Camacho - 2005 Limited Harvest Robusto

PLEASE NOTE: This blogger and blog has moved to his new home: http://covetry.net


Wrapper: Honduran
Binder: N/A
Filler: N/A

Cigar Stars Rating: 8.5

If you took off the wrapper of this cigar and gave it to an avid Camacho fan and once they had finished smoking it, told them it was a Camacho, odds are they wouldn’t believe you. I am not a fan of Camacho, never have been. They are usually too strong for my taste. But this cigar is different. Very different.

Grown from a new strain in the mineral rich soil of the Jamastran Valley, the wrapper is a first for Camacho and the flavor it produces is fantastic. Only one problem: there was only enough wrapper to make approximately 50,000 cigars. So in walks Abe “Ming” Dababneh, the owner of Smoke Inn, on a recent trip to Camp Camacho in Honduras. He tastes the cigars made with the limited wrapper and loves them. By some miracle, he manages to get them to sell the whole batch to him. One lucky sonuvabitch, right?

Construction: The cigar itself is beautifully constructed, the wrapper is perfect without any blemishes on any of the cigars I have smoked so far. The band is as ornate and visually appealing as any of Camacho’s others. The fact that they put as much effort in the band as any of their other cigars is quite a surprise considering they had already sold every single cigar before they even had to come up with a band.

Pre-light: The head cuts perfectly. Draw is fine. Tastes of cedar and nuts before lighting.

Taste: The first inch or so as some very heavy notes of roasted nuts and earthy spice. By the midway point the smoke mellows out into a damp cedar taste and holds strong until the finish when the nuts and earthy spice come back to frame it out. The cigar did have some bitter notes but these were always associated with the cedar taste and did not make the smoke unpleasant at all.

Overall this cigar is a solid choice, especially for those who enjoy Camacho’s more than I do. This cigar will allow Camacho fans to taste those little nuances they are missing out on when they are getting their asses handed to them by those big black triple maduros.

Illusione cg:4

PLEASE NOTE: This blogger and blog has moved to his new home: http://covetry.net

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.4

Tonight's cigar was like jazz; smooth, sweet, and unpredictable. It is the Illusione cg:4. A new cigar by a new company. They are unlike any others out there right now and boy is it refreshing. Created by Dion Giolito, this boutique brand is made in small batches. The tobacco used is from first generation Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98 seeds and Cafe Colorado leaf. They are made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras and are finished with a beautiful cuban style triple cap. All the tobacco is aged for about three years prior to rolling.

Lets start with the wrapper: One word comes to mind immediately: aged. The wrapper is a silky smooth texture and a beautiful dark brown color. No blemishes on mine. It smells suspiciously like a cuban. But of course it’s not. Or is it?

Pre-Light: As all cigars should be it is triple capped and it guillotined without a shred or tear. Draw is perfect and I know I say this about alot of cigars because I’m really not that picky, but with this cigar it truly is as smooth and easy as ever. Before lighting it tastes of heavy tobacco, maybe hints of nutmeg.

Taste: The first inch or so is strong tobacco and spice right out of the gate. But then, almost instantly, it hits you with this sweet, caramel taste for a bit. Around the halfway point heavy tobacco notes come back framed by that same candied sweetness. You really don’t want it to end. The finish is long and spicy, coming back full circle to the taste of the cigar at first light.

The ash is not strong at all, it can and probably will fall into your lap if your not careful, but really who cares? This cigar is really something special. Just after burning my fingers on the nub I ran upstairs and ordered myself a box from the place I ordered the samples: New Havana Cigars. I love this company, the cigars came completely sealed in plastic with a humidipak for freshness. Great guys there, always ship my order same day. After smoking this cigar I am not one bit surprised it was rated up in the top ten cigars of the year by Cigar Aficionado.

Arganese Maduro - Robusto

PLEASE NOTE: This blogger and blog has moved to his new home: http://covetry.net

Wrapper: Brazilian
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican

Cigar Stars Rating: 9.0

This company has become a very recent addition to my cigar vocabulary. Created by a land developer and avid cigar smoker, this new company is really producing some spectacular smokes right now. The cigar reviewed here is from the Maduro line. The thing I really love about this company is that they break up their cigars into three blends, Mild, Medium, and Strong. And they are all really fantastic, with the Medium line (the Maduro's) rising to the top. With an introduction like that, I should just get down to business.

The only reason this cigar did not score higher was due to some of its cosmetic problems. The wrapper is veiny and toothy, not the best looking maduro wrapper I've come across, but its not ugly by any means. The cigar band is a bit tacky and cheap feeling, which wouldn't be an issue if this was just another cheap house brand smoke but this cigar can compete with the best of them, and I found myself longing for a band that said as much.



The cigar cut clean and pre-light draw tasted of chocolate and aged tobacco. The draw was perfect for my taste, the burn was even but I should note that the ash tends to curl and get blown off on this cigar, which is something I don't come across often. The first inch or so of this cigar tastes heavily of cappuccino. Further smoking brings in dark chocolate underlined by a hint of spice. This keeps up until the midway point where the chocolate fades to a heavy tobacco taste. The finish is short, in fact the whole smoke is short, and ends on that heavy tobacco taste with hints of spice throughout. Fabulous cigar, I currently have a few boxes on order and for the price, $6 a stick, I can't imagine why I haven't bought more...