Camacho Diploma 11/18

Country: Honduras
Size: 6 / 52
Vitola: Figurado
Wrapper: Authentic Corojo
Binder: Authentic Corojo
Filler: Authentic Corojo

I recently moved to a very humid part of the country from a very dry part of the country. This has indeed had an impact on my cigar smoking, as I have found that I need to pay much more attention to keeping the humidity down in my cigars than up. For this week's review, I dryboxed this cigar since Tuesday evening, and am now thinking that either A) I really need to go with the coolerdor, or B) plan my smoking 5 days ahead of time.

This cigar is very similar in shape to the Camacho Liberty I smoked last weekend. To explain a bit more in detail, the middle of the cigar is wider than either the head or the foot of the cigar. Not quite like a perfecto, but interesting, none the less. It's construction is very nice, a few veins, but nothing protruding. Not too firm, but not inconsistent when squeezed. Pleasant, but nothing exotic when smelling the wrapper or the foot. I'm not 100% sure, but it looks to be triple-capped. I may be wrong about that, though.

Upon cutting the cap, the pre-light draw is very smooth; it almost draws too easily. I normally like them to be a bit tighter on the draw, but I can overlook it, for now. Almost immediately, there is lots of billowing, creamy white smoke. It seems almost comical how much smoke is coming from this cigar. Hindsight has me wondering if it wasn't the dryness of the cigar, noting that I had been dryboxing it for 5 days. The taste is really good as well. It's not got the complexity of the Liberty, nor the harshness of the Havana. it seems to have found a nice little balance between the two. Tastes of earthiness, rich tobacco, and just a touch of spice appear throughout the smoke. I wouldn't say that the flavor changes much, but rather stays consistent. Throughout the cigar, there is still tons and tons of smoke. While the flavors are consistent, the strength of the cigar would probably fall in the medium-full category.

The ash stays on for at least an inch, and is not easily knocked off. It's mostly white, with spots of gray. Never had a burn problem with this cigar, while it waved around a bit throughout, it was never something that I had to worry about. The cigar lasts maybe to the 3/4" mark, at just around the 70 minute mark. Part of me kind of wishes this cigar would last longer. I noticed this with the Liberty (same size) as well - but maybe that can be attributed to drying this cigar out as well.

Noticeable characteristics: Smoke volume. Consistent flavor. An burn that I didn't have to pay much attention to. Good flavor.

I wish it: Had been in my humidor earlier. Lasted longer. Cigars by different manufacturers of this same size seem to last at least 25% longer. Would have been phenomenal if the flavors developed throughout the cigar.

Overall rating: B++
Great smoke, definitely looking to pick up more of them, lots of great smoke, but, at least today, it either had to develop more of a flavor profile as the cigar went on, or it had to last longer to get bumped up to that 'A' rating for me.