Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon

Last year, E.P. Carrillo released a new 6 x 54 limited edition line with a patriotic theme named Pledge of Allegiance. The name combined the names of two existing lines from the company: Pledge, which was introduced in 2020, and Allegiance, which debuted in 2022.

In June, the company shipped a second release of Pledge of Allegiance with two vitolas: the 6 x 54 toro—albeit priced $2 more than last year—and a 6 3/4 x 64 salomon. The Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon has an MSRP of $35 and is packaged in 10-count boxes. While there are 1,776 boxes of 10 for the toro—a reference to the year the U.S. was founded—the Pledge of Allegiance Salomon is limited to 248 boxes, which corresponds to the number of years since the founding of the U.S.

Interestingly, while the name references the Pledge and Allegiance brands, the Pledge of Allegiance is not some sort of combination of those blends. Instead, it uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper covering an Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut-seed binder and filler tobaccos grown in the Connecticut, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. For reference, neither the Pledge nor Allegiance use a broadleaf wrapper; in addition, both blends are listed as using just Nicaraguan fillers.

There have been three releases in the Pledge of Allegiance line so far:

• Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2023 (6 x 54) —1,776 Boxes of 10 Cigars (17,760 Total Cigars) — $20 (Box of 10, $200)
• Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2024 (6 x 54) —1,776 Boxes of 10 Cigars (17,760 Total Cigars) — $22 (Box of 10, $220)
• Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon (6 3/4 x 64) — 248 Boxes of 10 Cigars (2,480 Total Cigars) — $35 (Box of 10, $350)

From a visual perspective, the three Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomones are extremely impressive: large and slightly bulbous with wrappers that are quite dark, although there is some noticeable mottling on each. Despite the abundance of oil, that is present wrappers are also sandpaper rough to the touch and all three cigars are extremely firm when squeezed with no soft spots. Aromas from the wrappers start with strong cedar, followed by cinnamon, earthiness, hay, coffee beans and a generic but creamy nuttiness, while my final cigar also has a light peppermint note. Due to the small opening on the feet, the scents from the bottom of the cigars are similar to the wrapper—strong cedar, gritty earth, barnyard, and generic sweet nuttiness—but two of the cigars also feature dark chocolate that the other cigar lacks. Cold draws include flavors of dry hay, creamy cedar, earth, almonds, toasted bread and light black licorice sweetness.

As I take the first few puffs, draws are somewhat tight—not usual at all for salomon vitolas like this—but I can easily taste flavors of brewed black coffee combined with a small amount of black pepper, although there is no spice that I can discern. Main flavors of cedar and earth take over the top spots in the profile after about 10 minutes, followed by secondary notes that include bitter espresso, bagel bread, cinnamon, pencil lead and hay. While a combination of black pepper and honey sweetness is noticeable on the retrohale, neither flavor is all that strong. The flavor ends the first third at medium-plus, while the body and strength are at a solid medium. One cigar needs a minor burn correction to stay on track, but other than that there are no construction issues whatsoever.

During the second third of the Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon, there are a couple of changes with the main flavors, which now include a combination of dark chocolate and hay. Additional flavors of toasted bread, cinnamon, gritty earth, leather and light peanuts show up at various points. While the amount of black pepper on the retrohale has slightly increased, the honey sweetness remains at about the same level. Flavor bumps up to medium-full, the body increases to a point just over medium and the strength hits medium-plus. There are absolutely no problems with construction on any of the cigars, as the burn lines, smoke production and draws all work together nicely.

While a combination of bitter espresso and gritty earth take over the top spots in the profiles during the final third, the flavors are muted compared to what I have experienced from the cigars thus far. Secondary notes include dry straw, creamy leather, dark chocolate, barnyard, cinnamon and white bread, although my last cigar was missing the last two flavors entirely. Unfortunately, the honey sweetness on the retrohale has all but disappeared soon after the final third begins—the amount of black pepper remains about the same compared to the second third—which leads to a less enjoyable profile overall. Flavor retreats to medium-plus, while the body increases to medium-plus, and the strength stays put at medium-plus. The high point of the final third is the construction, which once again gives me no issues whatsoever across three cigars until I am finished with them.

Final Notes

• Selim Hanono, the former chief operating officer of E.P. Carrillo, is credited with the idea for the name of the Pledge of Allegiance line.
• When it debuted last year, the Pledge of Allegiance line marked the first time that Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr., the company’s founder and blender, used two American-grown tobaccos as part of the filler in a blend.
• Each of the Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon boxes was signed by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr.
• In February, E.P. Carrillo announced that it had renamed its factory in the Dominican Republic from Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. to Casa Carrillo.
• The box that these cigars were taken out is numbered 68/248.

• The cigars are officially listed as measuring 6 3/4 x 64, and the lengths of all three were quite close to that mark.
• E.P. Carrillo advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Considering the combination of length and ring gauge, the smoking time averaged a surprisingly short one hour and fifty seven minutes for all three cigars.
• Site sponsors Cigars Direct and JR Cigars sell the Perez-Carrillo Pledge of Allegiance 2024 Salomon.