatra and a Maduro. The company also noted that there will be a Honduran blend later in 2024 and they expect to release three more blends Cameroon, Connecticut and Nicaragua between 2025 and 2026. The company notes that the idea of the Essense line is to highlight the impact of the wrapper on the cigar profile.
As for today’s review, I will focus on the Sumatra blend which is described by the company as:
- Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra
- Binder: (dual) Nicaraguan & Honduran
- Filler: Nicaragua, Dominican Republic
The line, in all cases will be available in 3 vitolas, each packaged in 24-count boxes:
- Robusto (5 x 50) – MSRP $9.25
- Toro (6 x 52) – MSRP $10.00
- Gordo (6 x 60) – MSRP$10.75
The cigars are crafted in the Dominican Republic at Casa Carrillo (formerly Tabacalera La Alianza).
For this review, I sampled two of the EP Carrillo Essense Sumatra Toros that I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The EP Carrillo Essense Sumatra Toro is draped in a dark reddish-brown wrapper that exhibits a few noticeable veins and bumps along with some marbling running thorough the wrapper. The wrapper is fairly smooth in contrast to a toothy wrapper. A double cap completes the construction.
Two bands adorn the cigar. The primary band proudly displays the company’s logo on to and the golden word “SUMATRA” on bottom. A secondary footer band is applied that displays the company logo in gold on a black background.
Running the cigar along the nose, I picked up pungent notes off the foot and ripe barnyard notes along the barrel.
Using my CigarMedics Baller cutter, I opened the cap perfectly and gave it some cold draw puffs that I found to be good with restriction and offered a mild natural tobacco sweetness along with a white peppery sting to the palate.
I warmed the foot to an even orange glow, using my dual flame torch and drew in the early puffs of rather harsh hitting smoke to start the journey. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Tad harsh to start with a strong pepper hit to palate and throat
- Sweetness begins to develop and sooth the harshness after about 3/4 inch of burn
- A light grey ash forms on top of a thick wavy char line
- Off burn develops needing a touch up
- Earthy notes enter the profile starting the second third
- The ash fell in a good chunk revealing a flat burn cone that exhibited a slight inward burn
- Mild nuttiness develops
- Floral notes and spice tantalize the palate
- Another off burn formed and required yet another major touch up
- Barrel is getting squishy midway
- The spice is morphing into more of an umami note nearing the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking time was about 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
The EP Carrillo Essense Sumatra Toro opens boldly with a robust pepper punch that tingles the palate and throat. The introduction is rather harsh on the palate. As the burn progresses, a gradual Sumatra sweetness emerges, tempering the initial intensity. Earthy undertones enter the flavor profile, marking the beginning of the second third. The ash drops in a solid chunk, exposing a slightly inward-burning cone. Subtle nutty nuances emerge, complemented by enticing floral hints and a lingering spice that evolves and eventually transforms into a savory umami character towards the conclusion. The burn occasionally falters, necessitating several touch-ups to maintain an even burn line. By the midpoint, the barrel exhibited a soft spongy feel. Though the flavor after the first inch was intriguing, the burn on both samples was not satisfactory. Try one or two and be your own judge, but I think the company needs to revisit the burn issue. As for me I am going to pass on future ones of these. I will be checking out the Maduro blend next. My personal opinion is that the double binder, in the Sumatra, just does not work from a combustion point of view. I rate this an 85.
Point Deductions: (-1) Harsh Start; (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-2) Slight inward burn; (-2) Multiple off burns through the journey; (-2) Major touchups; (-1) Barrel gets Squishy after the midway point
