I am proud to announce that we will soon be receiving six new cigars from Ernesto Perez-Carillo. For those who may not immediately recognize the name, let me bring you up to speed with just two words, La Gloria.

Ernesto was the founder of the El Credito Cigar Company in Miami, FL, where he was responsible for blending such greats as La Gloria Cubano and the “R” series. I must say that the La Gloria “R” series is still one of my all-time favorites. Ernesto eventually sold his cigar company to Swedish Match, which is the owner of cigar conglomerate General Cigar. He decided to remain active in the industry and today makes cigars under his own name.

Ernesto is considered by many in the industry as the Godfather of boutique cigars and we are extremely glad to add them to our portfolio. We decided to start with his New Wave Connecticut in two sizes (Brillantes 5x50 and Divinos 6x52), Inch Natural (6 1/8x64), Inch Maduro (6 1/8x64), Core Maduro (Churchill 7 1/8x49) and Core Natural (Churchill 7 1/8x49). This selection will provide smokers with a wide variety of flavor profiles and strength, and that is why they were selected.

I have had the opportunity to smoke all of these cigars and they are all winners. The only sad part is that I have extinguished my supply, so I must now wait for them to hit our humidor shelves before I can replenish my stock, For the purposes of today’s blog I decided to revisit the New Wave Connecticut Brillantes. I chose this cigar for two reasons. The first being that most people like to start mild, so I think it makes sense to get the info about the New wave Connecticut out there first. The second reason is for the beer lover in me. I really wanted to pair this stick with a Bell’s Hopslam, which I have been hoarding since they disappeared from store shelves many months ago. Although I am not doing an official pairing here, I do want to say that it was a perfect match.

The New Wave Connecticut is packed with a tasty blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican Filler, held together with a Nicaraguan binder, and gloriously encased with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. For those not familiar with Ecuadorian Connecticut tobacco, just think Connecticut Shad, only less grassy and more nutty. They achieve this taste profile mostly because the cloud cover in the high elevation provides a shade effect, but in a more subtle fashion.

The first thing I noticed about this cigar was its flawless appearance and tight construction. The initial puffs were equally pleasing. It’s everything one would expect from a “Connecticut Shade” cigar with a mild smooth and creamy smoke. The draw is effortless and the cigar practically smokes itself. But unlike its Connecticut Shade cousin, the Ecuadorian wrapper imparts less grass and hay and adds a nice nuttiness. The spice in this cigar stays away from the pepper side and clings closer to nutmeg and perhaps a dash of cinnamon. There is enough Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler to increase the strength to almost medium levels, but it’s not a power stick. All that I know about the binder leaf is that it’s Nicaraguan, but judging from the flavors I would guess that maybe it hails from the Jalapa region. I could be wrong and by no means do I have any inside information. That is just my “educated” guess.

No matter what regions these tobaccos hail from, they are of exceptional quality and work well together. The construction of the cigar was outstanding and the cigar has a nice even burn all the way to the band. I have a hard time letting go, so I tend to smoke all cigars past the band unless they get too hot or too harsh. I found this cigar to do neither, even though it was just a 50 ring gauge. Wow, how far have we come in cigar sizes when I can use the phrase “It’s just a 50 ring gauge”?

I strongly recommend this stick to all cigar smokers and would feel comfortable offering this to someone making their first purchase. So make sure you come out and get acquainted with Ernesto Perez-Carillo cigars, they are boutique quality but priced in the $4 to $8 range.

Long Ashes,

Chris Gwaltney, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits North Florida Regional Manager. Certified Tobacconist and Cicerone Beer Server. Follow me on Twitter @abccigarchris.