Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is light brown and quite rustic looking. There are a few raised veins along with some wrinkles. The seams are smooth and fairly well hidden. The head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. The band is gold, red and orange with some white lettering. The updated bands for the brand are pretty nice looking. The aroma from the wrapper is a light and clean hay while the foot brings a mix of hay, leather and slightly sweet tobacco. The pre-light draw brings a nice creamy leather note.

Pre-light Experience

The E.P. Carrillo Capa de Sol Robusto Royal has a medium brown, fine grit sandpaper like texture. Major veins are well pressed and seams although visible, are tight. A firm and uniformed give is present throughout the entire cigar with zero soft spots. The parejo head is finished off with a well adhered, thick triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives barnyard, hay and white pepper spice. Nosing the foot tells nose awakening white pepper, mixed nuts and cardboard. Cold draw tells namely cardboard and hay.

First Third

Initial draws bring a slightly charred wood along with a mild baking spice. At a quarter inch in, a little nuttiness joins with the charred wood and baking spice. At half an inch in, the char lessens while the mild baking spice and nuttiness continues. The retrohale is a mix of wood and nuttiness. At an inch in, the char increases to its original level again while the baking spice and nuttiness are maintaining their levels. This is the profile the third finishes with. The strength level in this third was right at medium.

First Third

Two words comes to mind when describing the first third; toasty and spicy. Mouth draw flavors of toasted dry nuts, toasted wood and full flavored sharp black pepper spice. The retrohale shows fierce black pepper and richness in toasted wood and dry roasted nuttiness. The finish is a mixture of strong black pepper and charred wood lingering on for minutes. Body is medium and strength nearing medium-full.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the baking spice and nuttiness drop from the profile leaving just the charred wood which carries a slight bitterness. The retrohale still carries some nuttiness along with a wood note. At a quarter inch in, the nuttiness returns to the profile which pushes the bitterness out. At three quarters of an inch in, some cream joins the profile which enhances the wood and nutty notes. As the third comes to a close, the wood, nuttiness and cream continue while the retrohale has gained a bit of a coffee note to go along with the wood and nuts. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

The primary difference between the first and second third is the increase in strength. The strength is now consistently medium-full starting from the beginning of the second third. Mouth flavors still provides full flavored notes of toasted wood, black pepper and rich nuttiness. Retrohaling still gives an intense black pepper and richness in toasted wood and roasted dry nuttiness. The finish has the black pepper slightly backing off and is mainly driven by a long and lingering charred wood. Body stays medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, some mustiness enters the profile to mix with the wood and cream while the nuttiness has gone away. At a quarter inch in, the wood takes on a bit of a young/green profile while the mustiness still remains. At a half inch in, the wood loses the young note and goes back to a standard profile along with the musty note. As the cigar comes to a close, the wood again goes back to a slight young/green note as the mustiness continues. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

The last third continues to show quite a bit of a powerhouse delivery, being medium-full in strength and full flavored. Mouth draw flavors show the black pepper decreasing, but still distinctive toasted wood and roasted nuttiness. The pepper is still fierce on the retrohale, in addition to the same levels of toasted wood and roasted nuttiness. The finish continues to be lengthy with black pepper and charred wood. Body finishes off at the medium mark.

Burn

The burn line was slightly wavy through the first two thirds. In the final third, the cigar went out on me and required a re-light and seemed to not want to burn very well. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Burn

Overall, a very good burn. Slightly flowering ash and wavy burn with self tapped ash marks averaging 1.5 inches. Most importantly, never a need to touch up the burn.

Draw

The draw was perfect with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

The cigar had a core set of flavors without much transition, but the flavors were good. Primarily woody with some baking spice, creaminess and nuttiness as accompanying notes. Some burn issues in the final third which did effect flavor a bit. I tend to find that cigars from E.P. Carrillo do better with a fair amount of time on them and I’m curious if that will be the case with this cigar, although it is definitely ready to smoke now. If you like medium strength and a woody profile, this cigar is definitely one to check out. I could definitely see myself smoking more of these.

Draw

The draw although good, was a tad too loose and effortless. But I hardly focused on the draw and felt it did not hinder the experience of flavors.

Overall

A rich and full flavored experience that took me by surprise. Surprised because I typically do not associate E.P. Carrillo cigars to be anything more than medium in strength. This cigar, in my opinion, is best smoked after having a substantial meal as the strength can get to you. But it’s not a stronger cigar just for the sake of being strong. Instead, it is well backed by full and distinctive flavors. Looking forward to smoking more of these.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.73

Cost/Point

$1.17

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.80

Cost/Point

$1.16

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Capa de Sol Robusto Royal