Illusione Garagiste

Fans of Illusione Cigars are well-accustomed to cigar titles that, shall we say, take some practice to pronounce with confidence. Take, for example, the Illusione Garagiste: which is a French word meaning mechanic or garage owner, pronounced ga·ra·jist. The name stems from wine culture, where rebellious winemakers of France began crafting non-traditional Bordeaux-style wines essentially in their garages. Similar to the craft beer beginnings that have now taken over the U.S., garagistes introduced fuller, high-alcohol variants of the more traditional Bordeaux style.

With Illusione owner, Dion Giolito, being fond of the approach—sharing a similar love of the boutique mindset—the Illusione Garagiste cigar was born. Like nearly all Illusione cigars, the Garagiste is rolled in small batches at the Aganorsa Leaf factory in Estelí, making use of the factory's associated AGANORSA tobaccos of Nicaragua. This includes Criollo ’98 and Corojo ’99 leaves throughout the binder and filler, though the wrapper is a AAA-Grade Colorado Habano leaf from Ecuador. The cigar is amped up slightly from Illusione's medium-bodied tendencies, showing a darker profile of raw peppercorn, toasted caramel, black licorice, chocolate malt, and worn leather.