Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Illusione Group of Five SE is an average looking cigar. Solid cap applied to the cigar. Natural to Colorado in coloring and is slightly firm. There is a little bit of give to the cigar. Aromas on the cigar are that of tobacco, wood and spices. The coloring is that of aged wood.
John: The Illusione Group of Five SE has a Colorado color wrapper. I weighed the cigar at 19.9 grams and measured the humidity with the Humidimeter Pro at 58.9%. Aromas from the wrapper were light-plus strength dry wood and hay. From the foot, I was getting faint sweet berry, tobacco and hay.
Jiunn: The Illusione Group of Five SE has a wrapper with a lighter Colorado red with darker brown spots throughout. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give cedar and faint campfire.

Illusione Group of Five SE

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with some dry wood and earth notes. There are herbal spices presented with the blend, and some tobacco and barnyard notes on the finish. There is a long finish with the cigar. I would classify the strength and body as medium.
John: The first third gets going with wood leading off, joined by herbal tobacco sweetness and a muted pepper. Wood carries the profile into the post draw, where it’s joined by delayed dry wood. As the cigar settles in, pepper steps up to just over medium strength through the retrohale, followed by earthy tobacco. A minty vegetable note joins the center of the profile at medium strength as the first third continues. Some bread and general pastry notes sit just underneath the vegetable component as the cigar moves toward the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third gives a decent mixture of cedar and generic sweetness and creaminess from roasted nuts. Retrohaling gives way to introducing spice via dried red pepper spice. The finish is short with cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Illusione Group of Five SE

Second Third

Seth: The second third is in line with the first, but more intense. The strength hasn’t increased, but the flavors are more pronounced. Stronger dry wood and earth notes. The herbal spices are much more present, with the barnyard and tobacco profile on the finish. There is a very long finish with the cigar, and it lingers on the palate. Medium in strength with a medium-full body.
John: The second third leads with herbal earth and dry wood, with the dry wood lingering through the finish and joined by mild pepper. The dryness intensifies through the post draw to just over medium strength. As the second third settles in, tannins accent the wood at medium-minus strength through the finish. Bread notes return to the center of the retrohale at light strength. Bitter hay joins the post draw as the cigar moves toward the halfway point, with the bitterness continuing to intensify through the bottom half. As the tannins on the finish begin to fade, the bitterness becomes more prominent. Light sweet tobacco joins the end of the draw approaching the last third, but it’s not enough to offset the increasing bitterness.
Jiunn: Smoking through the second third, there’s a faint bitterness off cedar wood. This makes the finish much longer but not in a pleasant manner. Strength and body remains medium.

Illusione Group of Five SE

Final Third

Seth: The final third is in line with the second. There is not an increase like the first to the second, but it remains in line with the second. Long finish.
John: The last third opens with herbal dry wood, with the dryness intensifying through the finish and lingering between each puff. Dry wood leads as a combination of bitter hay and wood defines the profile moving forward. The post draw bitterness intensifies to medium, approaching medium-full strength, and brings with it an acrid quality as the cigar reaches the halfway point of the final third.
Jiunn: The final third is unchanged from the second third. Still the same over-arching mild bitterness off cedar wood. The draws at this point seem a bit too monotonous and disengaging. Strength and body finish the same medium.

Illusione Group of Five SE

Burn

Seth: The burn was very good from start to finish.
John: The burn was relatively straight through the first third. It continued straight at the start of the second third but became wavy and formed a canoe that required a touch-up to correct. There was waviness through the last third, but it did not require further intervention.
Jiunn: Average burn performance due to a couple heavy touch-ups on the wrapper within the first two thirds.

Illusione Group of Five SE

Draw

Seth: The draw was somewhat loose.
John: I measured the draw at 42 inches of water with the Cigar Medics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be one notch towards the resistant spectrum, sitting just inside the ideal range.
Jiunn: Great draw, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Illusione Group of Five SE was an average cigar. It has a familiar blend, but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s not a blend I would seek out in the future, but I imagine it is a budget friendly cigar that has a good following. The flavor profile is on the dryer side, which I am not against, but it didn’t have that Caribbean tobacco flavor profile. This is not a cigar I am eager to smoke again but interested in discovering. I can see myself buying one of these cigars just to smoke and experience.
John: This cigar started with some interesting and promising elements but ultimately took a sharp turn in the wrong direction as it progressed. The first third offered a layered profile, with herbal tobacco sweetness, a solid wood backbone and some unique nuances like the minty vegetable note and underlying pastry qualities. It wasn’t overly complex, but it had enough going on to keep things engaging early. Unfortunately, that balance didn’t hold. Moving into the second third, the profile became increasingly dry and tannic, with bitterness beginning to creep in and steadily build. While there were brief attempts at balance, like the return of bread notes or touches of sweet tobacco, they were quickly overshadowed by the growing dryness and bitterness on the post draw. The final third is where the experience really unraveled. The bitterness intensified significantly and took on an acrid edge, dominating the profile and washing out any remaining nuance. What started as a somewhat intriguing and layered cigar ultimately devolved into a harsh, wood and bitter driven experience that lacked balance and refinement. From a construction standpoint, the cigar performed fairly well, with only minor burn issues and an excellent draw. However, the performance couldn’t make up for the decline in flavor. In the end, this Illusione Group of Five SE is a cigar that shows early potential but fails to maintain it, with the latter half significantly detracting from the overall experience. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 21 minutes.
Jiunn: This was not a cohesive blend. The wood bitterness in itself as a flavor can give a cigar a boost in complexities, but with this cigar, it was a main focal point. On top of that, the Illusione Group of Five SE didn’t really have anything else going for it. No doubt a pass for me.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.20

Cost/Point

$3.58

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

4.58

Cost/Point

$4.06

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.45

Cost/Point

$3.41

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Illusione Group of Five SE