Camacho Diploma

Camacho is a popular Honduran brand known for full bodied smokes. They have quite a wide range of selection too. For this review, I bought one a little more on the expensive side just to see if it was really worth it.

The cigar for tonight is a Camacho Corojo Diploma for $13. The length is 6 inches and the ring is 50. Its wrapper, binder, and filler are all made in Honduras. These tobaccos are grown in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras, a region where perfect soil and ideal climate can compare to Cuba's renowned Vuelta Abajo Region (to be fair, many cigar manufacturers like to claim the same thing so you should take that with a grain of salt.)

The stick is a medium to dark brown. The wrapper is almost seamless and completely smooth throughout. It's perfectly pliable and has an interesting construction as the middle of the cigar seems thicker than at the ends, basically coming to a bulge. Obviously, this was done on purpose and shows that this smoke will probably prove to be more complex that your average cigar.

It lights easily and the draw right from the first puff is perfect with a full mouth of smoke. It burns evenly and the draw remains the same throughout the entire cigar.

The taste starts off bold with a full bodied but not biting or overly bitter taste. There are a lot of strong wood flavors along with heavy tobacco tastes. Also, the texture of the smoke is particularly smooth which allows the flavors to be enjoyed even more.

After a few minutes, faint peppercorn and leather flavors come in and out. It's clear early on that this is a pretty complex smoke as the flavors are constantly changing and trading places. The taste goes from leather to wood to tobacco with very smooth blending transitions. Throughout all this, there remains a pleasant spice taste in the background.

The ash looks a little complex as well as it appears to be differing shades of gray throughout running up and down almost like a design. The ash stays on for a good amount and the cigar continues to smoke perfectly.

As I get into the next part of the stick, the spiciness and leathery flavors pick it up a notch or 2 making the overall taste a little bolder. Also coming out now is a dark creamy texture. The construction of this cigar is superb. The transitioning of flavors is great. You can tell that everything is well planned and the roller was well in control of how this cigar would burn and smoke.

As I get toward the final part of the cigar, a slight nicotine flavor begins to show itself. Also, the tobacco tastes take charge along with some new nut flavors. The wood, leather, and spice, all take a backseat to the tobacco for a while causing the cigar to finish off bold and strong.

I really enjoyed this one. It was definitely worth the few extra dollars. The smoke had excellent full bodied tastes without being overpowering. The flavors were quite complex which made the entire smoke enjoyable. And the draw was simply perfect from start to finish. The next time I earn a good cigar for one occasion or another, the Camacho Diploma will be on my list of ones to reach for.

Overall Rating: 94