Illusione Epernay Le Taureau (Toro) Review

Cigar: Illusione Epernay
Size: Le Taureau 5.5"x56
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Cafe Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: MSRP ~$10.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The Illusione Epernay's wrapper looked ok from a few feet away, but up close it wasn't very impressive. Cafe Rosado wrapper was light brown, heavily veined, mottled, and marred by wrinkling near the head and foot. There was a small notch in the wrapper on the edge of the head, along with an obvious patch job complete with leftover glue. Not at all what I'd expect from a $10 cigar.

I found several spongy soft spots, and a loose draw. The wrapper had a spicy, sweet aroma, and the cold draw had wood, pepper, and a little leather.

This cigar has been in my humidor for 3 months @ 65%.

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1st Third
I got a gentle pepper and generic tobacco sweetness in this section, along with some creaminess after the first half inch. Around an inch in the dominant and more recognizable flavor was a sweet almond nuttiness. I had struggles with canoeing and a relight, which turned out to be a sign of things to come.

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2nd Third
This section was dominated by a sweet nougat flavor, along with some chocolate and a little spiciness. The nougat flavor immediately reminded me of the Illusione Ultra - it was a candy-bar sweetness, and fairly pleasant, but without the ass-kicking nicotine I experienced when I smoked the Ultra. The draw was still too open. I called it medium flavor and strength so far, with no signs of changing.

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Final Third
I picked up some cooking spice in the last couple inches, maybe clove. I also tasted a caramel sweetness, some chocolate, and hints of a sweet fruit - think peach or nectarine. Required multiple relights and touchups.

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Overall Impression
I got this from a B&M, and I'm surprised I didn't notice how ugly this particular cigar was when I picked it up. Wrinkling and big, gluey patch jobs? C'mon. If the cigar had burned well, I would have gotten past the looks. But it didn't. I had to relight 2-3 times, and I lost count of how many times I had to retouch the burn line.

On the positive side, the flavors were pretty good, especially if you like sweetness. The candy bar nougat is a taste I don't get from many cigars besides another Illusione (the Ultra), and if you like that flavor you can get it here without getting knocked out by the nicotine punch. Honestly though, I did find myself hoping for a little more pepper, especially in the final third, as the sweetness and fruit flavors came in strong. I happened to notice that this cigar uses the same binder leaves as the My Father La Antiguedad - Corojo and Criollo. I didn't feel like there were many, if any, similarities in taste though.

The peril of smoking only 1 cigar for a review is sometimes you get one like this that's probably not representative of the brand as a whole - my other experiences with the Ultra, Cruzado, and Rothschild have been good. Good enough in fact that I'm sure I'll try another one of these at some point just to be sure. A couple months ago Tyler (Merovious) specifically recommended this cigar in this vitola, so that alone is worth giving it another shot.

Followup notes: After my bad experience here, DBragg bombed me another one (along with a bunch of great cigars). I enjoyed the next one much more, and would easily recommend grabbing a 5-er.

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