MartyMcFly
Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
- Messages
- 263
Cigar: Illusione 88
Size: 5x52
Drink: Vitamin Water Essential
Location: Front porch on the laptop
Elapsed Time: 1hour 20minutes
The corojo wrapper is a reddish milk chocolaty color with just a few minor veins. The cold draw was just right and I could notice a pleasant tobacco taste and a slight amount of sweetness on the lips from the wrapper. The cigar was very easy to light with the first few puffs giving a solid tobacco taste.
The first third: This cigar is continuing to produce a nice tobacco flavor although the more I smoke I am starting to notice a some earthy notes on the back end, and a very slight spice left on the tongue. The ash is slightly flaky and salt and pepper in color. The cigar continues to burn perfectly straight as I have not yet needed even the slightest of touchups. I am now noticing that towards the end of this third the strong tobacco flavor has mellowed out just a bit and I am starting to taste more of a woody spice lingering about.
The second third: Lots of thick smoke leads the way to a harmonious mixture of tobacco, earth, and spice that is creating a somewhat mellow taste yet still keeping the medium bodied profile. It continues to burn very straight with a nice stiff ash. The cigar has maintained the flavor trio of tobacco, earth, and spice, which is perfectly fine with me as I am really enjoying this smoke thus far.
The last third: I never really nub a cigar as I don’t like when they start to get hot and hard to handle, so I didn’t really smoke this entire third. What I did notice while burning the tail end of this cigar, was that the spice seemed to play a slightly larger role while the tobacco and earthy flavor took more of the backseat. It is tough for my inexperienced pallet to put a finger on, but this spice isn’t a black pepper spice but something more refined and subdued.
Overall Impression:
I wouldn’t say that this is not a very complex or dynamic cigar but that’s not necessarily a bad thing here. There are mainly three taste profiles that I get, but what keeps it interesting is that there is an ebb and flow to each flavor. While the flavors never really change, their intensities do. This is a very well balanced smoke that produces tons of thick smoke while maintaining a great flavor profile. If you like a cigar with prevailing notes of tobacco, earth, and even some spice then it’s worth your while to pick one of these up. Going to have to make room in my humi for a few more of these!
Stay tuned for an upcoming review on a Liga Privada Belicoso that I picked up last week!
Size: 5x52
Drink: Vitamin Water Essential
Location: Front porch on the laptop
Elapsed Time: 1hour 20minutes
The corojo wrapper is a reddish milk chocolaty color with just a few minor veins. The cold draw was just right and I could notice a pleasant tobacco taste and a slight amount of sweetness on the lips from the wrapper. The cigar was very easy to light with the first few puffs giving a solid tobacco taste.
The first third: This cigar is continuing to produce a nice tobacco flavor although the more I smoke I am starting to notice a some earthy notes on the back end, and a very slight spice left on the tongue. The ash is slightly flaky and salt and pepper in color. The cigar continues to burn perfectly straight as I have not yet needed even the slightest of touchups. I am now noticing that towards the end of this third the strong tobacco flavor has mellowed out just a bit and I am starting to taste more of a woody spice lingering about.
The second third: Lots of thick smoke leads the way to a harmonious mixture of tobacco, earth, and spice that is creating a somewhat mellow taste yet still keeping the medium bodied profile. It continues to burn very straight with a nice stiff ash. The cigar has maintained the flavor trio of tobacco, earth, and spice, which is perfectly fine with me as I am really enjoying this smoke thus far.
The last third: I never really nub a cigar as I don’t like when they start to get hot and hard to handle, so I didn’t really smoke this entire third. What I did notice while burning the tail end of this cigar, was that the spice seemed to play a slightly larger role while the tobacco and earthy flavor took more of the backseat. It is tough for my inexperienced pallet to put a finger on, but this spice isn’t a black pepper spice but something more refined and subdued.
Overall Impression:
I wouldn’t say that this is not a very complex or dynamic cigar but that’s not necessarily a bad thing here. There are mainly three taste profiles that I get, but what keeps it interesting is that there is an ebb and flow to each flavor. While the flavors never really change, their intensities do. This is a very well balanced smoke that produces tons of thick smoke while maintaining a great flavor profile. If you like a cigar with prevailing notes of tobacco, earth, and even some spice then it’s worth your while to pick one of these up. Going to have to make room in my humi for a few more of these!
Stay tuned for an upcoming review on a Liga Privada Belicoso that I picked up last week!
