Illusione mj12:Toro:Natural?

Its been a while since I've done a review here, just been slightly busy with life and everything. So when I got the time to relax I traveled to my local B&M. Went inside the walk-in humidor and searched and what do I see? A big tin foil cigar. I later found out it was a Illusione. I never had a Illusione nor did I hear about them, so I came in with no bias. So will this smoke create a more favorable bias towards Illusione or will this be just another pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside case? Let's find out.

SPECS-
Size-Toro 6x54
Wrapper-Nicaragua
Binder-Nicaragua
Filler-Nicaragua
Cost-$9.00
Smoke Time-50 mins.
Cut-Punch,Guillotine
Drink-Starbucks Mocha Iced Coffee

FIRST IMPRESSIONS-This stick is sure to stand out in any humidor. The bright silver in a world of dark is quite something,it's safe to say this cigar needs no marketing. Once the silver is out to much mystery a matte brown stick is presented. The wrapper is pretty, the small veins throughout gives the stick a slick look. The very fragrant wrapper gave a slightly taste of leather to the lips but that cold taste and draw was good, it was like corn flakes. The stick looks neatly constructed and packed just right with no lumps. I guess this cigar is just as pretty on the inside as it is on the out.

FIRST THIRD-There isn't much flavors on the first puffs but the smoke does coat your mouth quite nicely. One of the first flavors that you recognize is a fine mocha with an undertone of herbal tea. Its very savory and with a mouthful of smoke it feels like your mouth is filled with tea. A good intro,only thing that's taking away from it though is the burn line. The line gets very wavy and slowly it canoes, it takes many touch-ups to get the stick burning the right way.

SECOND THIRD-Now this third is interesting. The main flavor can't be described by normal means. Only way to describe the flavor is if I describe it as a color. The color Grey. Its not a dark flavor as you experience in a Xikar HC, but its not a light Flavor you get in a AVO. It's in the middle and only way to describe is by a good taste of grey. Its slightly herbal, slightly mocha nutty and all parts good. Along with this greyness is an undertone of leather and cedar, its a very relaxing third, but again the burn line takes you from fully enjoying the flavors.

LAST THIRD-The greyness settles down some at this point but its still slightly present. The grey flavor is very creamy and coats everything in your mouth,its a super smooth smoke. At the last bit the cigar displays a tastes of sweet coffee and a subtle hint of coconut. This thing is packed with flavors if you digg and the spice was never strong it was just in the foreground. Sadly though the smoke was still wavy,

LAST IMPRESSIONS-This Illusione impressed me. I never thought I'd describe a flavor by a color. But at $9 bucks its just slightly expencive. This would be a great stick at the $6.50-$7.75 range. Its a weird price range, right in the middle. It reflects the smoke justly, this cigar is in the middle. Its not a bad smoke nor a spectacular one. Its not a mild smoke, nor a harsh overpowering stick. Again this cigar is grey, but whoever said grey is a bad thing?

RATING-88
Buy It Again?Yup, the stick I reviewed was my 3rd one and I bought another 1 already
Recommended? It does it's flavors good, so yes. Just wish it was slightly cheaper

Gurkha Black Dragon-Robusto-Maduro

I must really be liking Gurhka Cigars these days, 2 Gurkhas back to back. As said before Gurkha is in a class of its one. Their cigar presentation is one of the best. When I got the stick it was wrapped in cedar with the typical silk sleeve towards the foot, the box that this guy came from was also elaborate. So does this cigar present itself as a mid grade BMW as the Warlord did, or is this cigar in a class of its own?

SPECS-
Size- Robusto 4.5x52
Wrapper-Connecticut Maduro Wrapper
Binder-Cameroon
Filler-Dominican
Price-$8.00
Smoke time-1 hour and 20 mins
Cut-Punch/Guillotine
Drink-Iced Tea,Cherry Coke

FIST IMPRESSIONS-After unsleeving the dress-up of this cigar it presented itself with a dark oily brown and with a rarely veiny wrapper, it looked gorgeous. The wrapper had a good aroma of cedar and the same is true for the foot. Punching the cigar was slightly tricky, but I was able to get a good constructed draw that tasted like a woody barn, which rewarded my efforts.

FIRST THIRD-There's not much going on in this third. The spice is decent, it hits you just like a chili pepper and it gives you a nice mental image of that pepper. Along with the spice a good bit of cedar is thrown at you. The finish is sweet and earthy and it brings along a mocha to that's not quite yet there. The cigar took the flame well and ash held strong up to the band, great construction.

SECOND THIRD-The mocha that wasn't quite there on the first third is here and its worth the anticipation. The cedar gets a little lighter and crispy working its way up towards more of a nutty taste, this was a good transition into thirds. As the smoke makes its way to the last third it gets creamier, the smoke is very thick and coats your palate with a slight leather taste. By far this is the best third of the smoke.

