Length: 6 1/2"
Ring Gauge: 43
Strength: Medium
Vitola: Lonsdale
Smoking Time: 55 Minutes
Rating by Surrey Cigars: 97 / 100
Cigar Aficionado: #1 Cigar of the Year 2020
The E.P. Carrillo Pledge Lonsdale Limitada is a masterclass in balance, refinement and flavour complexity. This elegant Lonsdale vitola allows the celebrated Pledge blend to fully express itself, delivering a richly layered smoking experience that evolves beautifully from start to finish.
The blend features a distinctive Connecticut wrapper, selected by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo for its silky texture and refined character, paired with an Ecuadorian binder and carefully aged Nicaraguan fillers. Finished with a subtle box-press, the Pledge Lonsdale opens with creamy cedar and toasted nuts, then develops into notes of cocoa, earth, gentle spice, and a lingering sweetness. The medium-bodied profile remains composed and balanced throughout, making this a cigar of exceptional finesse and depth.
Awarded Cigar Aficionado’s #1 Cigar of the Year in 2020, Pledge stands as one of the most important modern blends in premium cigar history. The Lonsdale format elevates that blend even further, offering a cooler draw, refined combustion and a remarkably smooth finish.
The Legacy of E.P. Carrillo
The roots of the Perez-Carrillo family run deep in Cuba. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Sr. was born in Havana in 1904 and learned the art of tobacco from his father, who rolled and sold cigars on the streets of the city. In 1948, he founded El Credito, a small factory that would become legendary. The family earned widespread respect in Cuba, and Ernesto Sr. even served in the Cuban Senate in the 1950s.
Following the Cuban Revolution, the family lost everything when the government seized their property, forcing them to flee to Miami. There, Ernesto Sr. rebuilt El Credito from the ground up, passing his knowledge and values to his son Ernesto Jr., whose early ambitions in jazz eventually gave way to a lifelong devotion to cigar making.
When Ernesto Sr. passed in 1980, Ernesto Jr. took the reins at 29. Today, his cigars reflect the principles his father instilled in him: dedication, humility, patience and respect. Those values are woven into every E.P. Carrillo cigar, none more so than the Pledge series.
Pledge – A Promise to Aficionados
The Pledge line represents Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s commitment to his smokers: to never stop pursuing better tobaccos, deeper complexity and more innovative blending. The Pledge Lonsdale Limitada is a shining example of that promise kept.
For the aficionado seeking sophistication, craftsmanship and one of the most celebrated blends of the modern era, the E.P. Carrillo Pledge Lonsdale Limitada is an essential addition to the humidor.
