Encore by E.P. Carrillo Toro Review

Overview

In the pantheon of modern cigar craftsmanship, few names carry the weight of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. A master blender whose career spans decades and includes the creation of some of the most celebrated cigars in the industry, Perez-Carrillo has long been associated with luxury, complexity, and bold flavor. Yet with Encore, introduced around 2018, he set out to prove that excellence need not be reserved for flagship price points. Encore is a deliberate exercise in accessibility without compromise — a cigar that distills the E.P. Carrillo philosophy into a format and profile that belongs to the everyday smoker as much as the collector. Rolled at the family’s La Alianza factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic, Encore is built from tobaccos aged a minimum of three years prior to rolling, a detail that immediately signals intention. This is not a value play that cuts corners; it is a premium experience recalibrated for approachability. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a silky Colorado capa with a medium brown sheen, sets the stage visually and aromatically. Beneath it, a Nicaraguan binder embraces a filler blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican long-fillers sourced from the Jalapa and Estelí valleys — two regions renowned for producing tobacco of exceptional depth and balance. The result is a cigar that breathes with the competence of a seasoned blend, one that knows exactly when to assert itself and when to recede. Encore occupies a specific and admirable space in the market: a medium-strength everyday smoke that refuses to taste like one. Its $10–$14 price per cigar places it firmly in the working rotation of aficionados who demand consistency and character without the ritual of a special-occasion smoke. Tasting through the profile reveals a cigar that unfolds with quiet confidence. The first third is composed and refined: creamy cedar, toasted almond, and a light floral note from the wrapper, with a natural sweetness on the retrohale and just a whisper of white pepper. The second third deepens — roasted coffee, smooth leather, and baking spices of cinnamon and nutmeg, all held together by a persistent creaminess that keeps the blend cohesive and eminently approachable. The final third introduces mild earthiness and dark caramel with a faint cocoa note, while the pepper builds only marginally, finishing clean and slightly sweet with lingering cedar. Construction is a hallmark of the E.P. Carrillo factory, and Encore delivers: an effortless draw with moderate resistance, a straight burn line, and dense ash that holds for an inch or more. In a market crowded with lines that claim to bridge value and quality, Encore stands apart because it is the work of a master who deliberately chose not to compromise. It may not carry the hype of the brand’s more limited or higher-priced releases, but that is precisely the point. Encore is a reminder that true craftsmanship is as much about restraint as it is about ambition — and that the best cigar you smoke this week may well be the one that costs less than fifteen dollars.