New Arrivals: Illusione 4/2g

Being quite a fan of Illusione cigars, when the possibility of 5 came up I had to grab them. A cigar for those long summer evenings I think!

Humidor: New Arrivals – Illusione Rothschilds

Just got this cab of 50, they are not all mine its a box split, but these are great cigars at a low price 180 USD for 50

Review: Illusion Rothschilds

I have smoked Illusion cigars before, and I have always liked them, but somehow I have never had this cigar. This is surprising as a lot of people really rate them, and as I am a fan of Robusto sized cigars, I cant work out how I have not tried one before.

Still now is the time to rectify that, I recently got one as a gift, and I am pleased to say I am yet another person who rates these cigars.

Appearance 8.5/10

The cigar is a nice chocolate brown, it has some tooth and looks a little rustic in its construction, but the overall effect is nice. The band is simple and effective, and gives an overall classy, if uncomplicated air to the cigar, which is a pretty good way to describe this stick.

Construction & Draw 8.5/10

This cigar was heavier than expected, and when I squeezed it there was a little bounce but I would describe the cigar as firm, so I was a little worried about the draw. As mentioned the wrapper is a chocolate brown and had a slightly oily feel to it, the construction is good if not spectacular, there are quite a few veins and a little tooth. The cap construction was good and I got a nice clean cut from my Palio cutter.

I need not have worried about the draw, it was pretty much perfect, as was the burn line, this is a well made stick.

Flavour 9.0/10

Pre-draw had an earthly and slightly sweet taste to it, once lit the initial flavours were some pepper, the earthy component, and a touch of cocoa. As I progress other flavours were added, I detected some leather, and the cocoa flavour picked up, later on I detected some vanilla, and towards the end of the stick there were some strong roasted nut flavours.

I would say this cigar was medium to medium-strong.

All in all the flavours changed nicely as I smoked the cigar, slowly building in complexity as you got further into the stick, what more can you ask for…

Value 10/10

If you shop around, or buy a cab of 50 cigars, then you can get these for around the 4 USD mark, for this price this is a great Robusto sized cigar, and one of the best value for money sticks I have come across.

Summary 9.0/10

This is a great cigar, and at around 4 USD per stick I think this offers extremely good value for money, its well constructed, its packed with tobacco, had a good burn line, and really nice flavours. Would I have this cigar again, absolutely, would I get a box, absolutely, but as they are cabs of 50 I would probably need to do a box split..

This cigar deserves to be in your humidor.

 

Review: Illusione Epernay La Grande

This is a completely new cigar brand to me, until my friend in the USA sent it to me a couple of months ago I had never heard of Illusione. In the package I received 2 Illusion cigars and this is the first one I smoked.

Appearance 8.5/10

The photo I took does not do the appearance of this cigar justice, the wrapper is darker than in the picture and had a slightly oily sheen. The band is small and subtle, but its well printed. The cigar feels solid between your fingers and has a good spring to it, I know this sounds a bit odd, but this cigar just feels correct in your hand.

Construction & Draw 8.5/10

The construction of this cigar is very good, it does have some veins but they are small, the wrapper had no spots or blemishes. The cap construction is worthy of note, as there was no obvious transition between the body of the cigar and the cap, a place where some cigars construction can be poor, as expected this led to a very clean cut. The draw on this cigar was uniformly excellent, easy but with just enough resistance.

Flavour 8.0/10

The cigar had no significant pre-light aroma that I could detect, toasting the foot of the stick produced a slightly nutty aroma, a flavour that is present later in the cigar. Burn was even and consistent throughout the entire cigar, with only a slight issue about half way where it had a little wobble, but corrected itself without any intervention.

I would suggest the stick is light to medium to begin with, and medium strenght from about halfway onwards. The initial half has a good rich tobacco taste, and I did pick up tones of caramel, the second half had a stronger nutty flavour which was very pleasant and got more defined the closer I got to the end. In the last third of the cigar I did detect a slight hint of cocoa.

The cigar produced a decent amount of smoke, and although I would not say its a particually complex smoke, it was very enjoyable and relaxing.

Value 9.0/10

I believe this cigar retails at around 8-9 USD, for a cigar of its size, roughly Churchill sized, that has very good construction, excellent draw, and a gentle and sophisticated flavour, I think that represents excellent value.

Summary 8.5/10

This is not a cigar that will tax you, or bombard you with flavours, the transitions are quite subtle, its a medium strength cigar, so is no powerhouse, the best single word I can come up with to describe this cigar is sophisticated.

Sometimes you want a nice relaxing cigar rather than something complex that makes you work hard, and this cigar fits the bill nicely. All in all the two hours I spent with this cigar were very pleasant, and sometimes that’s all you want or need.

I cant wait to try the Illusion MJ12 thats still in the humidor.