EP Carrillo Generosos

By Tony Casas | March 21, 2016

This week’s review is another Casa De Montecriso exclusive, E.P. Carrillo’s Generosos paired with a bottle of The Bruery’s Jardinier Belgian-style pale ale.

The Good Stuff:

Every since they started, E.P. Carrillo releases have been all over the place. They keep themselves really busy while producing some amazing cigars. This time around they teamed up with Mike and Same Khalil of Casa De Montecristo to create a store exclusive blend called the Generosos. The Generosos features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder, and Nicaraguan Filler. The Generosos comes in four sizes: Robusto (5 7/8 x 52), Belicoso (5 1/2 x 52), Toro (5 7/8 x 52), and the Gordo (6 1/4 x 60) all packaged in boxes of 15. The cigars are only available at Casa De Montecristo and will run you between $8.95 and $11.95 a stick. Thanks to the CDM Cigars team for sending these my way to review.

Size: 6 1/4 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Mild/Medium
Strength: Mild/Medium
Price: $10.75
Pairing: The Bruery Jardinier (Belgian Style Pale Ale 4.9%)

Prelight:

The E.P. Carrillo Generosos sports a great looking medium brown wrapper which is scattered with lots of darker brown patches. The texture on the wrapper is smooth with some very slight tooth and almost no oils and a few very minor veins leading up to the cigar’s round, triple cap. The wrapper is very thin, and very delicate while the cigar is packed reasonably with only some softer areas around the foot of the cigar. The cigar is polished off with the standard black, yellow, gold, and red E.P. Carrillo band, and a secondary brown and orange band with the word “Generosos” spread across the front.

The wrapper on the E.P. Carrillo Generosos gives off a good amount of nut, and cedar while the foot of the cigar carries much more natural tobacco aromas and a good amount of dirt/earthiness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw follows the trends set in the pre-light aromas, lots of cedar, nut, and earthiness.

First Third:

The E.P. Carrillo Generosos starts out with much more body than I was expecting leading with pine, cedar, and some soft spice with a very heavy herbal overtone. After about a half inch, the Generosos really took a step back and softened out to the low medium area in body. The draw is a bit tight, but not bad as it takes a puff or two to get the amount of smoke I desire while the cigar gives off the standard amount of smoke while resting in my ashtray. The burn line is a bit wild, but I haven’t had to touch it up yet as it leaves behind a trail of medium gray, flaky ash which held on for a little under an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

The second third of the E.P. Carrillo Generosos its a much more mild, creamy one. The flavors are subtle cedar, nut, hay, and earthiness with just a touch of herb/floral mixtures. The retrohale helps bring the body up a bit as it coats my nasal passage with some soft spice and a good amount of cedar. The burn line is still a bit wild, but again, I haven’t had to reach for my torch yet so I’m not complaining. I finish out the second third with no signs of nicotine whatsoever.

Finish:

The final third of the E.P. Carrillo Generosos finished almost identical to the second. A bit of light cedar, nut, hay and earthiness and that’s about it. The cigar burned very slow, as it took me almost 2 hours to take it down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, extra heat, nor any nicotine as the cigar ended in the mild/medium strength category with a mild/medium body.

Overview:

While the E.P. Carrillo Generosos preformed really well, it just didn’t do much for me. The flavors fell flat and despite my best efforts to raise the bar just a little with my pairing, the cigar was just too mild for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good mild cigar, but I also want my experiences to have more substance, and the Generosos was just a bit too bland for my liking. If you do like solid, simple, consistent, mild cigars though this one might be up your alley.

Pairing:

I wanted to pair the E.P. Carrillo Generosos with something that would pick it up a bit, without overpowering it. Since I knew how mild the blend was my go to was either a Belgian Tripel, or Pale Ale. I found a great middle ground between the two with The Bruery’s Jardinier, a Belgian-Style Pale Ale. Brewed in Placentia, California Jardinier comes in at a modest 4.9% ABV. The pale ale leads with citrus and floral flavors and an extremely light mouthfeel before finishing with orange, herb, and a bit of spice with a tart aftertaste. The Jadninier did do it’s job adding a bit of body to the Generosos, it just wasn’t enough and I think any beer with more body would have easily overpowered the cigar.