The King Street Emporium

Encore

By E.P. Carrillo

The Encore is the second release in Ernesto Perez Carrillo's personal series, following La Historia, and it earned Cigar Aficionado's number one cigar of 2018 with a 96 rating on the Majestic size. Where La Historia draws on Dominican and Nicaraguan leaf, the Encore is the first E.P. Carrillo blend built entirely from Nicaraguan tobacco, a deliberate statement about what the volcanic soils of Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa can do without blending in leaf from elsewhere. The filler tobaccos are aged in tercios before rolling, a traditional method where leaves are wrapped tightly in palm tree bark to create a natural two-way humidification during the aging process. The wrapper, binder, and filler are all Nicaraguan, with the specific regional sources across Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa kept undisclosed by Carrillo. All sizes are box pressed. Five sizes, 10-count boxes. Medium to full in body. Made at Tabacalera La Alianza in Santiago, Dominican Republic.