Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The oval pressed E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance has a dark brown wrapper with some hints of red, lightly raised veins and fine tooth. The seams are smooth and the caps decently applied. There are three bands, with the primary carrying the company name, the secondary denoting the line and year and then a long, dark blue sleeve with the company logo that runs down to the foot. The cigar feels a bit light for its size. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth. The foot brings aged, musty cedar. The pre-light draw brings cedar and a soapy floral note.
Seth: Why are we covering the foot of this cigar? I take that back! Why are we covering half of this cigar? What are we covering? Finished with a very disappointing Broadleaf wrapper, some would try and argue it is a rustic look, the E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance has a light marbled maduro coloring. Medium to large veins throughout, the cigar is rough in texture. Soft in some spots as well. Aromas of rich earth, spices, minerals, coffee beans and earth.
John: The E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker with an integrated tear space to remain intact when opened. You’ll find three bands on the cigar, with a complex and ornate Perez Carrillo primary band, a Pledge of Allegiance 2023 secondary band and a large, blue E.P. Carrillo paper band taking up roughly half of the cigar. Additionally, the cigar had an artisanal complication of having a soft box press. I weighed the cigar at 14.0 grams, and the humidity as measured by a HumidiMeter Pro was 63.4%. Aromas from the wrapper included faint, musty wood and tobacco. Out of the foot, I was getting rich tobacco aromas.
Jiunn: The E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance has an oddly even maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped. Aromas from the wrapper give oak, chalk and roasted nuts. Aromas from the foot tell similar notes with added black pepper spice. Cold draw gives barnyard, oak and chalk.

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted oak, black pepper and earth. At a quarter inch in, a light mustiness joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted oak with light earth and black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar and the overall profile is a bit dry. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is just ahead of the earth with black pepper a fair amount behind and light mustiness in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with this damp earth and mineral profile that is accompanied by notes of oak, coffee beans, currants and spices. Long finish. Lots of minerals, dry earth and spice on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Sweet tobacco starts the first third with creamy wood defining the post draw. A medium strength leather comes in as it settles in, as medium strength baking spices move into the retrohale. Creamy chocolate is present as it progresses towards the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third provides medium body and strength. Flavors centered around baking spices, cocoa, leather, oak and espresso. Retrohaling gives increased baking spices as well as oak. The finish gives a mixture of dry earth and baking spices.

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper is now very light. At three quarters of an inch in, the mustiness has picked up a bit. The retrohale is now toasted oak and earth with mild black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper picks back up a fair amount. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak and earth are even up front, with black pepper in the middle and mustiness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third is a continuation of the first third. Lots of mineral and earth notes up front. Spices, currants and coffee bean notes as well. Again, long finish with dry earth, minerals and damp wood. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy chocolate greets me here, as tobacco teams up with leather, and wood on the finish. Mild spices join after a short delay on the post draw. Mild chalkiness settles into the middle of the profile, and wood leads off the draw moving towards the halfway point. By the end of the second third, medium spices are coming into the finish.
Jiunn: The second third is very similar to the first third. There’s a bit more baking spice and oak influence. But the profile still shows a dominant earthiness. Strength and body remain medium.

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth takes a slight lead in the profile and a light wood bitterness becomes present. The overall profile is now quite dry. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar and earth with lightly zingy black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is a bit ahead of the toasted oak, with black pepper in the middle and mustiness and wood bitterness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third delivers a muddled mineral, damp earth and wood flavor profile. Rough and harsh on the finish. Full in strength and body.
John: The first few puffs in the last third bring chalky tobacco and spices. As the last third settles in, tannic wood is present on the finish, and by the halfway point, there is some mild bitterness.
Jiunn: Not a whole lot new to talk about within the final third. Still medium body and strength, with flavors of heavy earth (leather, baking spices, oak).

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Burn was off throughout.
John: The burn was fairly straight through the entire review process with no intervention required.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect. Even burn, ample smoke production, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Draw was average.
John: The draw was perfect, right in the ideal zone between resistant and open.
Jiunn: Flawless draw, giving the best balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted oak, black pepper and earth. A light mustiness joined in fairly quickly. The second third saw the core components move up and down. The final third saw some wood bitterness join in. Construction was absolutely perfect. The E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance had an average flavor profile throughout, with a basic flavor profile that wasn’t exciting at all. No spirit. The dryness throughout the profile was just an underlying negative aspect as well. With how quickly this cigar sold out and the buzz around it, it’s quite a disappointment. Definitely not something I would return to.
Seth: The E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance was a bust in my opinion. I’m not going to insult the cigar with a clever pun, don’t want to get those patriots upset, but this was a bad cigar. The presentation was over the top, and I think it was done so to hide a poor-quality wrapper. The cigar itself was lacking any enjoyable flavor profile. We’ve reviewed some great Connecticut Broadleaf offerings recently, but this was not one of them. There was no transitioning, and the cigar lacked complexity and depth. It smoked like there was no time or effort put into creating this cigar.
John: The E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance started out well enough with interesting flavor combinations. Some of those flavors were still present in the second third but didn’t engage me in the same way as the first third. By the last third, the profile did not have interesting or enjoyable flavor combinations and I found it fairly flat. The draw and burn were both perfect. When you combine the flavor performance with the higher price point, this cigar is a pass for me and I would rather seek out another one of their core offerings which performs well. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Jiunn: This E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance was just an OK smoking experience. No foul tasting notes and objectively (burn and draw) the cigar did well. But the flavor experience was a bit lacking. Good Connecticut Broadleaf needs to be rich in flavors and give a nice heft/volume to the body of smoke. None of these things were present. As such, it’s a pass for me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$3.48

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.28

Cost/Point

$4.67

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$3.28

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$3.48

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: E.P. Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance