I managed to get my hands on this smoke, thanks to a great friend of mine.  He gifted it to me while we herfed together in Vegas this past weekend.  I decided that it would be my first smoke of the day today, and I just finished it, so I thought I would give the loyal readers of Cigar Command a review, so here we go!

Pre-Light: As I took a look at this cigar, the first thing I noticed was that it was impeccable.  It was perfectly rolled, the foot had no major veins and it smelled great!  I was getting lots of earthy spice and leathery wood.  I clipped it with my Palio and took a pre-light draw.  The draw was just perfect.  Not too tight, and not too loose.

1/3: As I lit up this cigar and started to puff on it, the first thing I noticed was that the ash was a nice dark gray color, but it was a little flaky.  I am attributing this to the fact that its a lancero, although I don’t know how much that really matters.  I was getting lots of spicy pepper, with hints of leather and wood, along with some strong cedar notes.  The smoke was billowing, and smelled great.  So far this smoke is incredible!

2/3: As I continued with this cigar, the smoke was still billowing nicely.  The spice kicked up quite a bit, and the  cedar taste also came to the forefront.  The leather and other woody flavors faded a  bit into the background as Icontinued.  The ask was still a little flaky, and I am even more certain that its just the small ring gauge that is causing this.  The burn is near perfect, with only small waves in the wrapper.

3/3: As I was finishing up this cigar, after about an hour and a half of slow smoking, the flavors changed up once again.  The spice then faded into the background, and something completely new emerged.  I got a little sugary sweetness, with a hint of nuts.  This really suprised me, as I was not expecting the flavors to change so dramatically.  They were good flavors though, so they were fully welcomed.  The smoke billowed from this cigar all the way down to the nub.

Overall Experience: I don’t usually smoke lancero sized cigars, but being that this is one that is coveted among lancero smokers, I thought I would give it a shot.  After having smoked it, I asked myself why I don’t smoke more of this size.  The flavors were outstanding, and they were very complex as well.  I have to thank my friend Jimmie for gifting this smoke to me. I probably would have never gotten to try it if it were not for him.  All in all, if you have ever wondered about the lancero size, this is the one to try!

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Strength: Full
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Rosado Oscuro Corojo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Pre-light: As I pulled this cigar out of my humidor, I was excited to try it. I have read all about this smoke on the various cigar forums that I am a part of, and it was seriously hyped up, so I was anxious. As I smelled the foot of this cigar, the predominant flavors I was anticipating were coffee and nutty, with a little spice. As I cut this with my Palio cutter, and took a pre-light draw, I got those same flavors. I was very excited to try this!

1/3: As I started in on this smoke, I took a few small puffs right after I lit it. I was getting some nice spice flavors, but it was predominantly coffee and nutty. I could tell this was going to be a tasty smoke with my coffee! As I continued to puff on this smoke, the spice kicked up a bit, and it seemed to be burning a little faster than I would have liked. That could have been because I was enjoying the coffee flavors I was getting out of it. I may have been puffing it quickly.

2/3: As I continued through this smoke, the spice kicked up a bit and the coffee and nutty flavors settled into the background. The spice reminded me of white pepper in strength. The burn wasn’t perfect, but it would correct itself later down the smoke. It wasn’t bad enough that I had to touch it up at all. At this point, I am REALLY enjoying this smoke.

3/3: As I was finishing up this cigar, the flavors didn’t change much, but I was enjoying them, so I didn’t really want them to change. As I was getting to the end of this cigar, the spice did seem to die down just a little, and the coffee and nutty flavors kicked up for the last few puffs. The burn corrected itself for the most part, although it was a little bit wavy toward the end. The burn wasn’t bad enough to bother me though.

All in all, this was a really good cigar, but I am not sure that these are worth the price point. I do think that these are a little overhyped for what they are. I didn’t find them as complex as others have, but all in all, it was an enjoyable smoke

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The Illusione ~68~ “Bombone” is the smallest entry in the this line of powerful Nicaraguan puros – at 4 x 44 it provides a quick but potent (and very tasty) jolt. The triple cap shears off nicely and the draw is firm but generous. On first light it has a sweet, caramel-like flavor counterbalanced by a peppery zing very similar to small Cubans like the Partagas Short or Diplomaticos No. 5. The base flavor is mildly tannic and woody, but as the cigar develops it gets earthier and keeps the pepper coming. I smoked this little guy slowly to savor all of its complexity and stretched it out to about 25 minutes. It gets a little salty in the last stage, but is otherwise perfectly balanced. I sat back after nubbing the 68 and sank into my chair completely satisfied. This is a very impressive little corona. ~Tom O.

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