Camacho has had their Liberty series out for a while now, and for the past several years has produced a limited supply of a new ‘yearly’ blends. In 2008, only 40,000 were produced. The previous Liberty cigars I have tried over the years have all been great cigars, and this is no exception. The cigar comes in a little cedar coffin and wrapped in tissue paper. Gently peeling back the paper, you feast your eyes on a beautiful barber pole cigars with wide bands of alternating light and dark tobacco. The wrapper, binder and filler information are well guarded secrets by Christian Eiroa, and perhaps I will have to make a trip down to the Camacho ranch near Danli, Honduras to find out. The word on the street is that this cigar is similar to the barber pole of 2007. That one had dark maduro and corojo shade tobacco wrapper leaves to make the barber pole, and the rest was all Honduran. The rumor is that there is some pre-embargo tobacco in the blend, but I cannot confirm it.
Flavor and Aroma
I smoked this cigar around a few non-cigar smoking friends. Sometimes the opinion of a non-smoker may be more interesting and well as enlightening. Upon first lighting, one remarked at the nice memories it evoked as her father was a cigar smoker. Now her dad was in the 1950’s Cuban cigar smoking era, so this was a great compliment being paid to this cigar. The comments from others mentioned things like rich coffee, almonds, and caramel. I actually agreed with most of the comments, and the taste matched up perfectly to the aroma. The only things I would add from my own perspective is that a nice sweet flavor was in the tobacco, and a spicy but not ‘hot’ spicy flavor, rather in the cinnamon realm. Although full of flavor and aroma, it is still a medium cigar.
Draw and Construction
Perfect is about the only word to describe this cigar in how masterfully it has been made. Just enough firmness to give you a good draw, and an even burn, which is a difficult task for any barber pole construction. The ash was solid and firm and remained in place until the middle of the cigar. I smoked this one right down to the last ½ inch, and it stayed a perfect cigar right to the end, which for me was 2 hours and 15 minutes. I may have drawn a little light to savor the moment, but a great smoke nonetheless. I complimented this cigar with a great aged single malt that a good friend of mine keeps on hand when I come to visit.
Value
Yes, yes, and yes. Keep in mind that this cigar will cost you $16.00, and you might be asking yourself if that is just too much even for a perfect cigar. I will answer you with this; read the review again remembering a few points: your friends will enjoy the aroma as much as you, it is lasting over 2 hours, and the scotch I was drinking costs more than the cigar and all of the experiences were well worth it. This is that great celebratory cigar you have been waiting to smoke for that special occasion that you want to remember for a long time.
