Illusione Haut 10 Churchill

📌 Brand: Illusione
📌 Line: Haut 10
📌 Size: Churchill (6 3/4 × 48)
📌 Weight: 16.5 g
📌 Age: 6 years
📌 Origin: Nicaragua

There is another cigar smoked in Jan 2026.

Tasting Notes

• Cedar – Refined woody backbone

• Cream – Smooth, balancing sweetness

• White Pepper – Clean, sharp spice on the retrohale

• Earth & Cocoa – Rounded depth with bittersweet finish

First Impressions

The Illusione Haut 10 presents an elegant Corojo wrapper with a silky texture and minimal veins. Pre-light aromas give cedar, cream, and cocoa. Cold draw shows perfect resistance, promising balance and nuance.

Smoking Experience

• First Third – Opens with cedar and cream, joined by subtle white pepper. Profile is refined and balanced.

• Second Third – Earth and cocoa notes develop, adding richness. Flavors build intensity but stay harmonious.

• Final Third – Pepper sharpens and cedar grows stronger. The finish turns slightly harsh, though still flavorful.

Pairings

• Alcohol – Hine Rare VSOP Cognac, with elegant fruit, vanilla, and spice to balance the cedar and cream while softening the cigar’s edge.

• Tea – Taiwanese Dong Ding Oolong, roasted and floral, echoing the balance of wood and cocoa in the profile.

Music Pairing.

“Stairway to Heaven” – Led Zeppelin,

gradual build and intensity, mirroring the cigar’s evolution.

Final Thoughts

The Illusione Haut 10 delivers elegance, complexity, and balance, with cedar, cream, and cocoa driving the profile. A bit of harshness in the final third prevents perfection, but it remains an outstanding cigar.

Final Score: 9/10 , second cigar is 7/10 , Overall 8/10
Why not a 10?
Slight harshness at the end takes away from an otherwise refined and balanced experience.

The second cigar smoked in 2026, have much more construction issues, flavours remain the same.

Only cigars that deliver flawless draw, balance, flavour evolution, construction and satisfaction get a 10.