E.P. Carrillo
Founded in 2009 by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo after leaving General Cigar, and produced at the family's Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic.
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo built La Gloria Cubana at his father's Miami company, El Credito, into one of the defining brands of the 1990s boom. The family sold the business in 1999 and he stayed on with the acquiring group until March 2009. Encouraged by his children Lissette and Ernesto III, he then started EPC Cigar Co. and the E.P. Carrillo brand, moving manufacture to the Dominican Republic.
The company operates Tabacalera La Alianza, which produces the E.P. Carrillo lines and cigars for other brands, including early Crowned Heads releases. The catalogue includes Encore, La Historia, Pledge, Elencos, New Wave and the wide-ring Inch series. Encore and Pledge have both taken the top annual spot in Cigar Aficionado's rankings. The factory sits in the Cibao region, the centre of Dominican cigar manufacturing, and the company also sources tobacco from Nicaragua and Ecuador.
The business is family-run, with Lissette Perez-Carrillo handling operations and Ernesto III the commercial side. Perez-Carrillo, born in Cuba in 1952, is one of the small number of blenders whose work spans both the Miami Cuban-exile tradition and the modern Dominican industry. Casa Carrillo, a lower-priced line, and a series of limited releases have widened the range in recent years, and the family has continued to add production capacity in the Dominican Republic.
E.P. Carrillo Encore Celestial Toro
A Nicaraguan-puro expression within the Encore line, reviewed by Cigar Aficionado in June 2022 at 90 points. The base Encore line is rolled at Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic, but the exact factory for this Celestial edition is not confirmed in available sources.
E.P. Carrillo Encore Majestic
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo's first cigar blended exclusively with Nicaraguan tobacco, a departure for a maker known for Dominican-forward blends, aged in tercios wrapped in royal palm bark before rolling. The Encore line's vitola names reference Perez-Carrillo's grandchildren. Previewed at the 2016 trade show but held back roughly eighteen months for wrapper aging before its 2018 release; named Cigar of the Year for 2018 at 96 points.
E.P. Carrillo La Historia TAA 656
A Tobacconists' Association of America exclusive within the La Historia line, limited to 1,000 boxes of 10; pairs a Mexican wrapper with Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan filler.
E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel
Launched September 2020 and rated 98 points by Cigar Aficionado; uses a rare Connecticut-grown Habano-seed wrapper over Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan filler, box-pressed at Tabacalera La Alianza.