Camacho Corojo Limited - Diploma

Joined Feb 2008
13 Posts | 0+
Well, for my first review on these boards, I'll put in my .02 cents on a smoke that truly needs no introduction. As I've mentioned before, I've been away from cigars for a while, but the Camacho Corojos were always in my rotation. Somehow, I never managed to get a hold of a non-Maduro diploma, so this was my first.

The cigar was a gorgeous robusto with a deep reddish-brown wrapper, complete with habanos-style triple cap. Two wrappers, one around the shoulders and one at the foot, different than the ones I remember but much, much nicer. Pre-light aromas were pretty standard sweetish tobacco, and in a major departure from my old memories of the Corojos, the pre-light draw didn't reveal any of the pepperiness that awaited me.

Once light, the Diploma immediately hit me with the trademark pepperiness that I remember from Camacho. I've read that this fades with age, but I kinda like it! It quickly fades into a pleasant background zestiness that remains until about the halfway point before being overwhelemed by the other flavors. My palette isn't as attuned as some so I can't accurately pinpoint a lot of the nuances, but the stick struck me as very complex, with pepper fading to a rounded, slightly sweet richness. Veeerrrry looonnggg finish on this guy too. Not at all harsh or overly hot smoke either.

Construction wise, the only real defect was the wrapper, which had a tendency to burn a little unevenly, especially after the first ash fell at about 2 inches. The issue, however, was easily corrected with a few lighter touchups and didn't detract significantly from the experience. Plenty of thick, rich smoke and a long, slow burn indicated that the construction was excellent. Overall, the smoke lasted for a little over an hour and a half until I set it down at the 3/4 inch mark.

All in all, this cigar was magnificent. Full of flavor, well put together, and still quite smooth. I'll have to get a box of these guys and hold them as special occasion smokes!
 
I guess not too much could be expected for $0.80 per stick. I had some Padilla toro CT fumas (selection de Barato) a few years ago and they were pretty darn good for a cheap cigar.