The 2005 is the 3rd release of the Camacho Liberty series. Besides using rare top leaves of the Corojo harvest, the blend utilizes pre-embargo Cuban tobaccos cultivated in 1961. Yeah, that’s old. The Corojo tobacco comes from very small tobacco plants, maybe half the size of other varieties. These plants yield intensely flavorful cigars because the nutrients of the plant are concentrated in fewer leaves. There is a limited yield of the Corojo plant to begin with, add to this the fact that the Liberty uses only the upper leaves and you get the idea of how rare these smokes are. Only 2,000 boxes were produced and they are much sought after as collector’s items. Well, I don’t mind collecting them, but that’s not nearly as fun as smoking them. So, let’s get started.

The cigar looks good, small to medium sized veins create a meandering mosaic on the chocolate brown, leathery wrapper. The nose on the wrapper is feint, so I put my nose to the foot and notice that the filler is much more aromatic. The cigar is firm and supple to the touch, looks to be in great shape. Time to quit the foreplay and fire this puppy up.

I always smoke cigars outside, I enjoy the beauty of the natural surroundings of my home, but I never light my smokes outside if there is even the hint of wind. I prefer to go into the garage or some other wind-protected space. The light is too important to be left to chance. After trimming the cap, I set out to slowly and evenly warm or “toast” the foot, never touching the visible flame to the tobacco. Speaking of visible flame, the flame of a butane lighter is nearly invisible when you are outside making it difficult to gauge the flame; another reason to light up inside. I always keep two lighters on hand in the case that, God forbid, the lighter runs out of butane at such a critical moment.

The light is perfect, however the burn is uneven at first. The wrapper and binder are bubbling, I need to be patient and see if it evens out. I always resist to touch up a cigar with my lighter to correct a bad burn. A good cigar should correct itself. I just let the ash sit on the end and try not to rush the smoke.

The body of this cigar is medium and the flavor full from the get go, this is the magic of the blend allowing one to get a good first impression. The first half of this smoke is subtle enough to allow the complexity to shine through, but the second half is where it really started to get good. As expected the burn evened out and he flavors became more rich and concentrated and lingered on the palate without being overwhelming.

Overall this was a great smoke, though it was a bit slow coming into its full flavors. The first half was medium body and flavor (after the first few puffs) and very smooth. The second half was medium to full body and flavor.

~Doc