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Perez-Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026

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In March, at Smoke Inn’s annual The Great Smoke event, Casa Carrillo previewed an upcoming new line inspired by the ocean.

The Perez-Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026 is a new release for the company’s higher-end Perez-Carrillo brand. At least for 2026, it’s offered in a lone 6 x 56 toro extra vitola, using a wrapper from Jalapa, Nicaragua, over a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

In the above video, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. and Lissette McPhillips Perez-Carrillo go into detail about the blend and the inspiration for the line.

For 2026, just 2,500 numbered boxes of 20 cigars were created. While the cigar soft-launched at The Great Smoke in March, it shipped to stores nationwide in mid-May.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Perez-Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Casa Carrillo
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
  • Binder: Honduras
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 56
  • Shape: Round
  • MSRP: $22 (Box of 20, $440)
  • Release Date: March 2026
  • Number of Cigars Released: 2,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The packaging is so good that it distracts me from the cigars themselves. If the bands were removed, I suspect these would be in the bottom half of a cigar appearance competition, at least amongst the cigars that are assigned for this review. The umber-colored wrappers have more sheen than oil. Each cigar has two types of veins, some are the more common varietal while others look like they were stitched onto the cigars. My main issues with how the cigars were rolled are related to the cylinder: none of the three cigars are cylindrical thanks to a multitude of hard spots. There are bumps that protrude out from the cigar, the feet of two of the cigars are smushed quite a bit, and there’s a gash right below the secondary band of the third cigar. The aroma from the wrapper is some sort of stale foulness, not quite manure or spoiled chicken but it’s the only thing I can smell from each of the three wrappers, though the overall scent is just medium. The feet offer wood and some vanilla, though they too are fairly nondescript. Cold draws have earth, mint and chocolate—good—but they are joined by an overarching sourness and a flavor that reminds me of the smell of dirty pond water. The intensity is medium-plus and the draw resistance is pretty good, though the third cigar is a touch open.

While the first cigar starts a bit plain, the second and third cigars have nuttiness and woodiness leading leather, pralines, creaminess, white pepper, earthiness and a mild spice; around medium-full. That issue with the first cigar continues, and even before smoking the other two cigars, I write “lacks detail” in my notes. Woodiness leads the other two cigars, though the third cigar has an equal amount of dry nuts, with leather, saltiness, white pepper, toastiness and acidity rounding out the flavors in the mouth. The finish sees about half the flavors depart, leaving behind the woods, leather, nuttiness and some pepper. Retrohales help the first cigar develop more flavor, but it still pales in comparison to what the other two provide. The core flavors from the mouth converge together but are joined by much more exotic flavors, including some berries, maple syrup and wet mud. My favorite part is when the fruit and salt come together, reminding me of eating fruit with a touch of salt. The finish gets creamier, though the most interesting flavor is a hint of an artificial purple grape flavor from the third cigar. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium to medium-full, and strength is medium to medium-plus. Both the first and second cigars need a touch-up for uneven burns.

Before the halfway point of the third Perez-Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026, it’s clear that the third cigar is the outlier, not the first. The main flavors of the first two cigars haven’t changed much, just getting toastier as time goes on. By contrast, the third cigar has seen the woodiness leave the profile, replaced by a more even mixture of nuttiness, toastiness, hard pretzels, leather and white pepper, though quite a bit sharper than before. During the finish, the second cigar gets much creamier with the woodiness reminding me more of the smells of pine and oak. The third cigar has burnt earth, burnt woods and some generic coffee flavors along with a mild pepper. Retrohales really show the first cigar’s boringness compared to the other two as it’s mostly just the same flavors I taste in the mouth. The second cigar delivers a mild berry flavor before many of those same flavors—along with butter and acidity—join the fray. The third cigar is the one that creates the clearest separation between the main flavors and the retrohale; through the nose, I get leather, pistachio, earthiness, white pepper, and a touch of sweetness. Unfortunately, a toastiness takes over the finish of each cigar, drowning out the other flavors. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-plus to medium-full, and strength is medium-plus. Touch-ups continue on the first two cigars, though the third cigar is performing great.

Unfortunately, each cigar gets rather bitter in the final third. While the first two cigars are more or less pairing the toastiness with some creaminess and varying amounts of pepper, the third cigar at least provides some new flavors like meatiness, cinnamon and even cucumber, though it too has plenty of the creaminess and toastiness. The finishes are similar to how the cigars performed earlier, but with the increased bitterness. Retrohales in the closing section are interesting because it’s the one time when I find the first cigar to be the best. Leather, floral flavors and some roux-like elements emerge before spiciness takes over during the finish. The second cigar tastes like a harsher version of the flavor in the mouth, while the third cigar adds sweetness and toastiness to how it was performing in the middle part. Flavor is medium-full or full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus or medium-full. All three cigars need at least one touch-up in the final third, again for uneven burns.

Final Notes

  • I have previously noted CLE Cigar Co. and Crowned Heads as companies with cigar portfolios that seem quite outsized; Casa Carrillo is on the list, too. While the company is not releasing as many new items as Scandinavian Tobacco Group, it’s got far more new items in a given year than companies like Davidoff and Drew Estate. In fairness, this isn’t a new thing.

  • The packaging for this release, as it typically is for Casa Carrillo, is super impressive. There’s a ton of detail on the bands, while the box is big, bold and well put together. As someone who believes we should spend more time exploring the ocean than we do, I appreciate the words that talk about the fascination with the ocean. Unfortunately, the outside of the box smelled quite a bit. Fortunately, the inside didn’t.
  • However, the contrast between the quality of the packaging and the appearance of the first and third cigars was something.

  • When reading back over a news story, I saw this picture from Casa Carrillo and was surprised by just how vibrant the cigars looked. I suspect the saturation was turned up quite a bit because the wrappers of the cigars I smoked didn’t look anything like that.
  • I wouldn’t mind a cigar with this list of flavors, but the ratios aren’t how I’d like them to be. Mostly, I found the toasty and bitter elements too strong to allow the sum to exceed the parts.
  • While the main part of the ash generally held on, small flakes regularly fell off and the overall appearance was noticeably ugly. At times, there were parts of the cigar that had a pretty-looking layered formation with horizontal stripes, but then the other side of the cigar would be in all sorts of crazy angles.
  • The aftertaste, i.e. the lingering flavor that sat in my mouth between puffs or after finishing the cigar, was not great.
  • The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. 

84
Overall Score

The third Deep Blue was a level above the first two cigars, tasting better and mostly avoiding the burn issues. Even that cigar is below where I’d set the median for Casa Carrillo. It’s to the point that if I were informed that the cigars I smoked had a blend recipe that was just slightly off from what it was supposed to be, I wouldn’t be surprised. It tasted like a blend that was missing a half leaf of something. Unfortunately, once the combustion issues started, the flavor profile quickly dropped, and for the first two cigars, that meant pretty early on. For now, Deep Blue goes into the redux humidor and perhaps in a few years time, the tobaccos will have harmonized into something more enjoyable. 

Casa Carrillo (Company)
Casa Carrillo (Factory)
Dominican Republic
Perez-Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026
Toro Extra

 

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