Issue: Cigar Aficionado, Jan 01, 2013

Score: 91

When one considers Brazilian wrapper, dark, rustic- looking cover leaf often comes to mind. But this isn’t the case for the less common Cuban-seed Brazilian tobacco. It’s not quite as dark or gritty in appearance and isn’t always easy to procure, which is why the E. P. Carrillo Elencos series is such a limited-production cigar. The blend uses no Ecuadoran Sumatra at all. This is unusual for brand owner Ernesto Perez-Carrillo whoadmits an affinity for Sumatra tobacco and uses it in many of his blends. A production run of only 50,000 cigars in total means that the Don Rubino might be a bit of a challenge to locate. The word elencos is Spanish for “cast” as in a play or movie. When asked what or who Don Rubino is, Perez-Carrillo says “It’s just a name that I came up with.” Perhaps, but it’s also the name of a great cigar.