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Icons of Cigars™ — Dion Giolito

Dion Giolito has always been an enigma to me. Physically large (quite tall), seemingly socially aloof—something he seems to wear with honor—and immensely talented when it comes to anything having to do with tobacco. While I was in Nicaragua earlier in the year, I found out that Giolito was in Estelí and on a lark, [...]

Review: La Grand Classe

There wasn’t a ton of fanfare for the release of Dion Giolito’s latest cigar, La Grand Classe, when it came out in late November. A Tweet from FUMARE was sent out the morning it became available, and as of this writing it has yet to be mentioned on the Illusione Twitter account since being released on November 27. The [...]

Weekly News (December 3, 2012)

Editor’s Note: (The) Contest is in full swing. Thanks all for participating, still lots of crazy stuff to come. In addition, for those that can make it to Maple Grove, MN on Friday, Brooks and I will be there for halfwheel’s Holiday Party Pt. 1. Part 2 will be in Dallas in the middle of [...]

News: FUMARE Releases La Grande Classe

Dion Giolito of Illusione Cigars has released La Grande Classe, an exclusive for Fumare in Reno, the store that he also owns. Fumare’s home page was changed recently to indicate that the cigars are now on sale, though little is known about their specifics. Fumare is selling them only by the box, which contains 25 [...]

News: La Grande Clase Set for November Release

According to Dion Giolito, La Grande Clase, the small batch project for the Illusione founder’s Reno, Nev. retail store, is set to arrive at FUMARE either this week or next week. When reached by phone, Giolito refused to comment on any of the details regarding the release, which has been publicly listed on the FUMARE [...]

Review: Tatuaje Bombazo Capa Especial

In 2006, Havana Cellars released some of the first of what would eventually become dozens of single store releases. Each release consisted of a unique cigar, either in blend and size, and were available at a different store from a different part of the country. They were: Tatuaje La Maravilla (5 5/8 x 46) — [...]

News: Dion Giolito’s La Grande Classe Nears Release

Fresh off the news of two new additions, there appears to be a nearing release date for one of Dion Giolito’s other projects. For the past few years, Giolito’s retail store, FUMARE in Reno, NV, has had a link to a project called “La Grande Classe,” which translates to “the great class/order” in a couple [...]

IPCPR 2011: Illusione

And it was a big year for Dion. Back in February, Dion Giolito dropped quite a bombshell indicating that he would be launching a Maduro version of his core line of cigars. But Dion wasn’t done, he wasn’t even close. New packaging on Cruzado, return of a folklored cigar, an extension to Epernay, and that [...]

Weekly News (April 25, 2011)

It hasn’t been the same sort of week as last week in regards to new releases, but there’s still quite a bit of cigar news. The sun is out and the cigar event schedule is getting full. After the jump news on tons of boutiques, My Father, Tatuaje, Illusione, Viaje, Hammer & Sickle, 601, Casa [...]