HL Illusione - "Holy Lancero"

20100312 HL Illusione

I pulled a little background info (see bullets below) off this fellow's fine review at InTheHumdior.com, as well as one of his pictures of the band, which I had a hard time capturing with the little camera I was using.

• Wrapper:Nicaraguan Puro
• Binder:Nicaraguan Puro
• Filler:Nicaraguan Puro
• Size: 7 1/2″ x 40

Appearance - 6 \ just too thin (lancero) for my taste, and although the HL and illusione on the label were a cool dan-brown-illuminati style, it wasn't as cool with the rest of its plainness.
Burn - 8 \ quite good. It was a little off but never had to touch it up.
Draw - 9 \ great. Bordering on a little tight, but it made the stick last alittle longer, which was enjoyable.
Plumage - 9 \ fantastic, especially for a thinner cigar like this. Dense orbs of amoke with a rich and spicy aroma.
Flavor - 10 \ Excellent. See below. Much more flavor and strength than I expected.
Overall - 10 \ Just an awesome cigar.
Rt scale - 4 \ This makes it into that "top of the top" category of cigars for me.

Spicy, bold and full-flavored, especially for a lancero. A hint of edginess and bite that I actually liked because it didn't go too far and become bitterness. Somehow, with all that I might have detected a hint of caramel in it, but maybe that was the coffee residue in my mouth - though I wasn't drinking flavored joe or anything. It was raining and dark, with the temperature dropping as I watched the concrete ramp glisten before the open doors. Smoked while watching Chuck season 3 in the smokeshack until the battery died. I'm gonna need to work on that problem...