When the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show opens next Monday, the E.P. Carrillo Cigar Co. booth will look almost entirely new.

Top to bottom, with only one exception, every one of the company’s lines is getting an update with many new faces added and some old ones going away.

Discontinued are the company’s Core Line, Cabinet, Cardinal and E-Stunner lines.

Two of the lines—Cardinal and Core Line—are being updated with a new name, new look, new blend and new sizes. Both will be added as new lines with inspiration from a previous release.

The company is dividing its portfolio up into five core series: Family Series, Elite Series, Dimension Series, Classic Series and Factory Series.

At the top is Family Series, which contains two cigars that bear the Perez-Carrillo name. One is La Historia, the only line in the company’s portfolio that isn’t receiving a makeover of some sort, the other is Encore, a new line, which the company has teased for the better part of the year.

The company declined to provide most details about the new cigars, blends and sizes to halfwheel. All are expected to debut at next week’s trade show.

Next is Elite Series, three different blends that pay tribute to company founder Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr.’s decades in the cigar industry and the expertise he’s gained throughout his career.

New Wave Reserva and Selección Oscuro—two existing lines—will receive packaging updates as part of the overhaul. A third line, Capa de Sol, is new and will round out the Elite Series.

All three lines in the Elite Series keep the same design language with different accents and text to help differentiate them. That packaging is based off of the Short Run 2016 design.

The Dimension Series is based off of large ring gauges. Perez-Carrillo Jr. was known as a pioneer of large ring gauges dating back to his time at El Credito when he owned the La Gloria Cubana brand. In 2012, E.P. Carrillo added the INCH line, a group of cigars that measured roughly an inch in diameter that has gone on to become one of the company’s most successful lines.

INCH will receive updated packaging in the Natural and Maduro variants, while an INCH Colorado is being added.

Dimension Series is based on the concept that size is important to a cigar smoker’s experience and two other, presumably large ring gauge sizes, will be added. Interlude—offered in Maduro and Natural variants—and Original Rebel—also in Maduro and Natural.

Classic Series is exactly what it sounds like, the company’s collection of classic blends.

Core Line is being replaced by Core Plus—in Maduro and Natural variants—and Cardinal will be replaced by Cardinal Impact—which also gets Maduro and Natural wrappers.

One more new line is being added, Dusk. The New Wave Connecticut, with new packaging, rounds out the Classic Series.

The final group is the Factory Series. The company says it’s “designed to achieve optimal use of raw materials that have been meticulously selected, processed, rolled, aged and classified by Ernesto himself.”

Two new lines are being added to the portfolio: Tabacalera La Alianza in Natural and Rosado versions; and a new line called Grand Prize.

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.