E.P. Carrillo Sumatra Cigars

The Perez-Carrillo family's cigar-making legacy began in Cuba with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Sr. His father rolled and sold cigars in Havana, and Ernesto Sr. continued the familial tradition when he purchased the El Credito cigar factory in 1948. In the years that followed, Carrillo's cigars gained a loyal following in Cuba, but the revolution of 1953 forced Ernesto Sr. and his family to seek refuge in the United States, settling in Miami as did many who fled during this time. After nine years of hoping to return, Ernesto Sr. accepted that Miami was to be his family's home, and the best way to provide for them was to focus on his talents as a cigar maker. He purchased a small factory in Little Havana, aptly naming it El Credito, and Carrillo cigars once again delighted aficionados.

Unlike his father, Ernesto Jr.'s passion was originally jazz music, taking him to New York City in hopes of a successful career as a jazz drummer. Fate had other plans, though, and Ernesto Jr. returned to Miami and refocused his efforts toward learning from his father and continuing the Carrillo family's cigar tradition, channeling his musical knowledge of balance, rhythm, harmony, and complexity into nuanced cigar blends. His father's passing in 1980 saw Ernesto Jr. inherit supervision of El Credito, and after years of dedication, humility, and patience, the release of La Gloria Cubana, made at El Credito, catapulted Carrillo to stardom during the cigar boom of the 1990s.

Further success of El Credito's other cigar lines solidified Ernesto Jr.'s immortality within the industry, and in 1999 Carrillo sold El Credito, still working in a supervisory role but now more removed from the cigar-making process. At his children's behest, though, Ernesto Jr. set off on his own and established E.P. Carrillo in 2009, once again continuing his family's cigar legacy under the Carrillo name.

Today, E.P. Carrillo cigars are made in the Dominican Republic at Ernesto Jr.'s small Calle Ocho factory and the larger Tabacalera La Alianza, employing experienced torcedores who roll cigars with triple caps — the "Cuban way." Known for utilizing Dominican tobacco from the Cibao Valley, a region renowned for its rich soil and ideal climate, as well as Nicaraguan tobaccos from Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa, E.P. Carrillo cigars span a diverse range of blends and vitolas, catering to broad flavor preferences.