Thursday, May 17, 2018

Illusione Cigars Garagiste in Gordo - Cigar Review by Kaplowitz


"The new line is named Garagiste, which is the name given to a group of winemakers in the Bordeaux region of France who emerged in the mid-1990s that produce “garage wines” in reaction to the traditional style that had been prevalent in the past. The blend of the cigar incorporates an Ecuadorian habano wrapper as well as corojo viso and criollo viso tobaccos, both of which originate from a specific farm in the AGANORSA fields of Nicaragua." Halfwheel (2016)

Cigar Aficionado rated this offering a 90.

The co. site says of it: "A blend of Nicaraguan Criollo '98 and Corojo '99, with an emphasis on Ligeros from 2 regions. It's finished with a Capa Fina'grade AAA Colorado Habano Ecuador wrapper. Medium to full-bodied."

I smoked this Garagiste blend in Episode 40 of Kaplowitz Radio. Live from my Cari Porte. Illusione is a sponsor of mine, which has nothing to do with nothing. Smoke more Illusione. Fucking, please?

Thank-you.

Ten Things About This Stick:

  1. Overtones of bitter Oolong tea leaves & bracing Maplewood ride tandem with a residual maple syrup and black pepper sweetness, alongside nutmeg. Sweet earth and grain undertones. 
  2. Top-soil & pumpernickel -- dark chocolate shavings, too. why not?
  3. Notes are dark and deep. Dark and Deep simply must be the name of a porno, no?
  4. Roasted? Yup. Toasted? Yeah. Charred? You betcha.
  5. Soft and strong. I rate the texture of smoke to be: Sumo.
  6. Smoothly textured, too. Some heightened temp in the mouth and upon the hand.
  7. Finishes a bit short and ends with a charcoal lilt.
  8. Nicely complex, but loses some dat in second-half.
  9. A runner threatens twice, then goes plum out at the half; then keeps wanting to go out. Torchings add a sharp bite. Big tsuris re: construction. Ash is quite flaky on top of it.
  10. Construction is verily soft of packing but evenly-so. The draw is open and quite hesitant.

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Habano
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

STRENGTH: Medium-Full
FORMAT: Gordo
ORIGIN: Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A., Nicaragua

FINAL GRADE: B-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

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