Illusione Epernay Le Matin

[apaniagua]

Bought this long guy 1 year ago...and it had already some months aged...so probably 2 years aged. I can't deny the fact that I was really excited to taste this, after reading reviews and smelling it.

Vitola: Le Matin
Size: 6 3/4 x 46 (Mine was actually 6 1/2 x 46)
Wrapper: Cafe Rosado
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
MSRP: Aprox. $11.25



- Regular construction...I didn't like it at all. It was supposed to be "box-pressed" but it lost its shape, and had tons of soft spots (almost the whole cigar).
- Great burn. It was razor sharp most of the time, but only had to give it 1 touch up. Burned warm but not extremely hot.
- Flaky ash.
- Good draw...on the loose side, almost no resistance.
- and even tho it had that draw, it made TONS of smoke...Really, a lot of smoke. It created a brown-greenish smoke, first time I ever smoke a cigar with that weird color of smoke.
- Medium to Full body. It started as medium, and it kicked off from the second third.
-Medium to Full Taste. Great amount of pepper at the beginning (only lasted for the first third). Strong sweetness and coffee flavors...and I couldn't identify the last flavor, but according to people on the internet it's "Floral")



Smoking time = 1 hour and 55 minutes...I could've pushed it to 2 hours but It was too hot on the nub.

Conclusion = Loved it. Sure I wish it had a better construction and draw, other than that, it rocked.

 

[Burning Man]

Great review thank you for sharing.

 

[danthebugman]

Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:.

Dan

 

[Thecatch83]

Great review, and I'm convinced after smoking probably a box of these over the years, that you got a dud in regards to the draw. If you ever have the chance to smoke a HL maduro, please do so!

 

[apaniagua]

Great review, and I'm convinced after smoking probably a box of these over the years, that you got a dud in regards to the draw. If you ever have the chance to smoke a HL maduro, please do so!

I have another Le MAtin here, I'll smoke it sometime soon to try. HL Maduro? Hmm...i'll see, but i don't think i have any here.

 

[cportrun]

You're saying u think that epernay le matin is medium-full with pepper? I'm not sure you're smoking the right cigar. Epernay is a mild cigar line with zero ligero, and zero spice/pepper. I'm not just speaking from experience Dion Giolito had an event at our local b&m last month. This line is supposed to compliment champagne...

 

[njstone]

You're saying u think that epernay le matin is medium-full with pepper? I'm not sure you're smoking the right cigar. Epernay is a mild cigar line with zero ligero, and zero spice/pepper. I'm not just speaking from experience Dion Giolito had an event at our local b&m last month. This line is supposed to compliment champagne...

There is definitely some pepper to the Le Matin through the nose, though not a lot, and mostly in the first inch or so. I'd call it a full-flavored cigar, mild-medium in body, and closer to mild than medium in strength.

Love the Epernay line!

By the way, stop by the "Introductions" section and ... uh, introduce yourself, lol.

 

[strife]

There is definitely some pepper to the Le Matin through the nose, though not a lot, and mostly in the first inch or so. I'd call it a full-flavored cigar, mild-medium in body, and closer to mild than medium in strength.

Love the Epernay line!

By the way, stop by the "Introductions" section and ... uh, introduce yourself, lol.

Spot on Nate, this cigar is as close to a CC as I've ever smoked. Nice creamy, rich but mellow smoke.

 

[njstone]

Spot on Nate, this cigar is as close to a CC as I've ever smoked. Nice creamy, rich but mellow smoke.

Agreed. I'd proudly give this to a CC-only smoker as an example of what Nicaragua can do.

 

[Thecatch83]

There is definitely some pepper to the Le Matin through the nose, though not a lot, and mostly in the first inch or so. I'd call it a full-flavored cigar, mild-medium in body, and closer to mild than medium in strength.

Love the Epernay line!

By the way, stop by the "Introductions" section and ... uh, introduce yourself, lol.

+1

The spice and power kicks up a little bit in the second third....and the sweetness can probably be attributed with the Rosado wrapper! CA gave this a 93+ (if memory serves) and for once I agree with them!

 

[cportrun]

There is definitely some pepper to the Le Matin through the nose, though not a lot, and mostly in the first inch or so. I'd call it a full-flavored cigar, mild-medium in body, and closer to mild than medium in strength.

