One Off Piramides by Illusione Cigars (6 1/8 x 52)

Video review HERE.

(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)

Last year, Dion Giolito the founder and owner of Illusione Cigars announced he was bringing the OneOff brand back to market.

OneOff was created by Andrea Molinari in 2001. Molinari was a tobacconist who ran a La Casa del Habano in Milan, Italy. After failing to get his own brand made in Cuba, he turned to the Plasencia family, who would create the cigars at Segovia Cigars S.A. A year later, Molinari turned to Felipe Gregorio (owned by Philip Wynne) to handle his U.S. distribution. By 2004, distribution would move to Paul Giacalone of Massachusetts. Eventually, Plasencia stopped making the cigars and Molinari would sell the brand to Cuban Crafters. However, being a grandfathered brand under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deeming Regulations, it was an appealing brand for someone like Giolito to bring into his portfolio.

While Giolito hasn’t disclosed details, production is being handled at Aganorsa Leaf’s Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A.(TABSA) factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. The cigar is being released in ten-count boxes in eight sizes:  +53 Super Robusto (5 3/4 x 48), Canonazo (6 1/8 x 52), Cartuchos (3 7/8 x 52), Corona (5 1/2 x 42), Corona Gorda (5 3/8 x 46), Julieta (7 x 47), Piramides (6 1/8 x 52) REVIEWED TODAY, and Robusto (4 7/8 x 52).

I bought a 4 pack sampler from Small Batch Cigar and paid $62.80 so these average around $15 per cigar. 

The cigar is a golden brown in color and well made. The wrapper is smooth with no veins. It has a nice feel in the hand.

The test draw after taking the minimum from the pointed cap was very good. The initial flavors at light up were a pink grapefruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and earthy black coffee.  There was black pepper which I rated at an 8. 

At the first third (38 minutes) I still had the same flavor notes as previously described but the nutmeg notes are coming out a little more. The sweetness is tangy and thick. Almost like the sweetness from white chocolate. There is a lot of sweetness from the brown sugar and the cinnamon notes are quite tingly. The pepper remains very good. The finish is a combination of cream and nutmeg with a modest amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. For the first third I rated the cigar a 92. Very good, sweet flavors.

At the second third point (1 hour 14 minutes) the cigar is burning evenly. The nutmeg notes and earthy black coffee is much more elevated now. Those flavor notes have equaled the sweeter notes. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. With the elevated nutmeg and black coffee taking away some of the sweeter notes I am lowering the score to a 90 at this point.

The cigar ended at 1 hour 45 minutes. The cigar continued on the same trajectory as before with the nutmeg and black coffee notes elevating even more. The citrus notes became a cedar with a slight sweetness. The finish was unchanged and the strength was medium to full bodied. The cigar started out very nice and seemed to go downhill for me. While I love nutmeg and black coffee in a cigar there have to be an equal amount (or more) sweeter notes. For the final third I lowered the score to an 87.

Overall Score: 90 (89.66)