E.P. Carrillo: Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and Two Cigars of the Year

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has one of the best records in the modern cigar business, and two entries on it are the ones that matter: the Encore Majestic was Cigar Aficionado's number one Cigar of the Year in 2018 at 96 points, and the Pledge Prequel took the same title in 2020 at 98. Winning it once is a career. Winning it twice in three years is close to unrepeated. Our E.P. Carrillo collection carries Pledge, Encore, La Historia, Allegiance and INCH.

This profile covers the career, the Santiago factory, the Casa Carrillo rebrand, every line with its blend and sizes, and the full awards record.

El Credito, La Gloria Cubana and 2009

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. moved to New York at twenty five to be a jazz drummer, then returned to Miami and joined his father at the El Credito factory. He took it over in 1980, aged twenty nine, after his father's death.

At El Credito he created La Gloria Cubana, the brand that made Little Havana famous again. In 1992, four of its nine cigars scored 90 or better in Cigar Aficionado, and the resulting demand is part of cigar boom history. Swedish Match bought El Credito in 1999; Ernesto stayed on and finally left Swedish Match and General Cigar in March 2009, at fifty eight, to start again.

His son Ernesto III and daughter Lissette are in the business with him.

The two Cigars of the Year, and their line mates

Pledge Prequel took the 2020 title at 98 points. Encore took the 2018 title in the Majestic, and the Celestial placed third in 2024.

Tabacalera La Alianza

The factory opened in April 2009, weeks after Ernesto left his old employer, in the Zona Franca free trade zone in Santiago, Dominican Republic. It runs to 40,000 square feet.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is the blender, though the company does not use a formal master blender title. He also blended Alec Bradley's Gatekeeper line with Alec and Bradley Rubin, which was made at this factory.

The Casa Carrillo rebrand

Worth stating plainly because it confuses people. The factory was renamed from Tabacalera La Alianza to Casa Carrillo in February 2024. The company itself rebranded to Casa Carrillo on 11 April 2025, and Casa Carrillo is now the parent that owns the E.P. Carrillo, Pérez-Carrillo and INCH brands.

Every line, blend by blend

Also in the range: Pledge Purple, Deep Blue, Encore Black, La Historia Silk, Ascend, the Essence Sumatra, Maduro and Honduras variants, and INCH Natural and Nicaragua.

The Endure is worth singling out. Meerapfel Cameroon is a specific family's leaf rather than a generic origin, and Cameroon wrapper of that quality is rare enough that the whole line is built around it. Compare against our other Cameroon wrapped cigars.

La Historia, Allegiance, Endure and the Triumph Trilogy

INCH, and why ring gauge is the line

INCH is unusual: the line is defined by size rather than by blend. The numbers are the ring gauges, so an INCH No. 60 is 60 ring, a No. 64 is 64, and a No. 70 is 70, running up to a 7 by 70 gigante.

A 70 ring gauge is nearly an inch across, which changes everything about how a cigar smokes. There is far more filler relative to wrapper, so the blend reads differently, and it burns cooler and slower. It is not a novelty, it is a different format with its own logic. Our 60 to 70 ring gauge collection gathers the rest.

INCH comes in Maduro, Nicaragua and Natural versions.

The awards

Other published scores: Pledge Sojourn 91 and Apogee 93; La Historia El Senador and Doña Elena both 93; New Wave Brillantes 92 and Stellas 91, with a Best Bargain Cigars designation. Pledge Prequel also took Cigar Dojo's Cigar of the Year for 2020 and Best Dominican Cigar of 2021 from both Cigar Journal and Tobacco Business.

What we notice first-hand

The thing about a Cigar of the Year is that it usually disappears for a year afterwards and comes back at a higher price. Pledge did not. It is still a cigar in the low teens, still made in the same 40,000 square foot factory, still the same blend. That is the most persuasive thing we can say about this house.

Between the two award winners, Pledge and Encore are genuinely different. Encore is a Nicaraguan puro and reads as Nicaraguan: earth, pepper, weight. Pledge uses a United States grown wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan filler, and it is the more refined of the two. If you only buy one, buy the Prequel.

La Historia is the underrated line. A Mexican San Andrés wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder gives a cocoa sweetness that neither of the award winners has, and the Regalias D'Celia at 5.875 by 58 is the format we sell most of.

E.P. Carrillo at Cigar Inc., live

Browse all E.P. Carrillo

The bottom line

Start with the Pledge Prequel. Move to Encore if you want the Nicaraguan puro, to La Historia if you want San Andrés sweetness, and to INCH if large ring gauges are your format. New Wave Connecticut is the mild daytime option.

For the brand that made Ernesto's name in the first place, read our La Gloria Cubana profile. Or start with the Cigar Finder.

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