ManInBlack
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2009
- Messages
- 162
Summer has officially arrived up here. Today it is 33 degrees (91 for you guys south of the border) with high humidity (feels like 41C/108F). Yes, the annual battle to fight high humidity in my humidors has been engaged! Being a cold weather guy by nature, I waited until the sun had passed overhead and my back porch was well shaded, before heading outside to smoke an Illusione mj12.
The cigar had a nice dark wrapper with no overly prominent veins. It seemed to be quite well constructed, although I could detect a few soft spots. I punched the cigar with the largest size on my Victorinox knife and found the pre-light draw to be very good. The cigar did not have a strong smell to it but, in the pre-light draw, I could detect a slightly sweet flavour.
After torching the foot, I took a few quick puffs to get the cigar going and then took a first draw. The draw was very good and the cigar began burning well. In the first third, I did not detect too many strong flavours. Initially, there was very little spice. But the spice did pick up a bit after the first inch or so. For the most part, I was getting a medium-bodied straightforward tobacco flavour. But there were also hints of toast and roasted nuts. Towards the end of the first third, the burn started to get a bit uneven. I decided to wait and see if it would correct itself.
Getting into the second third of the cigar, the burn did, in fact, correct itself. The flavours seemed milder to me in the second third of the cigar. There was no significant change in the flavour profile, although I did begin to detect a sweeter taste. This might be what I have read described in some of Greg’s reviews as “sweetbread.” The cigar was smoking quite well but, towards the end of the second third of the cigar, a crack developed in the outer leaf of the wrapper. This very quickly resulted in a flap (roughly one inch by one inch) developing in the wrapper.
As I started into the final third of the cigar, the tear in the wrapper produced another uneven burn. I was getting a bit tired of holding the flap down, so I very carefully tore it off. It came off quite easily and the burn again corrected itself. The last third of the cigar did not bring any new flavours. I continued to get a straightforward, slightly sweet, tobacco taste with the flavours of toast, roasted nuts, and sweetbread present and relatively minimal spice. The flavours were well balanced and quite pleasant. They just remained quite constant throughout the whole smoke.
This is the third Illusione that I have smoked. I have smoked an 88 and another MJ12 in the past month or so. I have not yet developed a firm opinion of the Illusione cigars. I do like the flavours. But I find, from my very limited experience with these cigars, that the flavours remain quite constant throughout the whole smoke. Personally, I might be inclined to reach for this type of cigar for an afternoon smoke. But I think I would look for something a bit fuller bodied and a bit more complex to smoke in the evening after a good meal or with a nice bottle of wine.
The cigar had a nice dark wrapper with no overly prominent veins. It seemed to be quite well constructed, although I could detect a few soft spots. I punched the cigar with the largest size on my Victorinox knife and found the pre-light draw to be very good. The cigar did not have a strong smell to it but, in the pre-light draw, I could detect a slightly sweet flavour.
After torching the foot, I took a few quick puffs to get the cigar going and then took a first draw. The draw was very good and the cigar began burning well. In the first third, I did not detect too many strong flavours. Initially, there was very little spice. But the spice did pick up a bit after the first inch or so. For the most part, I was getting a medium-bodied straightforward tobacco flavour. But there were also hints of toast and roasted nuts. Towards the end of the first third, the burn started to get a bit uneven. I decided to wait and see if it would correct itself.
Getting into the second third of the cigar, the burn did, in fact, correct itself. The flavours seemed milder to me in the second third of the cigar. There was no significant change in the flavour profile, although I did begin to detect a sweeter taste. This might be what I have read described in some of Greg’s reviews as “sweetbread.” The cigar was smoking quite well but, towards the end of the second third of the cigar, a crack developed in the outer leaf of the wrapper. This very quickly resulted in a flap (roughly one inch by one inch) developing in the wrapper.
As I started into the final third of the cigar, the tear in the wrapper produced another uneven burn. I was getting a bit tired of holding the flap down, so I very carefully tore it off. It came off quite easily and the burn again corrected itself. The last third of the cigar did not bring any new flavours. I continued to get a straightforward, slightly sweet, tobacco taste with the flavours of toast, roasted nuts, and sweetbread present and relatively minimal spice. The flavours were well balanced and quite pleasant. They just remained quite constant throughout the whole smoke.
This is the third Illusione that I have smoked. I have smoked an 88 and another MJ12 in the past month or so. I have not yet developed a firm opinion of the Illusione cigars. I do like the flavours. But I find, from my very limited experience with these cigars, that the flavours remain quite constant throughout the whole smoke. Personally, I might be inclined to reach for this type of cigar for an afternoon smoke. But I think I would look for something a bit fuller bodied and a bit more complex to smoke in the evening after a good meal or with a nice bottle of wine.
