For those of you that don’t know.

Back in August, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. released his first cigar under his brand new company E.P. Carrillo, the E.P. Carrillo Edicion Inaugural 2009 (which incidentally we awarded our #5 Cigar of the Year last year), a fairly limited cigar (only 125,00 were released).

E.P. Carrillo will be releasing another line, that will be more widely available, and cheaper as well, later this year, but in between the two is the E.P. Carrillo “Short Run”, a cigar that will be released this month with what seems to be relatively little press (other then a Facebook page announcement and some samples sent out to various people).

Now, putting aside the unfortunate overly literal name, each of the 3 vitolas in the E.P. Carrillo “Short Run” line will have a run of only 1,500 boxes of 24 (108,000 total cigars, about 15,000 less then the Edicion Inaugural 2009), although more are expected to be released in 2011. The 3 vitolas will be priced between $6.25 and $8.50 and are:

• Dominantes (6 1/4×60)
• Delirios (5 7/8×52)
• Populares (4 7/8×50)

When I called Ernie Carrillo (Ernesto Jr.’s son in the business) to discuss the cigar and get some facts for this review, he mentioned that they wanted to produce a cigar with more strength, pepper and spice to attract a different segment of the cigar smoking public, a totally different smoke from theInaugural in almost every way.

But enough about that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: E.P. Carrillo Short Run 2010 Delirios
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan (Criollo)
• Filler: Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
• Size: 5 7/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Cañonazo
• Est. Price: $7.50ish
• Release Date: June 2010
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (108,000 total cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

The E.P. Carrillo “Short Run” is a gorgeous cigar, with a medium brown wrapper that is silky smooth to the touch and smells faintly of Graham Crackers and pepper. It is obviously well constructed, with very few veins showing and a great cap. It has a slight box press to it, and is very firm when squeezed, but not hard.

The first third has quite a bit of spice up front, which sticks around for the entire third, but never overwhelming. Flavors of earth and leather dominate, but there is a sweetness as well that is just in the background that I was hoping would come a bit more to the surface.

Thankfully, the second third does indeed take a sweeter turn, the cigar turns a bit more mild, with the sweetness from the first third roaring to the forefront, along with a wood note (cedar) and just a bit of chocolate. The spice was still there as well, but it was as if the sweetness had taken over, with the spice in the background, completely opposite from the 1st third.

The Last third is where the E.P. Carrillo “Short Run” showed it’s true colors. While the cedar and chocolate flavors remained (and just a bit of leather), the strength ramped way up, with more spice noticeable then even at the start of the cigar. It had a very long finish, and while it is not one of the strongest cigars I have had, I could feel a noticeable nicotine kick at the end.

Final Thoughts:

• While the Draw was absolute perfection, the burn did wander just a bit, and I had to relight it a few times.
• The Final third was where the strength was felt the…um…strongest, but you can tell while smoking it that the whole cigar was building up towards that ending.
• The Final Smoking Time was 1 Hour and 40 Minutes.

The Bottom Line: I was hoping for a different experience then the Edicion Inaugural 2009, and boy did I get it! Where theEdicion Inaugural 2009 was milder and intensely smooth, the Short Run is spicy and quite a bit stronger. The complexity was impressive, and with the spice present for the entire smoke to contrast the flavors (albeit at different levels at different parts of the cigar), this is yet another strong showing for E.P. Carrillo. While I enjoyed the Edicion Inaugural 2009 a bit more, due mostly to the fact that I know how hard it is to make a cigar that is both mild and flavorful without being overly boring, the Short Run is a great 2nd offering that most likely will be more popular then it’s milder brother. Throw in the fact that the Short Run is half the price as the Edicion Inaugural 2009, (or less) and I predict it will be one of the hottest cigars on the market this year.

Final Score: 92