Recent years have seen the rise of the truly independent cigar maker; men who have created fantastic cigars and booming companies from the ground up. These visionaries have been able to accomplish what many of us can merely dream- to tailor a cigar perfectly to one’s own taste. The multitudes who spend their hard-earned time and money in pursuit of these cigars constitute the most irrefutable proof of the talent that went in to their production.
  Blog of the Leaf is proud to present an interview with one of the most prolific and intriguing examples of these Young Turks of the cigar world. Dion Giolito’s Illusione Cigars immediately created a well-deserved buzz when they began to appear in Brick and Mortar cigar shops across the country. With their dark, satiny wrappers and thought-provoking imagery; Illusione cigars look fantastic. But the real story is in the smoke. Light up a Magdala and experience the sophisticated power of Dion’s blending genius. Put flame to The Holy Lance and take in the richness and complexity of Illusione’s choice Nicaraguan wrapper. Each different shape provides a unique smoking experience while remaining ever true to Dion’s vision. Fire up your favorite Illusione and enjoy a brief window into the philosophy of a truly great cigar maker.

Anejomofo: What characteristics of Nicaraguan tobacco made it the right choice for the cigar you sought to create?

Dion Giolito: I’ve always been fond of Nicaraguan tobacco. It’s the taste profile that most suits my palate over all other countries. It’s bold, bright, clean, no bullshit flavor.

AM: What flavors and qualities would you like to develop further in your cigars?

DG: That’s a difficult one. I’ve already achieved everything I really wanted to in Illusione with regards to those two points. From here on out, it’s more of a “style” aspect that I would approach future blends.

AM: Do you have any plans to release Illusiones with a variety of different wrappers?

DG: There’s already one with a different cover leaf which is the e c c j. It’s the cigar I made for European Cigar Cult Journal’s 15 year anniversary. The blend was tempered to compliment the cover leaf and to be more receptive to the European palate. The cover leaf is Corojo, café Rosado/Rosado claro and comes from a different farm than the wrapper that’s on Illusione.

AM: The last decade or so has seen a rise in upstart, premium cigar brands. A sort of “cult of personality” now exists as the likes of Pete Johnson and Don Pepin Garcia become known as much for their charisma as their cigars. Where do you and your cigars fit in to this trend?

DG: I think that certain publications like to play up that sort of thing to create a personality of sorts to befit the cigar. It’s been done with Avo, Rocky, Zino, Paul Garmirian etc. I just think it kind of goes hand in hand with many types of a business marketing approach, not just cigars.

AM: What is your favorite part of the cigar-making process?

DG: Actually getting out to the aging barns and going through the giant stacks/hands of tobacco called pilones. It’s where you can really get specific about which components are suitable for production. We go from pile to pile and just roll up little cigars to sample each component i.e. viso, seco , ligero etc. I’m extremely fortunate as a brand owner to be involved at this level of selection. It is also where you can literally select the best of the best before anyone else has a chance to review it before it goes to Pre industirias for sale. Pre industrias are like a market place for tobacco where factories and buyers go to get leaf.

AM: What role do you play in the blending of your cigars?

DG: They’re my blends 100%. In the past, I’ve usually started with one specific component to build the blend around that flavor or taste profile. Along with the factory owner, the leaf man, the farmer and a trusted friend, we sit and validate various creations, take notes etc. Sometimes they agree with me, sometimes they don’t.. It just comes down to trusting your palate and your instincts – that’s the biggest part of the whole process.

AM: Aside from the Magdala, your cigars rarely stray beyond the traditional 52 ring gauge of the most hallowed Habanos. Can you comment about how you arrived at the gauge and length of your cigars? What are your feelings about the (now declining) trend toward very large ring gauge cigars?

