GUEST REVIEW: Illusione Epernay
May 29, 2009 Cigar, Guest Review
Tonight’s review is a very special Guest Review.
My buddy Barry Stein from A Cigar Smoker will be doing a guest review of the brand new Illusione Epernay series.
New from Dion Giolito, the Illusione Epernay is a new, lighter blend patterned from the original ECCJ release. Named after the heart of France’s Champagne region, Epernay is an all-Nicaraguan cigar comprising tobacco from two specific farms and finished with a shade-grown Corojo ‘99 wrapper leaf.
“Certain cigars and Champagne go together fabulously,” said Giolito. “I think that this cigar is the perfect complement to great Champagnes, so I named it after a region in France that made this grape famous.”
According to Giolito, the blend is more suited to a “European palate,” which, to him, entails using a lighter shade of wrapper, and replacing some of the spicy character of his other brands with a sweeter, more floral tobacco.
For purposes of this review, Barry will be using his own personal scoring system.
And now, on to Barry’s Review.
I was lucky enough to be gifted this cigar by Tony here at leafandgrape.com when we got together for a smoke at Cigar Inn in NYC. Being it was such an enjoyable cigar, I was asked to review it here…
Appearance/Contruction 14pts
The cigar is a vision of beauty. The wrapper has minimal veins and a fair amount of oils. This classic looking stick has a decent weight to it and no soft spots and finding the seam in the roll is virtually impossible. The cigars band looks a lot like the eccj cigar with its white and gold band.
Character- 23pts
The cigar has a flawless burn that remains even throughout the cigar. The ash is a medium shade of grey with a little bit of flake which prevents it from holding for a long time. The draw was a little loose which seems to be my only consistant complaint from illusione cigars.
Flavor- 25pts.
There are some amazingly defined notes throughout the cigar. The first third there were notes of apple cinnamon spice. Now you might think I am crazy here, but when Tony smoked on he picked up those same notes. In the middle of the second third the cigar begin to lose those notes and there was some pepper and wood which remained through the final third.
Overall : 31pts
Total Score: 93 pts.
One of the best illusione cigars I have ever smoked. The problem is they are not yet readily available and I want them now. When these come out in regular production I suggest you run out and buy a box for your humidor!
Don’t forget to visit Barry’s site www.acigarsmoker.com
Related posts:
- Top 5 New Cigars of 2009 Tonight we kick off our week of reflection by...
- Illusione -hl- (Holy Lance) The concept behind Illusione Cigars was to re-create a...
- Illusione Nosotros Tonight’s review is the Nosotros from Illusione. Although listed...
- “AGED” Review – Camacho Liberty 2003 Tonight’s review is the first in our new section...
Tags: A Cigar Smoker, Barry Stein, Dion Giolito, Epernay, illusione, www.acigarsmoker.com
May 30th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Nice review. I look forward to trying an Illusione one of these days!! Keep the great reviews coming as they are all VERY helpful!
Mike
May 30th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Great,the review has the same feel as my site with a million typos! Thanks buddy