E.P. Carrillo’s New Connecticut: Creamy, Clean, But Not for Me

The E.P. Carrillo Essence Connecticut is a newly released cigar, included in the July Cigar of the Month package from Cigar and Pipes. Mild cigars typically aren’t my first choice, but given E.P. Carrillo’s reputation for crafting flavorful, well-balanced blends, I was intrigued enough to give this one a try. I lit it up one afternoon alongside a sweet, milky iced coffee.

This 5 x 50 Robusto features a smooth, flawless Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut-seed wrapper. Underneath is a Honduran-grown Criollo ’98 leaf, Honduran filler, and a Dominican binder — a blend that hints at nuance despite the cigar’s mild profile.

From the first draw, the Essence Connecticut offered sweet notes of hay and cream, with subtle hints of toasted almond and cedar. Light in body, yet flavorful enough at first to hold its own against the creamy coffee, especially with a faint background of pepper adding a bit of structure.

That said, mild-bodied cigars aren’t usually my thing. I can appreciate hay and buttery notes when they support a more complex core, but when they dominate, I find them less compelling. As the cigar entered the second half, the pepper and cedar faded almost entirely, leaving behind mostly hay and cream. By the final third, the mild profile was not holding my interest — and eventually, I set it down early.

I know many smokers who genuinely enjoy cigars like the E.P. Carrillo Essence Connecticut. And for what it’s meant to be — a mild, smooth, easygoing smoke — it absolutely hits the mark. For that, it's well-blended, and the burn and construction were flawless throughout.

But for my personal taste, I prefer a cigar with a bit more “oomph.”

Cheers!