An INCH really is a big deal!

Ernesto Carrillo has a long history with cigars, notably his famous  La Gloria Cubano line sold to General Cigars some time ago.  In 2009, at the nadir of the great recession Ernesto left General to found EPC Cigar Company along with his son, Ernesto III and daughter, Lissette.  During 2012, EPC Cigars launched the INCH series of medium to full bodied cigars with ring sizes of 60, 62 and 64.  A clever marketing twist, the 64 ring gauge is exactly 1-inch in diameter and the INCH cigars have a band that is modeled after a ruler. The INCHes come in two wrappers – Maduro, with Connecticut broadleaf and Natural, with an Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. I was given a #60 Natural at the 2013 IPCPR to sample.

The #60 is 6 X 60 (toro gordo) with a beautiful, slightly dark wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and blended filler of Nicaraguan and Dominican Republic tobaccos. The pre-smoke aroma was earthy.  The cigar was firm and well-constructed.  It light easily but suffered slightly from a tough draw in the beginning that cleared up about ¼ of the way through the cigar.  The volume of smoke was very good and the nutty aftertaste was mild throughout.  The earthy pre-smoke aroma was confirmed and transformed into pepper and leather by the middle of the cigar.  Unfortunately there was some tar buildup at the cap about 2/3rds through.

I found the #60 Natural to be a mild to medium bodied cigar with good flavor and mild aftertaste. It took me 1 hour to smoke and was enjoyable throughout. The MSRP is $8.75, about right for the flavor and length of time to smoke. Appearance and construction were above average while flavor and value about average so I rate this sample stick as 3.8 out of 4. However, I liked it enough to buy several on my own.