• Don Rubino – 5 ¼ x 50
• Elites – 6 x 54
• Acto Mayor – 6 ¼ x 52 (Belicoso)

The Elencos come packaged in one of the nicest boxes I have seen lately, a glossy black wooden cabinet with a flip top lid and hinge made of excellent quality. Here are some photos of the Don Rubino box:

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Let’s get to the review shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: E.P. Carrillo Elencos Don Rubino
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.
• Wrapper: Brazilian Habano
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 1/4
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $9.50 (Boxes of 20, $190)
• Release Date: April 2010
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 5

Visually the cigar is quite perfect; it has a medium chocolate colored wrapper with minimal oil and a rough, tacky feel to it. There are very few veins and the cigar is packed very well with a seamless wrap and a nice triple cap. The pre light aroma is full of sweetness, just nice rich tobacco sweetness with notes of coffee, cocoa and hay. The pre light draw is full of chocolate along with smooth cedar and hay.

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Starting off in the First Third, I get a touch of spice and pepper, through the nose and on my palate which quickly settles down. Flavors of wood, earth and cocoa fill my mouth. The cigar is very smooth with a woody, peppery finish that last quite a while. Cigar is medium body but rising.

Coming into the Second Third the sweetness of the cigar builds up showing a rich caramel like sweetness that mixes well with the thick, creamy smoke feel. The profile is still mainly a smooth woodiness with a bit of dark chocolate, coffee and earth. There’s a lot of earth on the finish, as well as a nice pepper kick that rushes along my tongue and down my throat. The cigar is balanced well and is building in body to a medium/full. The construction is wonderful with the ash holding on into the second third.

Finishing up in the Final Third the cigar switches up a little bit with a touch of an airy floral note, like a dried flower type aroma. It doesn’t show so much in the actual flavor but in the aroma which adds a nice contrast to the sweet, earthy flavor profile. I start to get a touch of leather on the finish towards the end and the wood, earth, coffee and chocolate flavors are mixing very well with everything else. Very balanced and smooth with a medium to full body and medium strength. Construction is top notch.

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Final Notes:

• I smoked about 5 samples of this cigar for this review and only one of them had slight construction issues, other than that they were perfect. On the one I took photos of as you can see the ash held on for more than half the stick!
• This cigar had a wonderful complex, balanced profile with a wonderful aroma as well. In some ways I found this to surpass the 2010 Edición Limitada despite the blend being the same. It seemed a bit more refined and a touch smoother. I also smoked the Acto Mayor Vitola (Belicoso) and found that one to be just as good, however I am not a huge fan of Belicosos to I chose this one for the review.
• I have gotten word from Ernie himself that he will be releasing a Maduro version of this line come 2012 with one of the vitolas being introduced along with the 2011 Edición Limitada at IPCPR in Las Vegas this July.
• If you want to purchase any of the EPC Elencos, (or any of the EPC sticks!), our Sponsors are always willing to help! Contact Call Mark at Tower Cigars at (916) 443-8466, Hal at Empire Cigars at (919) 870-0081 or Jeff at Tobacco Grove at (763) 494-6688, and tell them we sent you, and they will be happy to take care of you!
• Final Smoke time was 1 hour 5 mins…

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The Bottom Line: This could very well be my favorite E.P Carrillo cigar to date. It offers a profile full of flavor, balance and the right amount of added spice and pepper. This cigar does not kick your ass in the nicotine department but it has a really nice medium to full body with thick, creamy smoke and a great mouth feel. This is one of Ernie’s higher priced regular production cigars, but when you smoke one you know where the money is going, you can definitely tell this is using top notch, high quality tobacco. There is a lot of great tobacco coming out of Brazil lately and this Habano wrapper is a testament to that. If you haven’t tried this yet I suggest you do because E.P Carrillo hit the nail on the head with this one… again.

Final Score: 91