E.P. Carrillo Allegiance

Ernesto always puts out quality cigars, but some are not as good as some publications say they are. Nothing against the Pledge, but I found it to be a bit of a pepper bomb without a ton of complexity or nuance. The Encore is a very solid cigar, but again not what I would pick for cigar of the year. La Historia is similarity good, but not especially so in my humble opinion. All that aside however, I really really enjoyed the Allegiance. The wrapper is beautiful and chock full of oils. I was expecting a huge amount of pepper from this, and while it definitely plays it’s part in the profile, the pepper component was nowhere near what I expected. There is a lovely sweetness to the cigar, tons of chocolate and warm dark rye bread notes, a little salt and a beef broth umami flavor. The construction was phenomenal, with a perfect draw, tons of smoke output, and an absolutely razor sharp burn line. I absolutely loved this cigar, and if it’s in the running next year I will be totally unsurprised. Ernesto just seems to keep getting better with age.