11/18, 6” x 56 ring gauge, approx. $20
My good friend, Keith, sent me this cigar after winning a box back in January. After hearing much about it, I wanted to smoke it right away, but with the weather in January hovering in the 30s most days, I wanted to wait until I could reasonably enjoy the experience of sitting outside smoking for an hour or more with such a “super-premium” cigar. The day I burned this stick was sunny and in the mid-70s. The Camacho Liberty is a special annual cigar that has been produced since 2002. The 2009 version was blended by Christian Elroa as an “attempt to debunk the 2005 Liberty” which was widely viewed as the best of the series. This is a Honduran puro, featuring a Habano-seed wrapper; it was only available in the Camacho-exclusive 11/18 size, a slight perfecto shape. Each cigar shipped wrapped in tissue paper and encased in its own coffin box with a black-lacquered lid. Only 40,000 of them were made.
My good friend, Keith, sent me this cigar after winning a box back in January. After hearing much about it, I wanted to smoke it right away, but with the weather in January hovering in the 30s most days, I wanted to wait until I could reasonably enjoy the experience of sitting outside smoking for an hour or more with such a “super-premium” cigar. The day I burned this stick was sunny and in the mid-70s. The Camacho Liberty is a special annual cigar that has been produced since 2002. The 2009 version was blended by Christian Elroa as an “attempt to debunk the 2005 Liberty” which was widely viewed as the best of the series. This is a Honduran puro, featuring a Habano-seed wrapper; it was only available in the Camacho-exclusive 11/18 size, a slight perfecto shape. Each cigar shipped wrapped in tissue paper and encased in its own coffin box with a black-lacquered lid. Only 40,000 of them were made.
The dual bands were ornate, but classy, featuring just a bit of the patriotic American spirit. There was something sparkling in places on the wrapper--most likely a little gold foil residue. The cigar was fairly soft to the touch, especially around the bulging middle. The aroma from the body was faintly of barnyard and leather; from the foot I got almost no aroma besides faint whiffs of tobacco. The prelight draw was effortless, and there were flavors of coffee and chocolate as well as just a bit of peppery spice.
Initial puffs of the Liberty 2009 had flavors of hay and a mild coffee, along with some nuttiness--maybe almonds. As the first third progressed, I got flavors of leather, too, but in all this just did not start off spectacular. To be honest, none of the flavors were strong or distinct. Although very nice, I was not impressed so far that this cigar should cost $20.
In the second third, there was more earthiness and still quite a bit of leather and black coffee. The burn was even, although not really all that straight; the draw was nothing shot of perfect.
During the first two third, the Liberty had been a strictly medium-bodied cigar, but shortly into the final third the body increased rather sharply into the “barely full” range. Flavor-wise the final section was mostly a continuation of the last--earth, leather, coffee--along with just a little spiciness. In the end, the Liberty 2009 was a very good, enjoyable cigar that missed the mark of being great by quite a bit. While it was tasty and provided a nice hour of enjoyment, there was simply nothing there to justify a $20 price tag. If it were priced at $10 I could see buying this in the future, but at this price I can easily pass it by for dozens of other cigars I prefer at less than half the cost.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
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