Jellyfish.

Hearst’s Castle.

Santa Barbara today.

Panties in the bushes. Courtesy of the neighbor ladies upstairs. Classy.

I have no idea what’s going on here.

Illusione 888

Last Friday, my friend Patrick and I, both having the day off because of the July 4th holiday, decided that instead of our midnight walks, we were going to go down to SB Cigar & Tobacco (our local cigar shop) and smoke one in their smoke room. Seeing that we both had plenty of time on our hands, we chose a brand that both of us had been eye-balling for awhile, but had never tried. Illusione.

Let me start off by saying that I love how they name their cigars. They just use small letters and numbers. Simple. Unique. It’s great.

The Start & Cut

Cigar is 6 3/4” long, with a ring gauge of 48. A much longer cigar than I’m typically used to. Like I said, we both had some time. The wrapper, filler, binder, all from Nicaragua. I took very little off the cut to see how well the draw would come out and it came out great. The wrapper was a dark cappuccino, it smelled great, and the cold draw had hints of chocolate. Not to mention, Matt (the cigar shop owner) had already gotten my hopes up with his typical smile over a cigar he thought was truly worth remembering. This was going to be a long let down if something about the cigar didn’t pan out for me.

The Toast & Burn

Patrick was the first to light up and he doesn’t comment very often after the first draw, but when he does, it’s a good sign. My excitement doubled right around this point, so I stopped fiddling with my effing phone and lit the bad boy up.

Oh man. I remember thinking I’ve only had a draw, but I’m in love. I had only thought the same about one other cigar (Arturo Fuente King B Torpedo) and it had since become my go-to smoke. Good signs.

The Smoke & Taste

The smoke was amazingly consistent for a cigar so long. The body was full (but not too strong). I found the first third surprisingly mild after a few draws.

The 888 really started opening up in the second and last thirds of the cigar. And the kick of the cigar slowly ramps up as the smoke comes along. I didn’t notice so much while I was smoking it, but after the cigar was over and I stood up for the first time, I realized that I was lightly buzzed.

You sneaky bastard.

The Score

I’m going to give the cigar a score of 97 out of 100. The price was great for Santa Barbara, just $11. The smoke was great. Deceivingly complex in the latter parts of the tobacco, a mild cappuccino taste with a nice body in the first third. If you have some time to sit down and give this cigar a go, you won’t be disappointed.

I know I wasn’t.

Sometimes, it feels like the world is flipping me off.

Montecristo No. 2 (Dominican Blend)

Last Friday’s selection was the Dominican version of the Montecristo No. 2, procured by Patrick Kovacich, my Friday night cigar friendo. Every week, Patrick and I take turns picking out the cigar we’re going to smoke and in light of the fact that I’m now posting about my cigars, he deemed it best to take me back to Cigar 101. I had never smoked a Montecristo before last Friday, which in hindsight, was weird.

The Start & Cut

Cigar is 6” long, with a ring gauge of 52. And to be honest, these specs are right where I like my cigar to be. Torpedos are my preferred roll of choice. Not sure why, but that’s my speed. Like I mentioned before, the binder and filler are both from the Dominican Republic. The kicker is that the wrapper for this cigar comes from Connecticut.

Yeah. You heard me. Connecticut.

Moving on. The cut was clean. I should have taken more off the end than I did, because the draw was a little tighter than I liked.

The Toast & Burn

The burn was nothing short of the quality you expect from a Montecristo. Completely even, the ash looked like Sweden on the end of my cigar because it was as white as Christmas snow. I did find that as the ash built up, the cigar would mellow. So if you want to keep the bouquet of the cigar as strong as when you first lit it, keep the ash off the end and you’ll be fine.

The Smoke & Taste

The thing about this Montecristo is that the consistency was impeccable. The first third of the cigar was almost indistinguishable from the last third of the cigar. As I mentioned before regarding the ash buildup, keeping your ash off this cigar will keep the bouquet tasting more like a full-body. Let the ash build up and the cigar mellows.
The taste of the cigar was unique. I want to say that tasted a bit like tea and espresso, but there was a lot of spice in the cigar that I couldn’t make out. When you light up, the taste hits you like an 18-wheeler. But it was pleasant. A lot more body and not nearly as bland as last week’s, Tatuaje Unicos Torpedo.

The Score

I’m going to give the cigar a score of 92 out of 100. The price was atypical for this cigar. In most places, I believe $14-$15 is standard, but in Santa Barbara, you’re going to pay $20.

The things going for this cigar is the binding (it was an exceptional role), the body and the consistency of the smoke. Considering the price here, I don’t see myself smoking a Montecristo No. 2 more than once every 2 - 3 months.

With that being said, it was a great cigar. Completely unique from other smokes out of the Dominican Republic, and that’s saying something.

Photo from the Natural History Museum in Santa Barbara.