Yesterday I went to a local cigar lounge/store, Memphis Tobacco Bowl, for the first time with a friend of mine. He picked up a Romeo y Julieta to smoke, and I decided to pick up an Illusione '888' cigar because I had heard some hype about Illusione brand cigars. While smoking the cigar, I decided that I wanted to try to write a review for this cigar.
Now, I'd like to preface this review by admitting openly that I am still very new to the cigar world and that this is my first attempt to write a review of a cigar. With that disclaimer made, here is my review.
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The plain-looking natural-wrapper Illusione '888' from Honduras (or is it Nicaragua? I still can't get that straight) comes unwrapped and is a 48 x 6 3/4" churchill with a triple cap. The black-and-white band is small and unassuming and simply states the brand and the cigar type.
The unlit cigar itself did not have a strong smell, yet a hint of earthiness could be recognized slightly. But because of my lack of experience with cigars, I couldn't really garner much from the smell alone. So I cut the cigar with a double guillotine cutter and lit it with a few sulfur-free matches. I did not remember to test the draw of the unlit cigar.
With the cigar lit, I puffed away for a minute or two until I got it going. Once I hit about 1/2" or so smoked, I started noticing the interesting qualities of the '888'. The cigar itself was light, though 6 3/4" long, and a soft firmness of the cigar coupled the weight. The taste was mild and light, even though Illusione's website states that the '888' is "Medium to full bodied" (http://www.illusionecigars.com) and had a sort of earthiness to it. Unfortunately, my ability to distinguish and name tastes clearly is very weak, so I won't go further in trying to name any of the tastes I experienced in the smoke. I will note, however, that once the cigar had been smoked down to around 2 1/2" left, an additional flavor, not an additional bitterness, became apparent.
The most interesting part of this cigar, though, was its draw and smoke. From the beginning, the '888' had a phenomenally loose draw, and I cannot stress the looseness of the draw. Of all of the cigars I've smoked (in actuality a very small number), I've never had such a loose draw. Smoking the '888' was like drawing through a large, unobstructed straw: that's how loose the draw was. With little effort, I could elicit large amounts of smoke.
The smoke itself was light, white, creamy, and airy. The first time I took a good draw, I was convinced that I had gotten no smoke out of the cigar, yet when I opened my mouth to let out the smoke, a large amount of billowy white smoke floated forward. If I didn't blow the smoke out of my mouth strongly, it would linger around my head for a minute or more. Smoke rings blown with the cigar would floated softly looking distinctively creamy and full. Yet, despite its creamy fullness, the smoke felt light rather than harsh.
The ash was white with some grey mixed in and black splotches every now-and-then. The ash itself never went much farther than 1 1/2", but I didn't much mind. I was too busy being fascinated by the smoke. The cigar burned cool, and not until only about 2" left did I feel any heat in the cigar. At around 2", I put down the cigar and called it finished. Because I only thought to write a review halfway through smoking the cigar, I didn't time how long I took to smoke the cigar. But I will estimate that it took me around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes to smoke the '888'. Before leaving the store, I picked up another '888' ($7.75 before tax here) and also an ~88~ ($7.50 before tax).
I definitely think that this cigar is a worthwhile mild smoke, and the character of the smoke and lightness of the draw really stood out to me. I would recommend this cigar to anybody interested in a very mild quality smoke. Anyone who enjoys fuller bodied smokes probably will not enjoy the '888' because of its mildness, which leads me to wonder why the Illusione website lists this smoke as a medium- to full-bodied smoke. Regardless of their reasoning, though, I will be revisiting this cigar and others from Illusione.
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Pictures taken with an LG enV camera phone. Sorry for the bad quality: the phone's the only camera I have. The pictures of the uncut and unlit cigars were taken at home and are of a different '888' than the one I smoked. The picture of the lit and smoked '888' was taken at Memphis Tobacco Bowl.
Uncut full cigar:
The uncut triple cap:
The unlit foot:
Smoked and short with ash:
Edit: Changed the date to the correct one and added the Illusione website link.
Now, I'd like to preface this review by admitting openly that I am still very new to the cigar world and that this is my first attempt to write a review of a cigar. With that disclaimer made, here is my review.
----------------------------
The plain-looking natural-wrapper Illusione '888' from Honduras (or is it Nicaragua? I still can't get that straight) comes unwrapped and is a 48 x 6 3/4" churchill with a triple cap. The black-and-white band is small and unassuming and simply states the brand and the cigar type.
The unlit cigar itself did not have a strong smell, yet a hint of earthiness could be recognized slightly. But because of my lack of experience with cigars, I couldn't really garner much from the smell alone. So I cut the cigar with a double guillotine cutter and lit it with a few sulfur-free matches. I did not remember to test the draw of the unlit cigar.
With the cigar lit, I puffed away for a minute or two until I got it going. Once I hit about 1/2" or so smoked, I started noticing the interesting qualities of the '888'. The cigar itself was light, though 6 3/4" long, and a soft firmness of the cigar coupled the weight. The taste was mild and light, even though Illusione's website states that the '888' is "Medium to full bodied" (http://www.illusionecigars.com) and had a sort of earthiness to it. Unfortunately, my ability to distinguish and name tastes clearly is very weak, so I won't go further in trying to name any of the tastes I experienced in the smoke. I will note, however, that once the cigar had been smoked down to around 2 1/2" left, an additional flavor, not an additional bitterness, became apparent.
The most interesting part of this cigar, though, was its draw and smoke. From the beginning, the '888' had a phenomenally loose draw, and I cannot stress the looseness of the draw. Of all of the cigars I've smoked (in actuality a very small number), I've never had such a loose draw. Smoking the '888' was like drawing through a large, unobstructed straw: that's how loose the draw was. With little effort, I could elicit large amounts of smoke.
The smoke itself was light, white, creamy, and airy. The first time I took a good draw, I was convinced that I had gotten no smoke out of the cigar, yet when I opened my mouth to let out the smoke, a large amount of billowy white smoke floated forward. If I didn't blow the smoke out of my mouth strongly, it would linger around my head for a minute or more. Smoke rings blown with the cigar would floated softly looking distinctively creamy and full. Yet, despite its creamy fullness, the smoke felt light rather than harsh.
The ash was white with some grey mixed in and black splotches every now-and-then. The ash itself never went much farther than 1 1/2", but I didn't much mind. I was too busy being fascinated by the smoke. The cigar burned cool, and not until only about 2" left did I feel any heat in the cigar. At around 2", I put down the cigar and called it finished. Because I only thought to write a review halfway through smoking the cigar, I didn't time how long I took to smoke the cigar. But I will estimate that it took me around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes to smoke the '888'. Before leaving the store, I picked up another '888' ($7.75 before tax here) and also an ~88~ ($7.50 before tax).
I definitely think that this cigar is a worthwhile mild smoke, and the character of the smoke and lightness of the draw really stood out to me. I would recommend this cigar to anybody interested in a very mild quality smoke. Anyone who enjoys fuller bodied smokes probably will not enjoy the '888' because of its mildness, which leads me to wonder why the Illusione website lists this smoke as a medium- to full-bodied smoke. Regardless of their reasoning, though, I will be revisiting this cigar and others from Illusione.
----------------------------
Pictures taken with an LG enV camera phone. Sorry for the bad quality: the phone's the only camera I have. The pictures of the uncut and unlit cigars were taken at home and are of a different '888' than the one I smoked. The picture of the lit and smoked '888' was taken at Memphis Tobacco Bowl.
Uncut full cigar:
The uncut triple cap:
The unlit foot:
Smoked and short with ash:
Edit: Changed the date to the correct one and added the Illusione website link.