FINAL THIRD-This stick works backwards, as you smoke it the lighter and lighter it becomes. Yet it's still a strong and dark complex smoke. The leather gets more present here and its easily welcomed. The second third warmed this leather up well for your palate. This cigar is very well blended, the thirds that you experience also showcase the next third you're going to experience. The mocha fades away to a roasted coffee bean flavor that is slightly sweet, it compliments the leather. I sipped this cigar slowly this morning and I was rewarded well for my patience.

LAST IMPRESSIONS-This cigar is good for what it is. It uses its blends very creatively, I wish all cigars introduced their next third the way this one. Its also the only thing that saves this cigar. The flavors are good but are not easily recognizable it takes some digging, but once you find them they are good. For $8 dollars though there is better smokes, but I don't regret the price point of this smoke.This cigar is in a class of its own. It's not like the Warlord, it differentiates itself a little bit better, it'd say this is still a 5-series like the Warlord, but just the better trim model.

RATING-87
Buy it again-Why not?
Recommended? It's a pretty solid smoke so yes.

Padron 1926:Robusto:Natural

So with all cigar blogs, if One has the Padron 1964, one must have the 26'. The 26 is usually mostly preferred of the 2. I can't agree with this statement. In my opinion The 64' is slightly better than its $20 counter-part.



SPECS-
Size: Robusto 5 x 50
Wrapper:Nicaraguan
Binder:Nicaraguan
Filler:Nicaraguan

Smoke Time: 50 mins
Drink: Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
Price:$18.80
Cut:Punch/Guillotine



FIRST IMPRESSIONS-Padron's rollsmenship is always consistent. They always make the best sticks. Nicely packed, robust for their size, smooth to the touch with tiny veins. And a stiffness that can only be challenged by a lead pipe, this 26's is no exception. The wrapper was a touch spicy with a sweet straw aroma. The foot smelt of slight earth intertwined with the wrappers scent. The draw was spectacular. This will be a long ash cigar, no doubt.

FIRST THIRD-The first inch of this cigar is powerful. I will even go out to say this stick is stronger than the Opus X,to me anyways. The first initial spice is good though, its very similar to Andy Capp's Hot Fries. This spice makes you pay attention to the cigar. But once that spice subdues some, you get introduced to sweet mocha notes that remain nicely on the palate.

SECOND THIRD-My favorite part. The mocha us joined with a different chocolate taste, one of slightly bitter chocolate which is a pleasure, this flavored is easily contrasted by the slight nuttiness that is being introduced. The nut flavor is nice and crisp, almost like almonds. The spice is still a reminder of how full flavored this smoke is. but its delightful and smooth on that palate.

LAST THIRD- The ash is holding on just amazingly. This is a long ash cigar through and through. The spice starts to pick up a little more here bring along more of a leather overtone as the tar builds up sum, but it doesn't effect at all the burnline or the pleasure of the smoke. The rum is complementing this cigar quite well. It brings small hints of vanilla wafer to a cigar, a taste I did not expiriece when I smoke this cigar by itself. Along with the spice the vanilla is adjoined with cedar and anise, giving the smoke a nice crisp taste. As the burn gets down to the band the cigar is loosing its steam. It's flavor slowly starting to descend to more of a natural tobacco taste. I soon let go of the cigar,it was good while it lasted.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS- This is a good cigar, but not an outstanding smoke. For the $18 dollars asked you can get much finner smokes that give more pleasure like its sibling the 64' usually a whole $8 dollars cheaper. There's a trend with super-premium cigars being spawned from their high range counterparts. For example the Ashton VSG vs. the ESG. But that's another 2 reviews.

Rating-87
Buy It Again? Yes, but not anytime soon
Recommended? Yes, but not this ring gauge, there's smaller and cheaper sizes of the 26's that offer a similar taste for $8-$3 cheaper.

Oliva V:Figurado:Sun Grown

This Nicaraguan puro is one of the smoothness full-flavored cigars out there, or that's what Oliva's website says. This V is my favorite series that Oliva produces, it also is one of my favorite full flavored smokes. But that whole smoothest cigar out there claim, does it hold true here?

SPECS-
Size-Figurado 6 x 60
Wrapper-Nicaragua
Binder-Nicaragua
Filler-Nicaragua
Smoke Time-1 hour
Price-$8.80
Cut-Guillotine
Touch Ups-2

FIRST IMPRESSIONS-This is a very nicely rolled cigar. Rolling such a cigar is an art, it has the best sun grown wrapper I have seen. It has a really nice heft to it and you can just tell this is going to be something special. The wrapper has very minimal veins and its a very beautiful brown sheen to it. With a sweet wrapper and fragrant wrapper this stick invites you in. The Cold Taste had no particular flavor but it was a nice breezy draw that makes you think this is gunna be a super fine smoke.



