I was lucky enough to snag the last one at my B&M today! The band is very simple and classy IMO and love it. The cigar itself is fairly firm but well constructed with very little veins running through it; triple caps and very well placed (no over lapping very well spaced).

Prelight: The smell of it reminds me of B&M walk in humidor mixed with barn mixed with... poop? Not a vulgar poop though... like a very mild barn yard kinda poop.. i'm confused by it, the overall smell is very mild and hard to pick up. To be honest i'm not getting much taste either but the draw is nice.

first few puffs: Some vanilla and spices, i wanna say more some cracked black pepper, and spice wise a little more on the exotic side. There definitely is a very harsh taste to it. I can't tell what it is but it doesn't taste right and isn't very pleasant. The smoke is ok, nothing special and the draw is good.

Well Usually i post at every 1/3rd, but not this time. I'm about 1/8th of the way through and for starters, this cigar definitely could use some rest! The cigar keeps changing its mind some puffs will be full of cream, exotic spices and that wonderful illusione taste we all fell in love with. Then other puffs are very harsh which bite the tongue and you can't really make much of it besides, unpleasant. Just got a puff of sour :-). Sweet and sour ok... but sour and cream is not a fun taste to have lingering in your mouth.
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1/3 of the way in: To be completely honest, and it hurts me to say this about an illusione, I am not happy with this cigar and wish i had pulled a different one to smoke. BUT every batch has it's off cigars and hopefully this was one of them. Luckily i have my knob creek to chase this with, i'm refusing to give up on this cigar and want to give it some more time before i put it out. Scratch that, even my knob creek now has a nasty aftertaste.
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Almost half way and i have to put this cigar down, its become way to bitter and sour with very little flavors outside of that. Every now and then i'll manage to taste some vanilla or cream but with pretty over powering swamp a$$ taste as well. It ashed itself very prematurely as well maybe at 1/4 of an inch and again at 1/2 an inch.

Putting this one down, saddens me that even with such a great company as illusione, off sticks do occur; i'm chalking this one up to the beetles and blaming them for possible eggs!
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Sucks brother...:-)
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I just picked up a 5er and hopefully I have better luck!
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if they taste and are what i feel like they are/should be, try letting them rest for a few months but i would try one first cause i tend to be wrong :-)
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Ryan...the beetles statement confused me. Are you saying this stick had beetles in it? :-) :-)
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Thats what i'm telling myself cause i refuse to believe this was illusiones fault.
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MK Ultra.. that's a pretty screwed up name if you ask me, considering what the name itself actually represents... :-)


Thanks for the review man.
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Got to try a box pressed version at the IPCPR and thought it was wonderful. Sorry yours didnt work out to your liking.
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First one I smoked was godawful, but I was so ready for it that I smoked it right after they arrived. Had a very wet mildewy taste that was horrible.

I yanked the other one out for lunch after seeing this review, and I'm far more impressed. Just 5 days in a dry box and the smoke is infinitely more enjoyable. I imagine after a few months of proper storage in the 61-63% range this smoke will be all it cracked up to be.
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Seems like the first wave of these sold out quick. Maybe Dion has been pushing them out the door lately to keep up? I just got a couple and they do seem pretty moist. Gonna let them rest for a while.
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Yea if I can find more definitely gonna let them rest for a bit
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