Love the Epernay line!

By the way, stop by the "Introductions" section and ... uh, introduce yourself, lol.

Well to each his own, but the flavor profile on this cigar is honey, tea, nuts, with some coffee and floral notes. I've smoked the entire Epernay line, as it is one of my favorite lines. I usually just lurk a bit on here for information and decided to post in regards to your review because I have never seen anyone, anywhere review this cigar with mention on spice, pepper. I'm just not sure what you're smoking. If you want to try a full strength/flavor cigar with pepper and spice try a My Father cigar. Rosado wrapped cigars with no ligero do not give a spicy/pepper kick. I can fully inhale this cigar from toast to nub, not getting that pepper. You will also tend to lose the box pressed shape on a cigar that has been sitting out of the box for that long (2 years OP stated). They will return to their normal rolled original shape eventually.

 

[Musterion]

Spot on Nate, this cigar is as close to a CC as I've ever smoked. Nice creamy, rich but mellow smoke.

Couldn't agree more. For me, this cigar is just about perfect.

 

[sonarman]

I'm smoking one right now and the OP was spot on. Maybe one day we can all hope to have the experience you speak of. Until then I would contribute to the board before you break out the soap box.

Well to each his own, but the flavor profile on this cigar is honey, tea, nuts, with some coffee and floral notes. I've smoked the entire Epernay line, as it is one of my favorite lines. I usually just lurk a bit on here for information and decided to post in regards to your review because I have never seen anyone, anywhere review this cigar with mention on spice, pepper. I'm just not sure what you're smoking. If you want to try a full strength/flavor cigar with pepper and spice try a My Father cigar. Rosado wrapped cigars with no ligero do not give a spicy/pepper kick. I can fully inhale this cigar from toast to nub, not getting that pepper. You will also tend to lose the box pressed shape on a cigar that has been sitting out of the box for that long (2 years OP stated). They will return to their normal rolled original shape eventually.

 

[Alwayslit]

Agreed. I'd proudly give this to a CC-only smoker as an example of what Nicaragua can do.

It as close as it can get to that profile. They do rock!!

 

[ironchefscott]

If I was pressed to have 3 desert island cigars to smoke..this would be one of them.

 

[Reeve11]

great review. thanks for the post.

Dan

 

[njstone]

Well to each his own, but the flavor profile on this cigar is honey, tea, nuts, with some coffee and floral notes. I've smoked the entire Epernay line, as it is one of my favorite lines. I usually just lurk a bit on here for information and decided to post in regards to your review because I have never seen anyone, anywhere review this cigar with mention on spice, pepper. I'm just not sure what you're smoking. If you want to try a full strength/flavor cigar with pepper and spice try a My Father cigar. Rosado wrapped cigars with no ligero do not give a spicy/pepper kick. I can fully inhale this cigar from toast to nub, not getting that pepper. You will also tend to lose the box pressed shape on a cigar that has been sitting out of the box for that long (2 years OP stated). They will return to their normal rolled original shape eventually.

I disagree. Perhaps we are judging spicey/peppery cigars differently, though. I'm agreeing with the OP that the Epernay line has some pepper, but not a lot (not as much as the My Father, certainly, though I'd not call that a full-bodied cigar either).

But I do disagree that cigars without ligero cannot give spice / pepper. I'm smoking an Illusione Singulare 2010 Phantom right now, and that cigar has (and always does have) a decent amount of spice through the first third. Dion describes this cigar as the mildest cigar he's ever made (and it is), and if memory serves it is 100% seco. Certainly no ligero. It's full in flavor, but mild in strength and I'd say mild-medium in body. But the spiciness is there. Not a "kick" like an LFD or anything like that at all, but it's there.

So perhaps you're just not counting it as "spicy" if there is only some spiciness there. Another possibility is that the cigars I'm speaking of have the spice/pepper THROUGH THE NOSE. If you don't retrohale, then perhaps you're not experiencing the peppery notes in the Epernay at all. For example, the HdM Epicure Especial is a milder cigar (probably medium for a Cuban), but it has a decent amount of spiciness all the way through.