DG: I’m all for the 54 + ring sizes to go away. I’m not a big fan. Society as a whole is also dictating the movement as well – less time to smoke, fewer places to enjoy a cigar, bans etc. I do enjoy a Churchill or a DC when time permits. There is a time and a place I believe for every size of cigar, maybe yeah, the friggin’ 6 x 60’s as well but, not for me. I like traditional sizes. The wheel didn’t need to be re-invented in this case. I think that the perfect vehicle for flavor lies between a 42 and a 46 ring.

AM: What inspired you to include a lancero size in your lineup?

DG: I had requests for both a lancero and a 6 x 60ish cigar. The choice was obvious. Besides, on a whim, I had the factory make some cigars that were a 6 x 56 just to goof on them. I hated them and hated the way the tobacco performed in that ring gauge.

AM: Where do you see your brand in 10 years?

DG: That’s for Congress to decide. I don’t believe that I truly have control over my destiny with regards to tobacco at this point.

AM: As demand for your cigars increases, what changes are made in their production?

DG: Not a single thing. First off, I can only make what the factory is capable of making me. Secondly, I’m bound to the blend. If someone comes to me and says that they can triple my sales (and they have) I tell them that it’s much more important to me to keep the integrity of the blend. Being in the retail business for almost 20 years, I’ve seen brands like mine come and go. I’ve also seen them morph into something that is completely different than the original incarnation. Screw that – my cigars are what they are and, believe me, it’s a struggle uphill every freakin’ day to keep the integrity and the consistency to my satisfaction.

AM: Is there a maximum number of cigars-per-year you believe is possible to produce while still maintaining fidelity to the quality of the small-production ideal?

DG: That really depends on the availability of the raw materials in any given year. Speaking for myself, I’d say anywhere between 500-750k cigars isn’t a stretch by any means. As for someone like Henke Kellner of Davidoff, he can literally do millions of cigars with little to no issue. The guy is a God.

AM: Aside from Illusione, what are some of your favorite cigars?

DG: Anything Vegas Robaina. I like Pete Johnson’s Tatuaje Brown Cazadores, Davidoff Gran Cru series, LFD, Ashton VSG’s, Henry Clay, Punch Rothchild double maduros. Hell, there’s really not much I’d turn my nose up at.

AM: Are there any surprises on the radar from Illusione cigars?

DG: Well, If I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it?!

AM: Finally, can you tell us a little bit about your new line of cigars?

DG: My newest line is called Cruzado. Whereas illusione is a Corojo blend with one component of Criollo, Cruzado is a Criollo blend with one component of Corojo. Illusione exhibits an earthy sweetness in the olfactory sense. The profile of Cruzado is more forward on the palate with leather and spice.

  We’d like to thank Dion for his candid and thorough responses. For more information on Illusion cigars please visit the official Illusione website. Stay tuned for more news and interviews with the people that make this lifestyle possible.

  Almost like a tired refrain from some political campaign; we hear over and over again cigars being compared to the Fuente Fuente Opus X. Is this vaunted blend truly worthy of such seemingly unqualified praise? Does the Opus X really represent a revolution in the philosophy and production of cigars? Are you, as a cigar enthusiast, missing something big if you’re not smoking Opus? Quite simply, the answer to all of these questions is an unequivocal YES!

  Accounts from our hallowed cigar lore relate that Carlos Fuente Jr, or Carlito as he is perhaps better known, was once inadvertently insulted by a well known cigar industry magnate. To paraphrase, Carlito was told that he merely assembled cigars, and that by implication, he was not a true cigar maker or grower of tobacco. Anyone who has heard Carlito speak on the subject must recognize the truly indomitable spirit he possesses. This idea that Tabacalera A. Fuente was somehow not producing important and innovative products would not stand for Carlito. As such, he undertook a project which was widely believed to be a suicide mission in cigar-making circles; to produce- from seed to cigar- a Dominican puro.

