Illusione Garagiste (Robusto)

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Intro / Pre-Smoke Judgement:

Bought this about a month ago from a store I infrequently shop at. This particularly stood out from over 100+ sticks they carry, and it always caught my attention during each visit, but I just passed until recently. The picture above doesn’t do it justice. This is quite possibly the most beautiful cigar I have ever seen, but doesn’t really match other photos available online. There’s a variance of shiny brown hues that I never seen before. It’s hard for me to describe, but I was in awe every time I saw it before and after my purchase. Take a good look at this stick if you B&M carries them, and I hope you can see what I mean. I’ve been looking forward to smoking this for quite a while - literally ever since I first saw it. I’m also looking forward to trying more from Illusione, and I believe I’ve only had the 888 Maduro and/or the Cruzado.

Quick N Dirty:

The first couple puffs blew me away, and so did the 1/3.

I told myself this is my new favorite $7-ish stick. ($7.57)

Caramelized sugar, maybe caramel, maybe brûlée, and nice pepper on the retrohales.

There’s other stuff going on as well, and I’m still not sure what leather is. Maybe I need to suck on a mit for a bit. I just know that the above is what I really can discern with my experience.

Great tobacco.

Smooth, but with a nice bite.

Great blend and melded flavors.

The above flavors start to disappear around the 2/3-1/2, and the stick seemed to have issues remaining fully lit and burning evenly.

Flavors do re-emerge after a flame purge. There was quite a bit of flame that came with each purge. Possibly at lot of impurities? Or maybe just the oils from the wrapper? Not sure.

Drank a glass of sweet tea during the first couple inches - that probably wasn’t wise, as it messed with my palate. Gotta keep to water with this guy.

It’s not bad when the flavors go away, but I definitely wouldn’t have been wow’d by what there without them.

Trial By Smoke Judgement:

I loved the 1/3-1/2. Enough to make me remain positive, but not enough to declare it as my favorite $7 stick, yet. I’ll get back to it when the mood strikes, mostly because I’d like to check out more from Illusione. Plus I have a huge list of stuff I’d like to try...and of course there’s the oh-so annoying budget. Recommended to my bums, for sure. If you don’t buy it, at least take a close look at the beauty of the wrapper’s hues...and maybe that’ll push you to buy.