 

[apaniagua]

You're saying u think that epernay le matin is medium-full with pepper? I'm not sure you're smoking the right cigar. Epernay is a mild cigar line with zero ligero, and zero spice/pepper. I'm not just speaking from experience Dion Giolito had an event at our local b&m last month. This line is supposed to compliment champagne...

Well to each his own, but the flavor profile on this cigar is honey, tea, nuts, with some coffee and floral notes. I've smoked the entire Epernay line, as it is one of my favorite lines. I usually just lurk a bit on here for information and decided to post in regards to your review because I have never seen anyone, anywhere review this cigar with mention on spice, pepper. I'm just not sure what you're smoking. If you want to try a full strength/flavor cigar with pepper and spice try a My Father cigar. Rosado wrapped cigars with no ligero do not give a spicy/pepper kick. I can fully inhale this cigar from toast to nub, not getting that pepper. You will also tend to lose the box pressed shape on a cigar that has been sitting out of the box for that long (2 years OP stated). They will return to their normal rolled original shape eventually.

Ok, thanks for your comments but I think the reviews we post are not suppose to dictate the absolute flavor profile of each person. Every person is different on their palate, and we tend to notice more flavors than others (I'm speaking as a food taster for some chefs) so it means there's some relativity in this. The "honey, tea, nuts and coffee, floral notes" you perceive, are not exactly what I perceived.

Even further, before I post my reviews (and after doing them) I google the cigar and check other reviews to see what others have tasted. The guys from Halfwheel reviewed the cigar 2 years ago and said something similar...and the guy from Crooked Burn did another 2 years ago too. One of them noticed the pepper, the other didn't. So yeah, we could taste the same things, but not always.

On the other hand, let me clarify some things. First, the box pressed was obviously almost gone because of the aging, yet I got some box-pressed cigars with 1-2 years aged and still got their box-pressed form, an example would be the Aroma de Cuba I reviewed recently. Secondly, I enjoyed the flavors on this cigar...the pepper at the beginning wasn't annoying.

And thirdly, I felt it "medium-full body" maybe because I didn't have any dinner before the cigar. I tend to be really affected by nicotine If I don't have anything on my stomach.

Anyways, thanks for your comments...I'll smoke the other one and try to see If I can get "tea" or "honey".

I'm smoking one right now and the OP was spot on. Maybe one day we can all hope to have the experience you speak of. Until then I would contribute to the board before you break out the soap box.

Thanks man, great to see you enjoyed the cigar and got a similar profile as I did. Thanks to the others who contributed!

EDIT: OOoohhh! And BTW, the guy "Reeve11" is the guy from Crooked Burn who also did a review, 2 years ago. Thanks Reeve11 for posting!

 

[cportrun]

I'm smoking one right now and the OP was spot on. Maybe one day we can all hope to have the experience you speak of. Until then I would contribute to the board before you break out the soap box.

Ok sorry. Myself, Dion and the majority of the world are just wrong. I also need to contribute this specific forum before I can post? Good deal.

 

[apaniagua]

Ok sorry. Myself, Dion and the majority of the world are just wrong. I also need to contribute this specific forum before I can post? Good deal.

Dude, chill out. Let's review this:

Crooked Burn : Got Honey (which I couldn't get but I got sweetness). Got coffee and floral (a flavor I couldn't name rightly, read the first post). Got thick smoke for a short time, I got it the whole time. At the end it became a full-bodied cigar, I felt it too.

Cigars About : Got a hint of spice, cream and buttery.

Seth's Humidor : He felt it below medium body, and had "light" smoke (which I didn't have, I got thick and dense smoke). The guy had like TONS of different flavors, but I'm not that expert to identify, to quote him: "light nuts, cedar, cream, coffee, honey, tea, café au lait, wood, hay, and cedar". There's no freaking way I can identify 10 flavors on 1 single stick...i'm not a pro.

Toasted Foot : The guy got "spice" and "honey, graham cracker, and a buttery cedar...cedar and some bordering oak notes".

HalfWheel : Pepper, leather, wood and sweetness (some slight coffee). All in medium body but ended up full.

So no, not everyone tastes "honey" or "tea" or "oak". So, no need to be so "absolute" or "bossy" about it.