Liberty & Larceny – A Pairing

• Vitola: 11/18 (Figurado)
• 6” x 48/54/48 ring gauge 
• Price $17.99
• Purchased from Burns Tobacconist

Background

A customer recently brought back a Camacho Liberty 2013 that he thought had mold on it. Turns out it was just plume and it prompted me to smoke one to test out…short story, it was fantastic. So I figured I would buy the last one we had in stock and do a short write up on it…and the timing made it obvious to do it as a “Independence Day” tie-in. Happy Birthday, America!

The Camacho Liberty series goes back to 2002 and annual production is between 25,000 and 60,000 sticks for the series. The first year had 5 different vitolas and the third year had 2, but since then they’ve stuck with the 11/18 Figurado size that Camacho pioneered. The blend is different every year and I’ve had a couple, but never felt that inspired to spend a lot of money on them. Perhaps I should have bought some just for aging, though.

The 2013 version uses Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and a “Habana 2000” wrapper (no country of origin noted). I am pairing the Liberty 2013 with some Larceny Bourbon, which I published a full review on a few weeks back. I took some background information from halfwheel’s review of the Liberty 2013.

Notes

I do love the packaging of the Liberty series, with the individual coffin boxes inside the larger wooden box. Each cigar is then wrapped in tissue. When that is unwrapped it reveals a cigar with a large silver and black band plus a smaller foot band. The wrapper of the cigar is redolent with cedar aroma, while the foot has a mix of cedar, earth and some unidentified sweetness.

The draw was excellent and once lit, the Liberty 2013 gave up full cedar flavors, a slightly musty note I get sometimes from Dominican leaf, and a dried fruit sweetness almost reminiscent of Pop Tarts (hey…I said “almost” okay). The retrohale was nutty and citrusy with a slight pepper burn.

By the time I was through about one third the Liberty had settled into a medium-plus bodied, very complex flavor profile. There was earth and wood and a mild fruit sweetness that was enhanced by the whiskey, which brought its own caramel and oak notes to the proceedings.

The middle, fatter third continued those flavor notes pretty much unabated, but as the ring gauge started to narrow again, the pepper spice increased, becoming stronger than it was at the beginning.

This really is an excellent cigar and probably the best Liberty that I’ve had. If you see them…buy ‘em quick!