Cigars are all about mixing. No matter what step of the process you’re at, you’re going to have to start creating interesting combinations if you want to make something worthwhile. It could be seed from one nation in the soil of another. It could be high primings with low primings. It could be aged tobacco with young leaf. Or it could be a mind-blowing infusion.
No matter what it is, you have to cross one thing with another. In Spanish, “crossed” is “cruzado,” which brings us to this cigar.
The Illusione Cruzado is a Nicaraguan puro which combines two classic tobacco varietals: Criollo and Corojo. And as the story goes, these two kinds of tobacco have been in contention with one another for ages. Criollo was one of the first industry-leading wrapper leaves. There was a time in Cuba when almost any blend would be finished with it. But a new leaf from the Santa Ines del Corojo farm arose from the dirt and knocked it off the top spot. It had a nice spicy punch and people loved it. There were some issues, however, with its susceptibility to plant disease. So when shade-grown Criollo helped that kind of tobacco come roaring back, folks welcomed it with open arms.
There’s no need to have war between the two varietals, of course, given that they go so nicely together! Our thanks go out to Dion Giolito, owner of Illusione and chief blender, for reminding us of that fact yet again.
More specifically, the Illusione Cruzado is a Nicaraguan puro that features a long-filler blend of Nicaraguan Criollo '98, primarily, and some select Corojo '99. This core blend is wrapped in a “AAA Grade” Corojo Rosado leaf. The smoke is medium to full-bodied, with scrumptious flavors of raisin, cinnamon, of course, Nicaraguan red pepper. This cigar earned an impressive 92 rating from the judges at Cigar Aficionado, who’ve had quite a number of crossed blends in their time, and know a quality one when they smoke it.
Please browse our selection of Illusione Cruzado cigars at your leisure.
