Camacho Liberty 2009: A Tasting
After a Sunday steak dinner, I lit up my first ever Camacho Liberty 2009. While you can see for yourself what it looks like, the 2009 Liberty is rather light in the hand as opposed to something dense and heavy like the Camacho Triple Maduro or any of the Cain cigars. That lovely Spanish cedar coffin these babies travel in helps impart a big cedar pre-light aroma along with some nice rich sweet tobacco and with their protective tissue paper wraps they look positively Egyptian.
Specifications:
Size: 11/18, 6″ x 56 figurado
Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras
#: 32,681 of 40,000 total
This limited edition cigar was blended by Christian Eiroa “using our one and only crop of Habano, a seed that has not been grown since and only yielded enough for a small amount of cigars”. Every cigar is aged for 2 years making the 2009 Liberty a 2007 production and these cigars a full 3 years old.
The first 1/3 of my #32,681 Camacho Liberty 2009 gave off a huge amount of smoke and coupled with a very easy draw I began to worry this might make for a relatively short-lived pleasure. I lit up just before 7pm and nubbed a tad after 8 so you could say this was a shortish smoke for the size but I’d say some of that had to do with over-enjoyment. Too many puffs per minute (ppm) was a constant temptation.
The one word I’d use to describe the Camacho Liberty 2009 smoking sensation is creamy (damn near frothy) – a big lush and smooth flavor that showed subtle changes throughout; from cedar to a sweet nutty (think almond) spice along with a consistent and very easy on the palette sweet earthy tobacco. There also seemed to be other subtle flavors that came and went like caffé mocha with nary a hint of bitterness.
As you hit that big belly, the flavors intensify (makes sense no?) but the second word that comes to mind and remains true throughout is smooth. So smooth in fact I’d say its positively suave which tempts some, like me, to oversmoke.
After the midway point I had to do some minor touch-up to prevent canoeing but this kind of thing doesn’t bother me. The one thing that can be a deal breaker is uber-tight draw but this was not an issue. As I said, if anything the opposite was the case and I had to consciously work to keep my ppm’s at a reasonable rate.
I’d peg the Camacho Liberty 2009 as a medium-bodied cigar but the richness of flavor makes up for the lack of wallop and I see this as a very pleasant alternative to the heavy hitter. Some cigars can taste very one-dimensional and flat, almost too obvious with no depth of flavor making for a bland experience. This is where the Liberty 2009 shines – there’s an abundance of smooth rich flavor which equates to one satisfying smoke.
At $16.50/cigar (I got mine for $12 on CigarBid and H&H sells a fiver for $55.50), this also falls into the special occasion smoke for me. While the Camacho Liberty 2009 doesn’t have the full bodied kick of something like the Camacho Triple Maduro or the Cain F Habano, the rich, smooth and intense flavor more than makes up for it. And don’t forget about that cute little coffin which you can put to good use to store long, skinny things.
Reviews of the Camacho Liberty 2009:
Stogie Review (video)
on September 1st, 2010 at 9:14 am
Who does your nails?
on September 1st, 2010 at 9:19 am
Ha! I usually dig in the garden before or during my smoke so…nature? Nothing like the smell of tomato plant mixed with fine tobacco (and beer, rum or wine).