PCA 2024: Illusione Cigars

If you are a fan of Illusione Cigars, there was a lot to be excited about at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. New packaging for Epernay was on display, and other things are in the pipeline. The retro-style Illusione-branded slot machine displayed at the booth was pretty cool, too.

While the Epernay repackaging was announced before PCA, it was nice to see it in person. Epernay is the latest brand in the Illusione portfolio to undergo a packaging change. The other lines include Original Documents, Ultra, Singulare, and Cigares Prive. Notably, unlike Original Documents, which changed vitola names, the Epernay vitola names remained the same.

The Illusione Epernay 10th Anniversary and Illusione Epernay Le Voyage, two of the more memorable releases, have new packaging.

Furthermore, two new releases from Illusione weren’t on display. Both of these upcoming releases are shrouded in mystery. First, the OneOff Black Robusto, which measures 5 x 52, is the initial installment of what the company calls the “Illusione Limited Release Series.” The Black Robusto incorporates tobacco from a varietal seed that hasn’t been grown in Nicaragua until recently. Illusione Cigars’ owner Dion Giolito set aside a specific tobacco priming of that tobacco and aged it for three years. The factory produced 1,000 ten-count boxes of the Illusione OneOff Black Robusto. The cigars have a price point of $16.95.

Image Credit: Illusione Cigars

Second, Illusione introduced a series of five regular-production cigars known as The Group of Five. RB is the first installment and is a 5 x 52 Robusto. RB is a blend of Criollo ’98 and Corojo ’99 tobaccos that utilize a higher priming Viso from a new varietal seed that has only recently been grown in Nicaragua. The RB comes in 15-count boxes, with the cigars priced at $16.95 each.