Good evening to all of my night owl brothers! I guess it's not all that late but I've been going since 6am and I'm ready for some shut eye, but not before I present you all with my first non-cameroon review!
If you're reading this review there's already a good chance that you know about the Illusione ~ECCJ~. If not, hop on over to New Havana Cigars and have a look! (FANSTASTIC shipping btw).
As this is my first Illusione I can't say how it compares to others in the line but I can tell you that it is marketed towards Europeans (ie people who tend to like milder cigars). So let's dive in shall we?
CONSTRUCTION:
Right off the bat it's obvious this is a very well made cigar. There are no flaws that I can see (one vein or two, not a big deal), and the cigar has a beautiful golden-brown wrapper which glistens beautifully. It's not a incredibly firm cigar, but I'd still say it was firm to the touch with just a little bit of sponginess which appeared to be uniform. The draw was just fantastic and produced plenty of white smoke. The ash held for a good two inches before it fell, though the burn was uneven and required a couple touch-ups.
FLAVOR:
For those of you who know me (few do, haha) you know that I prefer Cammies because of their sweet flavor profile and aroma. All bias aside I can say that this is a great tasting cigar. I'd put it on the lower end of the medium spectrum in body though it did have a good amount of flavor.
In the first few draws I detected white pepper, and some cedar wood notes. About half an inch in I started getting some creaminess which didn't quit until it was all over.
The second half continued the same flavors, but becoming more intense and adding some cocoa notes with what I perceived people would label as hay but I'm still working on being able to discern different flavors.
In the final third I got a bit more chocolate, cream and wood and it ended with a very satisfying and light finish. I can say that I'm actually enjoying the taste in my mouth a good hour later.
OVERALL:
Like I said above, I have not tried any other Illusione cigars, but I really enjoyed the flavors in this one. Although this is a medium body and flavor cigar, the flavors that this stick gave me were ones that I really appreciated. I would label this is a very pleasing and easy going smoke, it doesn't try and dropkick your tastebuds but rather gently tantalize them. At ~$8 per stick I would say this is a very fair price and I'm looking forward to the other 4 of these that I have left. I'm also imagining that this cigar will do well with another six months of aging. All in all I'll happily give this stick an 8.0/10 Now go try one for yourselves!
If you're reading this review there's already a good chance that you know about the Illusione ~ECCJ~. If not, hop on over to New Havana Cigars and have a look! (FANSTASTIC shipping btw).
As this is my first Illusione I can't say how it compares to others in the line but I can tell you that it is marketed towards Europeans (ie people who tend to like milder cigars). So let's dive in shall we?
CONSTRUCTION:
Right off the bat it's obvious this is a very well made cigar. There are no flaws that I can see (one vein or two, not a big deal), and the cigar has a beautiful golden-brown wrapper which glistens beautifully. It's not a incredibly firm cigar, but I'd still say it was firm to the touch with just a little bit of sponginess which appeared to be uniform. The draw was just fantastic and produced plenty of white smoke. The ash held for a good two inches before it fell, though the burn was uneven and required a couple touch-ups.
FLAVOR:
For those of you who know me (few do, haha) you know that I prefer Cammies because of their sweet flavor profile and aroma. All bias aside I can say that this is a great tasting cigar. I'd put it on the lower end of the medium spectrum in body though it did have a good amount of flavor.
In the first few draws I detected white pepper, and some cedar wood notes. About half an inch in I started getting some creaminess which didn't quit until it was all over.
The second half continued the same flavors, but becoming more intense and adding some cocoa notes with what I perceived people would label as hay but I'm still working on being able to discern different flavors.
In the final third I got a bit more chocolate, cream and wood and it ended with a very satisfying and light finish. I can say that I'm actually enjoying the taste in my mouth a good hour later.
OVERALL:
Like I said above, I have not tried any other Illusione cigars, but I really enjoyed the flavors in this one. Although this is a medium body and flavor cigar, the flavors that this stick gave me were ones that I really appreciated. I would label this is a very pleasing and easy going smoke, it doesn't try and dropkick your tastebuds but rather gently tantalize them. At ~$8 per stick I would say this is a very fair price and I'm looking forward to the other 4 of these that I have left. I'm also imagining that this cigar will do well with another six months of aging. All in all I'll happily give this stick an 8.0/10 Now go try one for yourselves!
