Stogie Reviews: Cruzado Marios
29 Jun 2009
Dion Giolito produces two of my favorite lines: Illusione and Cruzado. The latter, launched in 2008, is a criollo ’98 blend with one component of corojo 2006. This contrats Illusione, which is a corojo blend with one component of criollo.
All six of the Cruzado vitolas are relatively narrow with ring gauges ranging from 44 and 48. This approach is unique in a marketplace where wide girths seem to be the norm.
The Cruzado Marios (7 x 47) includes a criollo rosado claro wrapper. Right out of the box, this Nicaraguan puro smells earthy and leathery.
It sports a flawless triple pigtail cap. And, on both of the samples I smoked for this review, I noticed some moderately sized veins, which impart a rustic appearance that matches the band and box.
The cap clips easily and the pre-light draw is perfect. The first few puffs offer up some nice mild spice—earth and leather with a hint of chocolate on the finish. Definitely more toned down that Illusione, probably a result of the higher criollo-to-corojo ratio and the decision to use viso tobacco instead of ligero in the filler.
About one inch in, this Churchill-shaped cigar starts to mellow. The predominant taste is leather as the spice fades.
The ash is gray and flakey, holding firmly until the inch-and-a-half mark when I dumped it into the ashtray instead of tapping the foot. The profile changes again about a third of the way through with a sharp spice, less leather, and more earth. Then, down the home stretch, the spice fades and leather becomes dominant again.
While the burn becomes ragged at the halfway mark and requires a touch-up, this flaw may have more to do with the windy conditions than the cigar’s construction. One fault that I cannot excuse, however, is the fact that the band is adhered too tightly to the wrapper, rendering its removal impossible without causing a small tear. Fortunately this doesn’t impact the smoking experience.
At around $9 apiece, the Cruzado Marios is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours and competes very nicely with other cigars this price range. For that, it earns four stogies out of five.
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photo credit: Stogie Guys
A fantastic cigar. And I must admit the 40-something ring gauge was unusual- I felt like Henry Gondorf at first. But I loved the Cruzado enough to buy a few.