Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP ~$8.00
- Purchased at Lord Puffer Cigars, Escondido, CA
Background
At the 2016 IPCPR trade show, Illusione announced a major expansion of their distribution, which included making previous Limited Edition cigars regular production items. One of those LEs was the Cigares Prive—“Private Cigars”—which were originally made as store exclusives. Even with this expansion, I honestly hadn’t come across anyone carrying the blend in the last 3 years until I visited Lord Puffer Cigars in Escondido, California, this past October. I decided to grab one while I was there, so I could do a review on it.
Cigares Prive is made in the same factory as Aganorsa Leaf products, using their tobaccos. For that reason, it’s not surprising that the cigar is all Nicaraguan with a Corojo wrapper (or that the Maduro version uses a San Andres Maduro). They are available in 3 sizes in each of the wrapper types.
This is my first experience with this blend. If your local shop doesn’t carry Illusione Cigares Prive (like I said, not many do), Small Batch Cigar (a Leaf Enthusiast sponsor) does. I got news information for this background section from Cigar-Coop.
Prelight
This release continues the typical Illusione branding: a plain wooden, slide-top box with dark-print cliches on several sides, plus a small fairly plain band. The original bands on Illusione were white with black trim and type. The next variation I remember was the Maduro that had gold print and dark red background, along with the same black trim. The Ultra series had a basic reversal of the original, with black background and white type. Cigares Prive has a dark blue background with white type and trim.
The wrapper leaf of the Cigares Prive was a medium brown with a touch of red in it and a little bit of darker mottling in places. It had a decent oiliness to the touch and an aroma that mixed hay with cedar and manure. The foot had a cleaner earthiness with a touch of sweetness.
Prelight draw was good and tasted of cedar, sweet hay and natural tobacco.
Flavor
Fired up, the Cigares Prive had notes of pepper and wood, with a little sweet hay and earth coming up behind that. The retrohale was especially hot, with cayenne pepper mixing with roasted nuts and cedar. Subsequent puffs got some saltiness and more nuttiness on the palate. The first third continued nice, but fairly undistinguished.
In the second third, the blend really started to come to life, though, as there was increased sweetness, mixing with the savory saltiness. That was backed up by roasted nuts, cedar, and just enough pepper spice to keep things lively.
That same mix of nuttiness, woodiness, and pepperiness kept up throughout the final third, with a nice sweetness as a counterpoint.
Construction
I had a good draw, very solid ash up to an inch, and a straight-enough burn line.
Value
Very good cigar at a price tag slightly less than average, so good value.
Conclusions
The first third of the Cigares Prive was a little pedestrian, but it really picked up the pace during the second third, and never let up, delivering a very nice medium-bodied Nicaraguan blend with plenty of expected spice punching up the complex notes of nuts and wood and molasses sweetness. I’m glad I got to try this cigar and would definitely pick it up in the future.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
