Cigar Preview: Illusione Maduro Line hl, cg4, 88, 888 and mj12 (Part 23 of the 2011 IPCPR Series)

For Illusione Cigars, the 2011 IPCPR marked the launch of a highly anticipated new extension to his core line – Illusione Maduro blends.

Maduro is not something new to Illusione chief Dion Giolito. Last year, he introduced a maduro wrapper on his highly successful Illusione -hl- (lancero). This would prove to be highly successful. In fact, I consider the Illusione hl Maduro to be the best lancero vitola I ever had.

From a packaging standpoint, Illusione has made a change. The new maduros will not contain the white and black bands that are so identified with Illusione. The maduros will have red background and gold lettering. The foil wrapped mj12 will feature a darker foil wrap. The vitola names will have the same names as their core counterparts.

Blend Profile

The Illusione Maduros will feature a San Andreas wrapper – something that has been used on the Illusione – hl- Maduro already. As I’ve said many times, tobaccos from San Andreas make for some of the best maduro wrappers.

Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The Maduros won’t cover the whole core line. Here is what is planned when the cigars ship this fall:

hl: 7 1/2 x 40
cg4: 5 5/8 x 48
88: 5 x 52
888: 6 3/4 x 48
mj12: 6 x 54