Cigar Review: Illusione MJ12

Yesterday I had the pleasure of smoking a fantastic cigar with a good friend whom I haven't seen in some time. We met up at our local tobacconists, Edwards Pipe and Tobacco, to engage in a good conversation, a fantastic drink, and an amazing cigar: the Illusione MJ12. I had already picked my cigar, Illusione MJ12 in the Toro size, Jordan, showing up a little later, selected the Illusione MJ12 Robusto.



Taking advantage of the time before Jordan shows up I inspect my cigar. The first thing I notice is that the cigar is wrapped in a paper foil which makes this cigar stand out on the shelves. However, this wrapper also has an intriguing effect of making the cigar larger than what it appeared in the wrapper. What looked relatively decent in size turned out to be fairly larger coming in at 6X54 sized cigar and cost of the MJ12 was around $12 retail. However, once this cigar was out of its packaging, the wrapper of the cigar itself struck me. It was a dark reddish maduro, not to the level of oscuro, but flirting with it. It was not too oily but the wrapper leaf had two larger streaks of vein on opposite sides from one another. It was packed firm, but the draw was fantastic and there were no soft spots to speak of. Through smoking it created a light grey ash that clung for about two inches before dropping. Only real construction complaint is that both Jordan and I's cigar needed frequent touch ups to correct uneven burns and toward the end it struggled a bit to stay lit.

Jordan and I both really loved the flavor of this cigar though. Upon first lighting this cigar it proved it was going to be a great smoke. Immediately we were greeted by a chocolaty, almost, tea like flavor with a hint of leather. Coming to about the second third of the cigar came an almost sweet nutty flavor over the leather as the chocolate mellowed some. By the end the flavor continued being nutty with a hint of what I can only describe as peppered coffee.

This cigar went perfectly with our 12 Year Old Highland Park Scotch that we indulged in at the lunge while catching up, talking about his film career and other business endeavors. This cigar smoked long enough to enjoy Edwards smoking lounge for at least two and a half hours. So if you're looking for a great cigar and are alright with it being a little high maintenance that will last you long enough on the golf course or over business drinks, take a look at the Illusione MJ12!