well i read this post earlier today and was at my local shop so i picked up a illusion mk-clipped it, lit it and the first draw was EXCELLENT-spicy powerful leather bomb, but than it just DIED! i mean dead-no flavor, no spice, nothing. it was just like smoking air from draw two until i put it down (3/4 of the way through the stick). yes it did give off huge amounts of smoke, which is a good thing in my book. this stick was very loose and almost mushy. needless to say i was highly disappointed. i may have gotten a bad stick, so i will try another at some point.

You are correct EC...i realized that right after I posted it and quickly edited the post to renig what I had said. Guess you were all over it and caught it before I edited. Sorry!

I forgot to mention, Mark at www.towercigars.com is good too. I ordered a box of Illusione CG:4 from him before my local B&M started stocking them. Nice guy, very good service. Fast, too...3 days from CA to PA.

Does anyone know if I could purchase these in the Dallas area? I'd rather buy in person but I'll buy online if I have to. I checked their website it doesnt appear to have any dealers in the Dallas area.

The list on the website seems pretty up-to-date as far as my area goes. Looks like Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Cristi are as close as you're going to get. I'd again suggest Mark at Tower Cigars -- www.towercigars.com -- since he's so close to Texas. He sells singles of Illusione and lots of other hard to find brands and you'll probably get your cigars in a day or two.

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Does anyone know if I could purchase these in the Dallas area? I'd rather buy in person but I'll buy online if I have to. I checked their website it doesnt appear to have any dealers in the Dallas area.

You can do a little - not much better - than that. The B&M in College Station has some. If you come down here, I might even be persuaded to show you around and buy you one.

Oh, and I know for a fact that my favorite Dallas smoke shop (up in smoke) does not have them... not sure about others.

Did you find anything dstokely?

hey guys sorry I forgot about this thread just now. I called some people in Dallas and to no avail. I think I will end up settling for an online dealer. Thank you extensioncord for the recommendations. And jiggedyjared, I might just take you up on that sometime next semester

I was on vacation in Phoenix, AZ when I stumbled into an remarkable cigar shop, Shades of Havana. I was talking to one of the owners Mark, who is VERY knowledgeable. I picked up a eccj, which only 300 boxes we're made for a eurpoean company. I just got home and ordered the last box from a website.

The store can't keep any of the illusione brands in stock. Also to my amusement they had the black label of Tatuajeu (sp) cigars there.

I just smoked an Illusione mk. It was incredible, especially given that it was $6. I also picked up a cg4, can't wait to try it!

I could not wait any more. 20 minutes into my cg4. So far it is good, but I think yesterday's mk had a little more flavor. We'll see how they compare up in another hour.

Zman, I smoke the CG when I want to get my butt kicked a little more. To me, the MK has more complexity, less strength. Smoke em all slow and try an ECCJ if you can. Different than both the CG and MK

I really like them both. My only complaint with the cg4 was that mine could not hold an ash. Twice, an ash less than an inch fell on my lap. No big deal, considering how good it tasted. Definately a cigar to add to my rotation. mbrody, I definately want to try the eccj and the Holy Lance.

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You can do a little - not much better - than that. The B&M in College Station has some. If you come down here, I might even be persuaded to show you around and buy you one.

This B&M, I'm sorry to say, is horrible. I have had one terrible customer service problem after the other, not to mention their rather small stock. Personally, I will not spend another penny with them and would rather have my stuff mailed to me either online or from another B&M, which I have grown to like. It really is unfortunate.

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This B&M, I'm sorry to say, is horrible. I have had one terrible customer service problem after the other, not to mention their rather small stock. Personally, I will not spend another penny with them and would rather have my stuff mailed to me either online or from another B&M, which I have grown to like. It really is unfortunate.

Well, keep in mind that it's been open less than a year, and it takes considerable time to get cigar vendors to let you sell their stuff in the store. For example, the A. Fuente Maduros, the illusiones, the DPGs, and many others must be bought from somewhere else or are from the owners' private collection, because the cigar makers won't let them sell in the store. The owners are also still college students at A&M and very nice guys if you get to know them.

It's certainly not perfect, but seriously it's actually a pretty fun place to hang out. I've gone late at night after the store is closed with friends and the owner has just let us hang out, smoke, and drink beers knowing we weren't going to buy anything. I'd tell you to give it another chance.

You live in CS, joshn?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jiggedyjared,

I took your advice and gave it another shot. This was a much better experience than previous ones.
Yes I do live in CS.

First of all, Thank You Dion. Impeccable smokes!!! One peeve I have are the multiple pronunciations I have heard for "Illusione" I guess I'm all about the details. From a previous e-mail to Mr. Giolito himself, here is some info for you all: It is the Italian pronunciation "ee-loo-zee-ohn-ay." Anyway just want to say I have tried most of them save for the M7, and 23. Am absolutely loving the beautiful hl "holy lance" Unique and amazing. I guess judging by some other posts, I am lucky that I have been able to get the complete line at my favorite Minneapolis/St. Paul shops for many months now. Enjoy them!!!

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
-Hunter S. Thompson

I've tried the cg:4. Great cigar. The draw was stiff, but i just massaged the head between my thumb and forefinger (I know... this is gettign pornographic) and it opened up producing lots of smoke. After that the draw as great. Spicy cigar that's easy to smoke.

Highly recommend it.

I just tried a HL last night and it was a mighty tasty smoke I must say. It started with the taste of pepper, and ended very flavorful more of a creamy taste. It got stronget in strength as I smoked it I thought. During the first 1/3 of the cigar it barely held any ash, as I contunied to smoke it, the ash seemed to hold better.

I think the HL is a close second to the eccj. Least that's my oppion, still have to try the 88 and cg4

I picked up a 68 and a Holy Lance today. I smoked the 68 and must say I was a little disappointed. After the mk and cg4 that I smoked last week, the 68 did not meet my expecations. Hopefully the hl does not let me down!