  Until the early nineties, when Carlito undertook his “Project X”, the common wisdom was that due to various characteristics of terrior and vicissitudes of climate; wrapper leaf could not be grown in the Dominican Republic. As we cigar aficionados well know, it takes a special plant to grow leaves suitable for the wrapper of a fine cigar. The leaf must be very large, finely veined, without blemishes, and strong enough to be wrapped around the filler and binder of the cigar without tearing or cracking. Carlito was determined to grow the first Dominican wrapper leaf and finally put an end to all of the nay-saying that surrounded his project. In 1995, the Fuente Fuente Opus X hit the market and caused quite a few well known cigarmen to eat their words. The first Dominican puro had arrived and much in the same way that Muhammad Ali forever changed the way we thought about boxing; no conversation about cigars could now ignore the Opus X.

  But the Opus X is more than just a visually stunning and amazingly delicious rosado wrapper. It is an achievement of cigar blending unparalleled at the time, and possibly never again to be equaled. The expert blending of five different tobaccos was in and of itself a pioneering feat. The fact that the types and proportions of tobacco used seemed to guarantee an uneven burn was another cause for speculation; but once again, the proof was in the proverbial pudding. The Opus X, in it’s entirety, is a masterpiece of the art of the cigar. It is a rich, sophisticated, visceral smoking experience that can forever change one’s perspective on cigars. The smoke is a veritable journey of flavor and aroma from spicey to smooth, creamy to tannic, and everywhere in between. It is the very definition of complexity.

  For those who have yet to experience this cigar, perhaps a brief expository narrative would not be out of order. Those of us who are familiar with Opus will enjoy a trip down memory lane.

  The first thing that strikes you is the silky rosado wrapper. Its soft cedary color almost shimmers with the rich, delicate oils of the leaf. A careful clip of the cap reveals an easy draw carrying with it alluring vegetal notes and a hint of sweetness. As the foot of the Opus is put to flame, an aroma rises into the air that is unmistakeably unique. It’s a sort of buttery curry-like scent that is not usually present in other Dominican cigars, and is only paralleled by those celebrated smokes from south of Miami. The first pull on the Opus brings an eye-opening blast of spice, bristling on the palate with peppery flavor. This spiciness is part of the identity of the Fuente Fuente Opus X, as it lasts well into the second third of the smoke. As the cigar progresses, development in complexity continues and accelerates at a tantalizing rate. At this point it becomes clear that the shear amount of flavors that present themselves is almost unprecedented by any cigar “foreign” or “domestic”. To pick out individual notes of flavor and aroma is now as effortless as recognizing familiar shapes in clouds. As the cigar winds down to the nub, the flavor remains consistently excellent with virtually no degradation or harshness. Your fingers having long since been burnt, the nub being impaled on the end of a toothpick for continued smoking; the Opus X finally gives up the ghost seconds away from singeing your mustache. You have just smoked one of the finest cigars ever to exist on this earth.

  So how is it, that such a unique cigar is so routinely compared and contrasted with so many other vitolas of a more run-of-the-mill pedigree? When is this comparison appropriate, when is it not? It could be said with a straight face that Lexus is the “Cadillac” of Toyotas but one could never be taken seriously to say that the Sonata is the so-called “Cadillac” of Hyundais- even though the analogy is logically sound. What this means is that there are certain criteria one must adhere to in making a comparison to Opus. Firstly, the cigar in question must exist in the same world as the Opus X. We’re talking about high quality, full-flavored, very strong smokes here. For this reason I, myself, have made the Opus comparison concerning the Oliva Serie V and the Tatuaje Cabinet (“brown label”) series. These cigars are of an exceedingly sumptuous make. The classic ligero spiciness must be present. The rosado wrapper of the Serie V is truly reminiscent of that of the Opus and its spicy character is unmistakable. The shear power of the Tatuaje Cabinet series provides a very similar, if less subtle, gut-check as the Fuente in question. These are the qualities we look for when making this often-times overblown comparison. That being said, it is entirely inappropriate to use the Opus comparison simply for marketing expediency or for lack of better descriptive terminology in praising a great cigar that might not bear any resemblance to the Opus X. How many times have we seen “Ready to give up your Opus?” as the header of a cigar vendor’s advert? First of all, no, I’m not ready to give up my Opus and secondly, your Flor de Whatever bundled stogies have no business sharing the same page as any mention of Carlito’s masterwork. This is truly one example of a cigar that in every way lives up to its hype.

