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| Camacho Liberty 2014 |
Just prior to the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show, Camacho Cigars shipped the Camacho Liberty 2014. The Camacho Liberty series is an annual limited edition cigar and one that is consistently anticipated by cigar enthusiasts. Each year for the Liberty Series, Camacho puts forward a different blend and may vary the size. There is a limited allocation of these cigars and once the cigars are gone, they are gone. One thing that distinguishes the Camacho Liberty series is that each cigar is packaged in an individual coffin-box. With the Camacho Liberty 2014, it is the second Liberty to be released in the “Bold Standard” era. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Camacho Liberty 2014. Overall I found this to be an excellent cigar with some different flavors – and definitely one that fits in with the mantra of the company’s “bold standard”
The Liberty Series made its debut in 2002, and for the most part it has been one size, one vitola (the initial Liberty Series 2002 did come in 5 sizes, the 2004 edition came in two sizes). Since then blends vary, the cigar experience can vary. In 2010, we ranked the Camacho Liberty as our #9 cigar of the year.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Camacho Liberty 2014 and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
According to Camacho, the Liberty 2014 features a multi-national blend from three countries and four different vintages.
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador (2005 Vintage)
Binder: Corojo 2006
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Vitolas Available
As has been the tradition of the Camacho Liberty series, the blend is being released in one size – a figuardo known as 11/18. The 11/18 name was established when Christian Eiroa owned Camacho – it refers to a unique figuardo shape and is named for Eiroa’s mother’s birthday. The Camacho Liberty 2014’s dimensions are 6 x 48/54/48.
As typical with the Camacho Liberty series, the Camacho Liberty 2014 is packaged 20 coffins in a box and a total of 2,000 boxes – for a total of 40,000 cigars.
Appearance
The Camacho Liberty 2014 features a medium brown almost chocolate colored wrapper. There is a slight amount oil on the surface of the wrapper. There are some veins and some bumps on the surface of the wrapper. Upon closer examination there are some visible wrapper seams
The band of the Camacho Liberty 2014 has a black background with white font. There is an American Eagle reminiscent of the one on the Great Seal of the United States. On the eagle is a ribbon that says “E. PLURBUS UNUM” on it. In landscape mode is the following text with each phrase sitting on separate row: “CAMACHO” (in the brand’s logo font), “LIMITED EDITION”, “HAND BUILT IN HONDURAS”, “LIBERTY SERIES”, “2014”. The band features a white pinstripe across the top and bottom.
There is also a thin secondary band on the footer that says “CAMACHO” in the brand’s logo font.
The coffin box is unfinished. The top of the coffin is a slide top with the text “LIBERTY SERIES” across the center. To the left is the “2014” and to the right is the Camacho Scorpion logo – both in landscape mode. On the side of the coffin is a sticker that also says “2014 LIBERTY SERIES” and indicates this particular cigar is 4,362 out of the 40,000 cigars produced.
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| Closed coffin of Camacho Liberty 2014 |
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| Open coffin of Camacho Liberty 2014 |
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting up the Camacho Liberty 2014, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut. After clipping the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw ritual. The dry draw to the Camacho Liberty 2014 provided a mix of earth and cedar notes. Overall I considered the pre-light draw to the Liberty 2014 to be satisfactory. At this point I was ready to fire up this cigar and see what the smoking phase would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Camacho Liberty 2014 provided a mix of earth, grass, chocolate, and pepper. In the early part of the smoking experience, there was no dominant flavor. By the latter part of the first third, the earth and grass notes became primary. The pepper and chocolate became secondary notes and were also joined by some natural tobacco notes. Meanwhile retro-hale produced an herbal spice that pretty much was present throughout the smoking experience.
I found the second third of the smoking experience to be the best and most unique. The natural tobacco sweetness moved to the forefront. There were times it had almost a graham cracker sweetness to him. I also detected some notes of cedar mixed in. Meanwhile the pepper, earth, and grass notes remained secondary. The chocolate notes had dissipated.
The last third saw the cedar and natural tobacco notes emerged in the forefront. I definitely detected more pepper spice during this stage. The Camacho Liberty didn’t exhibit any harshness at this point. The earth and grass notes were still secondary. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly warm in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.
Burn and Draw
Overall, I found the Camacho Liberty to perform well in the areas of burn and draw. For the most part I found the burn line to be low maintenance. There was a slight curvature to the burn line – especially in the early stages, but the burn was never in danger of canoeing or tunneling. The resulting ash was very tight with a bright white color. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal – although as I mentioned above, there was a slight bit of warmness on the nub. I didn’t see this warmness have any negative impacts – even at the end.
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| Burn of the Camacho Liberty 2014 |
The draw performed very well. Sometimes I’ve had mixed results with the 11/18 format when it comes to draw, but not in this case I did not find it too tight, nor too loose. The draw produced an ample amount of smoke as well.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, the Camacho Liberty 2014 started out a little “less bold” than I expected as it was in the medium range. By the second third, the strength started to ramp up and it moved squarely into the medium to full. It didn’t quite approach the full strength area of the spectrum, but it came pretty close. Meanwhile I thought the body had some boldness to it. They come out of the gate in the medium to full-bodied range – and by the last third progress into the full-bodied range. Overall I did find the body to have a slight edge over the strength, but it wasn’t by much.
Final Thoughts
Overall I was pleased with the Camacho Liberty 2014. One thing I do really enjoy about this series is how different the blends are from year to year – and when I smoke each year’s release, it is never is like going back and smoking a re-run. Some blends are going to be better than others, but this one was definitely one I enjoyed. Like many of the other Camacho Liberty cigars, I believe there is aging potential with this cigar.
While this is different than the Camacho Liberty 2013, one common thread I did find is how there are some Davidoff-esque qualities in the blend. I noticed it with the 2013 and the grassy notes I got on the 2014 edition continued this pattern. This is a cigar I’d gear more toward an experienced cigar enthusiast because it does have a little strength. As for myself, I would get this cigar again. At $17.00 it still is a little on the pricey side, but I still think given that this is a “one and done” cigar and it has aging potential, it’s still worth a fiver.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium (1st third), Medium to Full (Remainder)
Body: Medium to Full (1st 2/3), Full (Remainder)
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 89
References
News: Camacho Liberty 2014
Price: $17.00
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
