Usually, cigar brand owners go to Ernesto Perez-Carrillo to make their cigars. If they’re lucky, he says yes. In this case, Perez-Carrillo went to Oliva Cigar Co. to make Allegiance, which is the fourth line in the Perez-Carrillo series—and the series has been nothing less than stellar. La Historia (which was Part I in the series) has made it to the Top 25 list on more than one occasion. Encore (Part II) was named Cigar of the Year in 2018. Pledge (Part III) was named Cigar of the Year in 2020. And now, Part IV has landed the No. 5 spot. The bands across the series are all the same pattern and design for continuity, but the colors are different in order to distinguish one blend from another. The green band of Allegiance is meant to symbolize nature and tobacco. Other than the Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, the tobacco in this cigar is all Nicaraguan. So, does this taste more like an Oliva cigar or an E.P. Carrillo cigar? We haven’t decided. What we do know is that it comes together brilliantly setting a sweet-and-spicy tone with a woody undercurrent, snappy bursts of gingerbread and charming accents of nutmeg and cinnamon before the peppery finish.