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Illusione HL a.k.a. Holy Lance

kaelaria

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This 7.5×40 stick offers a beautiful soft dark brown wrapper with a slight redish hue. Veins are minimal, seams are tight and even. It has a firm pack, a little pigtail tip and soft chocolate and barnyard aroma. First light reveals a perfect draw with huge clouds of thick rich smoke giving medium-full body flavors of a deep oily earth and fine aged tobacco with a bit of very smooth pepper. The first third develops to a sweet, creamy, oily nut with aged tobacco, the finish going very short and clean with just a bit of earthy aftertaste. The ash holds on for an inch at a time, and the burn is fairly quick. 20 minutes in the 2nd third starts by shifting flavors a touch, dropping the nuttiness and replacing it with a soft leather. The last third shows no further changes although the burn slowed a bit and the ash fell shorter. Ending at 1:10 I enjoyed it right down to the nub.

http://cigarobsession.com/cigar-reviews/illusione-hl-a-k-a-holy-lance-cigar-review/
 

SkinsFanLarry

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Damn fine review Bryan.

The Holy Lance (~hl~) whether Candela, Natural or Maduro is one of my top go to smokes! :cbig:
 

Thecatch83

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Agreed......I pretty much love everything from Illusione, including the Holy Lance! The 88 is another great smoke Bryan if you ever get a chance or need one for a review let me know, I can send you a sampler!
 
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Thanks for the review, I really enjoy these. Illusione is becoming my new favorite brand.
 

mwlabel

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Thanks for the review Bryan! It sounds like I need to snatch some of these up, love me some lancero goodness
 
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Thanks for the review. I just finished a Holy Lance weekend, starting with the candela on Friday, natural on Saturday (from 2008) and finishing with the maduro on Sunday. The natural is still my favorite, but the other two were still good!
 
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Awesome review as usual Bryan!

These are some of my absolute all-time favorites. I'm glad you enjoyed it, too!
 
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Is strength relative? That is, does the strength of a single cigar affect different people in different ways?

The reason I ask is that I found the HL to be very, very powerful...and I've also found that this is a pretty common feeling with the stick.

"Not for the faint of heart" is something I often hear/read when people talk about just about anything by Illusione, but it seems this one in particular.

Now, that being said, the one I sent Bryan here had about a year of age on it. Could that have anything to do with it?
 

kaelaria

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Strength certainly is relative, and I didn't find this one to be full like many of the other Illusione - however if it had a year +, that's why. And thank you - I hate full strength! lol
 
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