  In short, the Fuente Fuente Opus X is the true cigar-lovers’ cigar. Our world of premium smokes is a different one in the era of the Opus than it ever had been before. New territory had been charted and while others have sought to fall into the footsteps of Carlito’s dream, other makes of Dominican puro have all but fallen by the wayside. For many, the CAO Vision -with all of the pomp and circumstance that surrounded its release- turned out to be little more than a disappointment; while the efforts of Litto Gomez produced some truly excellent cigars. The Opus X is one great example of how risks taken by those who are willing to lose everything can yield fabulous results. And that, my friends, is why Opus matters.

  As I rummage through the recesses of my humidor, fondling the lanceros with child-like glee, my reverie is disturbed by an assertive yet gruff voice rap-tap-tapping at the chamber door of my subconscious. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn on my left heel, my right fist chambered at my side, ready to strike. As my head whips around, my nostrils are the first to detect the true nature of my assailant. The fragrant aroma of Nicaraguan tobacco could never herald the presence of an enemy. At once I restrain myself and courteously bow to this unexpected visitor. The ghost of Pat Morita stands before me smoking a Padron 5000 between the wire frame of a catcher’s mask. “You remember lesson about balance, Mofo-san?”, he rasps.
  ”Yes sir,” I say, “but what does that have to do with cigars?”
  ”Tell them about the bigger ring gauges,” he said with finality. Then, in an eruption of pale blue cigar smoke, he vanished.

  About five years ago, thicker and thicker cigars began to appear in large numbers in a market that seemed squeamish about anything over 52. Many credit the Diamond Crowns of the mid 1990s as the first really successful thick cigars, weighing in at a solid 54 ring gauge; but it wasn’t until 2002-2003 that the big guys really became popular. Now it seems that every producer is coming out with at least one 54-plus vitola for each line. What are we, as cigar enthusiasts, after in producing and smoking such diametrically enhanced cigars? Is it pop-culture iconography that draws us to these behemoths? It might be Tony Soprano, Tony Montana, or Sigmund Freud (depending on how much time you have). Whatever the attraction that made them popular may be, the truth is that thick ring gauge cigars are an excellent platform for complex blending to come into play.

  Perhaps the perfect example of this idea is the Alec Bradley Maxx line. As the name suggests, these smokes are big. With an average ring gauge of 55(.428571429 for those of you who are keeping score) and a “max” of 62, these bad boys have plenty of room for a blender to play around with. Leaf from Colombia, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Honduras makes up the filler of the Maxx. With a Costa Rican binder and a Nicaraguan-Habano wrapper, I expect this cigar to be a veritable tour of the major tobacco producing countries. We’ll find out in this here review, part one in yet another ongoing series. Will all of that geographically diverse tobacco be able to come to some kind of agreement on how quickly to burn? Perhaps the thinner, lighter Mexican tobacco will outpace the heavy, rich Honduran leaf. In the face of droves of naysayers who disdain thicker ring gauges, canoed and tunneled coronas clamped between their teeth in cynical snarls of disapproval; I submit to you, dear reader, that any inconsistency in burn is the result of poor storage. Like any coming-together of disparate interests, it takes time and an even temper to sort things out. If not the varied origins of the tobaccos, then just the sheer volume of filler requires extra time in a well-maintained humidor for the cigar to achieve a uniform humidity level. Then, my friend, you’ll have your even burn and a great smoke. So for now, go out and get yourself a big ‘ol 60 ring gauge monster and stick it in the humidor. It should be ready to smoke at your Superbowl party. Say, is that a CAO Brazilia “Amazon” in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?