FIRST THIRD-The wrapper was slightly dry when I put it on my lips, but the nipple lit up quite well with just one match. As the ash works down the nipple end you get introduced with more volume of smoke and flavor. The first flavor that welcomes you in is a sweet spice, almost like cinnamon or nutmeg. The very subtle flavors of cedar and coffee is really nice. The spice is very easy on the nose, doesn't make you sneeze and with the spice it leaves the coffee and cedar notes on your mouth, its subtle but nice.

SECOND THIRD-The ash is very strong, slightly wavy but strong, another testament to the high class rolling going on at Oliva. Along the transition between thirds a toffee flavor is introduced, you get hints of it along with the cedar and coffee. This cigar doesn't have one main flavor, just a real nice bouquet of taste. The smoothest full flavored cigar ever? Yea, so far it is.








FINAL THIRD- The spiciness moves from being just a nasal spice to more of a tongue spice, almost similar to a pipe tobacco bite. Now the cigar is becoming more leathery and dark. This is my least favorite third of the whole smoke but the ash makes me appreciate the overall smoke. The smoke produced a whole bunch of thick white smoke. Quite nice







FINAL IMPRESSIONS-This stogie puts in good place why this cigar review is called the longest ash. This is a very fabulous smoke with a pretty good smoking time. This cigar its very nice, truly a very smooth full flavored smoke. But the flavors aren't very robust to make this a truly mind-blowing smoke. This cigar is good, I keep it on my rotation, truly one of my favorite full flavored smokes.

Rating-91
Buy It Again-I always do
Reccomeded? Yes

Arturo Fuente 8-5-8:Lonsdale:Candela

This is an unique cigar, this oddball is sure to stand out in any humidor. What makes this Fuente so unique is it's candela wrapper. You may have seen these wrappers on cheaper smokes like Dutch Masters and Garcia y Vegas. These wrappers used to be really popular with the American public in the 50's but fell outta favor when the Connecticut hit the wrapping tables. So was this change good? I believe yes, after smoking this cigar I know why this wrapper is a dying breed, as it should be. That's mean huh?

SPECS-
Size: Lonsdale 6 x 47
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Smoke Time: 30 mins

Price:$6.00
Cut:Punch
Touch-Ups: 7



FIRST IMPRESSIONS- This leafy green cigar stands out in any cigar shop. In a world of escuros,claros, and naturals, the green is a fresh sight. The roll itself is really good as one can expect from the Fuentes. The wrapper though is very veiny and figured. With the cigar being spongy it gives you a airy draw. Not surprisingly though the wrapper leaf smells and tastes like well, a leaf, grass if you will, its slightly sweet. The foot also reminds you of lawn clippings which isn't too bad.



FIRST THIRD- The cigar lit up well, you'd think since its such a fresh looking stick it'd take a while to catch a flame. While toasting a inviting smell of sharp vanilla is unexpected but welcomed.The airy draw produces lots of smoke, its a very dry smoke that hits you on the throat, its unpleasant. The main flavor that hits you is woodsy which doesn't the dryness of the smoke. Along with the wilderness, hints of nuts are always on the background, get used to this because this flavor, because it's this cigar's cup of tea. The ash isn't too strong its completely light and porous.

Second and Last Third-The flavors on the first and second third remain about the same. In between thirds there isn't any attempt into a subtle transition, its just harsh all the time, its also the same with the second and the last third. The airiness of the smoke also produces a lot of spice. Sadly, the spice is probably the best part of the cigar. It's spicy but its a good spice. It's like eating hot wings, they may be hot but for some reason its enjoyable. Another semi-enjoyable aspect of the smoke is its slight hints of vanilla and hints of mocha, but nothing to write home about. The cigar does have a great vanilla aroma which makes the atmosphere pleasurable. The ash never really does hold on, it kept falling over in every attempt to get a long ash, it made a mess at my B&M.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS-I did not like this smoke. Point blank. As one of the tobacconist at the store said: "I enjoyed it, with a sore throat and stuffy nose this cigar is good". And I'm sure this is the only way to enjoy this cigar, with all your senses muted. I now see why major blenders have switched wrapper leaves. The Connecticut's offer so much more; buttermilk, underestimated creaminess and nuttiness, which I would take over any nasty Candela grassness. I wanted to like this cigar. Some people really enjoy them, they light up when they talk about candelas. Maybe it'll grow on me eventually, but until then, pass me that Maduro mocha heaven is calling me.

Rating-68
Buy it again? No
Recommended? No not at all.