Vitola: Toro- 6” x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP ~$10
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Several week ago I reviewed the Camacho Connecticut Distillery Edition. The Camacho Connecticut is one of my favorite releases from the company, so it made sense that it should be the first one I would review because there was a high likelihood I would enjoy it. And I did…although I concluded that I would rather have the standard Camacho Conny than the Distillery Edition as I didn’t really think the flavors all meshed up that well.
The last one of the 3 Distillery Editions I tried was the Ecuador (they also make a Corojo). The reasoning was simple and similar to the above…I’ve never really cared for the Camacho Ecuador, so why would I bother with this version? Turns out I rather enjoyed it, though, and decided I would put it into the review rotation.
The Camacho Ecuador uses Dominican and Honduran fillers, along with a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. That all remains the same here, except that the leaf of Honduran Corojo used in the filler gets six months of age inside a used Bourbon barrel.
This review is of the second Ecuador Distillery Edition I smoked; I bought them both at Burns Tobacconist where I work.
Prelight
Like the Connecticut before it, this box and band is kind of a mash-up of the regular release and the Barrel-Aged releases from Camacho. The colors of black and aqua blue remain consistent with other Camacho Ecuador cigars, but the band design and shape…and the foot band, for that matter…are more in line with the barrel-aged stuff that has come out.
The wrapper was a milk chocolate brown color and smelled very woody and earthy, with a touch of leather. The foot was a richer and sweeter earthy aroma with touches of vanilla and oak in the mix.
The cold draw was very good and featured flavors of wood, bell pepper and vanilla.
Flavor
Firing up the Camacho Ecuador Distillery Edition, I got plenty of woodiness and some earth up front, followed by hay, black pepper, and a slight booziness. The retrohale featured cedar and red pepper. Further puffs brought out some sweetness from the Bourbon barrels and a touch of vanilla. The smoke started off in the medium-to-full bodied range. As the first third continued, I got more cedar and oak, some earth and pepper, and a steadily increasing influence of the barrels, with more bourbon and vanilla flavors.
The second third had an increase in body up to the full range, along with a corresponding increase in earthiness, while the vanilla and sweet whiskey notes played more of a supporting role. There was still a little pepper on the palate and nose.
The last third of the Ecuador Distillery Edition had a very nice mix of earth and oak and pepper and vanilla.
Construction
I had a great draw, a very even burn line and solid ash up to an inch at a time.
Value
Very good cigar experience and a solidly average price tag, I call this good value.
Conclusions
Of the three blends selected for Distillery Editions, the Camacho Ecuador is my least favorite in the “regular” version, but it is my favorite in this iteration. I thoroughly enjoyed this full-bodied cigar. It had tons of complexity and showed off the barrel-aging very well, melding the flavors of the bourbon barrels with what was already in the blend to come up with something better than the original…at least in my opinion.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
