This weekend, I had the opportunity to taste and review a very exclusive and hard-to-find cigar from the folks at Camacho: the Scorpion. The blend is a secret and the run is rumored to be limited to only 5,000 cigars per year. I picked this one up at Burns in Chattanooga where it retails for about $12.50; I had a "loyalty points" discount so I ended up paying about $7.50. I joked with the manager at the time that I would let him know if it's a good $12 stick or a good $7 stick.Prelight, the Scorpion is slightly rough and veiny will also appearing to be solidly constructed. The cigar is slightly spongy to the touch with no hard spots evident. The aroma from the wrapper is definitely barnyard and from the foot I got more of an organic manure aroma. After clipping with my Xikar MTX cutter, the prelight draw was free and I detected flavors of raisins or black cherries with just a little hint of spice as well. I almost added that there was an aroma of marijuana, too, but it turns out that must have been coming from the car that drove by my house just then.
Due to the exclusive nature of this cigar and the reputation it has amassed online, I had very high hopes for this cigar. Alas, it seemed to want to dash them from the very beginning. The free draw in the prelight turns out to have probably been a channel going up one side of the stick; when I lit it, there was an immediate canoeing and it was an absolute beast to get fully lit at all. Once I did finally get there, though, the volume of smoke was more than adequate. I touched up the burn line and slowed down my puffing to try to let the canoe even out. There was also a tiny hole in the wrapper that smoke was escaping through, so I had to play this one like a tin whistle for a while.
Besides the criticism for construction, the cigar smoked fairly well. The overall impression at the beginning was medium- to full-body with a certain nuttiness to the flavor. There was also a bit of pepper on the finish. Overall, it'snot bad, but not the flavor profile I usually look for. In a good point for construction, the initial ash held on for over an inch and the burn moved well toward evening out by the time the first third was smoked.
As the second third starts, the flavors moved toward a mixture of nuts and toast. It's a pleasant mix, but not my favorite--add in some banana and deep-fry it and Elvis would like it, though! People say this is supposed to be an extremely strong cigar, but so far I'm just not feeling it.
During the second third, a spiciness emerges and the body seems to increase, as does the strength. I enjoyed this cigar with some Maker's Mark and, as usual, it pairs quite well with the stogie. The cigar definitely started to grow on me as well. That is--until it started to canoe...again. I had to touch this one up in a very large area to correct this one.
Finally, in the last third the Scorpion started to show its sting. The power built up and ended up packing quite a punch, although I would hesitate to say that the body of the smoke ever got beyond medium to full. The flavor near the end was still nutty with some spice and just a remnant of the bready/toasty flavor.
Concluding, this cigar definitely had some strength, but no nearly as much as I expected. While the flavor was not outstanding to me, it definitely is the best Camacho I've had. At $12.50, it's too expensive to ever consider buying again. At $7.50 with the discount I got, I feel satisfied from a value perspective.
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Body: 7/10
Strength: 9/10
Complexity: 8/10
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Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10
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