Illusione Cigars SSR Review

Today’s review is a bit unconventional in that I have limited details on this cigar. I am smoking the Illusione Cigars SSR. This Rothchilde is a new blend from Illuisone that is only available at retail shops that hold events. I picked this cigar up at a shop and cannot seem to recall the price, but I think it was around $6ish maybe? As for the country of origin, factory, and blend, I can’t confirm any of it. I was told that the cigar has Corojo 2012 Viso, but I do not know what portion of the blend that is. As for the country and factory, I can only guess it is made in Nicaragua at TABSA, however, I do not know that for sure. 

Country of Origin: N/A 

Factory: N/A

Wrapper: N/A

Binder: N/A

Filler: N/A

Vitola: 4 ½ x 50

Price: N/A

Release Date: 2021

Company Website: www.illusionecigars.com 

 

Expectations 

Since I have limited info on this, I have to go off of what I get in most Illusione blends which is full bodied smoke and medium-full flavors. I look for some woods, spices, toast, citrus, and pepper, all in great harmony. It’ll likely build in strength near the end with the flavors becoming more robust near the end.

Prelight Characteristics

I love this size and the look of an unbanded cigar in this vitola. The wrapper has a satin feel with some veins. The cigar is firm and heavy. It smells of earth, baking spices, and a bit of aromatic cedar. The cold draw is like banana Laffy Taffy, which is pretty interesting.

First Third

First light is medium-full body with full flavors of charred wood with some tannins, some earth and toast with a little black pepper flavor and heat lingering in the finish. Quickly the charred wood subsides, being replaced with some brown sugar and baking spices. There’s still some earth, tannins, and faint pepper. The retrohale is very interesting. It’s a bit stingy up front, but follows with a soft, sweet citrus and cream. Nearing the end of the first third the performance has been perfect, and the brown sugar has become more of a cane sugar.

Second Third

The smoke has become more full bodied and the profile is robust with the earth and spices, yet subtle with the cane sugar and now some cream on the draw. The retrohale has less sting and is quite woody upfront, followed by the citrus and cream. I have to do some minor burn line touch ups near halfway. Hitting halfway I get some toast joining the draw. Closing out the second third there’s a fair amount of hay on the palate. The performance has been great since the touch up.

Final Third

The final third quickly starts showing the classic Illusione shift to a more robust, savory profile. There’s a good bit of charred, slightly tannic wood, earth, pepper, and still some lingering cane sugar sweetness. There’s also some strength building that I am starting to feel in my chest. It’s around medium in strength. Nearing the end the charred wood and tannins have again subsided and were replaced with creamy spices. There’s still some earth and cane sugar sweetness lingering. The retrohale has a savory leather and spice combination. The performance has been great to the end.

Overall Experience

Again, I don’t exactly remember what I paid for this, but I know this is the definition of a “bang for your buck” smoke. This cigar had a lot of depth to it, which shows how a more robust flavor profile can have nuance. There were plenty of “heavier” flavors of earth, wood, and pepper, but they were always balanced by some type of baking spices, cream, sugar, and/or citrus. This short stick also had a pretty long burn time of around an hour and 23 minutes, with plenty of transitions to keep you intrigued. I would absolutely recommend grabbing these if you find them at a shop. I will be grabbing more next time I see some.

Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or visit my website www.guitarsandcigarsfarm.com


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