Cruzado Avalitos
4X46
by Illusione

Aesthetics/Pre-light construction: This is a good looking stick, short and stubby with a triple cap that’s pig-tailed. Nice job. The Criollo wrapper on this bad boy was dark and showed a slight oily sheen, with a few veins, but very attractive. I like the fact that this short roubusto is hefty in the hand and very firm for foot to cap.

Post-light Construction/Burn Characteristics: This has a perfect draw, just a hint of resistance, and producing mouthfuls of smoke. The burn wavered a bit, but never ran, and the dark grey ash held firmly till I coaxed it off.
Flavor/Strength: I was a bit surprised by this stick as it exhibited strong pepper almost to the point of harsh at the beginning. It needed a good ½-3/4” to smooth out (I’m not sure that’s something I want to wait on with a cigar this size). Initially, spice and pepper predominate and snorking brought tears to my eyes, literally. As I reached the inch mark this smoothed out some and was very enjoyable as I love a complex cigar with some bite, but this flirted with too much. As it continued, I found myself enjoying the complexity and shifting flavors, seeming to go from spice to sweet to caramel, and the spices that I just couldn’t seem to identify. I must admit, that this is an intriguing stick, as there are flavors here I really couldn’t identify – or it might just have been that so much was happening at the same time. As far as being milder than the Illusione, I’m not sure who is smoking what, but that isn’t the case here. (As an aside, I think that some of harshness at the beginning might have been the youth of this cigar as I only had it for a week before smoking – some humidor time might have smoothed it out a bit.)

Aroma: I must say that I really enjoyed the “room note” this cigar produced. Here’s where the spice really seemed to shine and chocolate ephemerally played with my olfactory senses.

Finish: Bold and sassy in the mouth and nose, but the finish was gone along with the smoke. OK, so that’s an exaggeration, but the finish was very short.

Recommendation/Value: I don’t like to do number ratings, maybe I should adopt halos for my ratings as a pastor. I don’t know if that’s a good way to do it either, because some use stars. I like to keep my cigar prices around $3.00 a stick, and this one made me bend those rules a bit – and it was well worth it. This is a stick I will visit again in the future and if I can find them for near $6.00 a cigar.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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My findings: When these are fresh they do taste as strong as the regular line. With a little more age on them they smooth out a lot and develop a better roasted, aged flavor. I am hardly EVER a fan of older NC's; I tend to like them at their strongest but this cigar is the exception. I've been loving the corona gorda size of this cigar now that they have been sitting for a while at my favorite B&M. I can't resist grabbing one or two when I'm in there.
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Thanks for the review.
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Thanks for the review brother!!
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I have yet to try any of the Cruzados but they're definitely on my radar as are the Epernays. I like the Illusione line more and more with each one I smoke.

Good review Rev.
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Also wanted to share that the older Epernays are starting to taste more and more like the original ECCJs, which is AWESOME!
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Thanks for your review!

When I can find them, I too really enjoy the Cruzado Avalitos
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newhavanacigars has them
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Gotta say, Cruzados are up there on my top smokes! Nice review Rev. Sometimes I enjoy reviews without the pictures, makes me actually relive the cigar.
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Cruzado and illusione are definitely up there on my list, just wish that ci would carry them.
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Great review!!! Very descriptive!!!:-)

These are fantastic!!!:-)
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