If you are a regular visitor here at Stogie Review, you already know that I am a bit of a Camacho Fanatic. Over the past couple of years I have come to really enjoy a strong Camacho Cigar to cap off a long day.

After hearing about the Camacho Select, I was really excited to try this cigar. Unfortunately all of the local shops that I stopped in from time to time did not carry this particular cigar. About a month or two ago, I started to make a point to drive a little out of my way to support a B&M that I am growing very fond of. That particular shop is JM Cigars.

While browsing around in their walk in humidor I came across a few boxes of various sized Camacho Selects. After giving them a couple of weeks to rest, I decided to fire one up and see if it stacked up to my previous Camacho experiences.

While inspecting the cigar, I found the wrapper to have a couple heavy veins, but nice and smooth for the most part. The color was a nice medium brown with a rich aroma. When giving this cigar a slight pinch I found it to have some soft spots throughout, which I find typical of Camacho Cigars.

After the pre light inspection was complete I pulled out my trusty Vector Plug Cutter and began to pierce the cap. While cutting I found the cap to be very strong and durable. This tough feel to the cap made for a little more work, but the result was a nice clean hole to smoke through. Once pierced, I checked the pre light draw and found it to be firm as well as flavorful. Once the cutting and testing process was over I began to get underway with the lighting portion of my cigar experience.

I began to toast the foot of my cigar, then moved on to lighting. After a short period of time I had the cigar completely lit and producing thick clouds of smoke. The initial puff gave way to a woody flavor and surprisingly mild body for a Camacho Cigar. The finish at this point was short on the palate and slightly dry. The draw was firm and kept me from easily overdrawing on the stick.

As I smoked past the first quarter inch or so, the cigar went through its first change. The base flavor moved from woody to leathery with hints of spice and pepper beginning to develop. The finish remained short and the dryness faded and started to become mildly creamy. The draw remained firm and produced a decent amount of smoke while making way to a light colored, firm ash.

At this point I was pleasantly surprised by the Medium body of this cigar. This prompted me to check out the Camacho Cigars website where I found that this particular line was modeled after the personal preference of Julio Eiroa. Julio prefers the Medium body over the Full bodied powerhouse cigars that generally come out of the Camacho factories.

Once I reached the second third of this stick, the spice that was developing faded and I could no longer taste it on the palate I could however pick it up when the smoke was blown through my sinus cavity. I found this to be very interesting as I don’t typically pick up spice in one place. It is generally on both the palate and sinuses. The peppery flavors I mentioned before began to build slightly, which blended well with the leathery tones that made up the base flavor. The finish continued to be short and smooth making for a nice all around smoke.

As I came to the final portions of this cigar, the leathery base faded and became a rich and typical Honduran tobacco flavor. The spice was now back on the palate and building fast while the peppery notes faded. The body was also beginning to build as it reached the Medium – Full range. The finish was getting a little longer on the palate but remained nice and smooth. The draw was still firm but was producing a little less smoke at this point.

After a little over an hour it came time to lay this cigar to rest. Overall I think that this was a very nice change of pace for a Camacho. While I enjoy the full bodied Camacho cigars very much, this was a well needed break from the full bodied cigars I was accustomed to smoking.

With a price point of 5.95 per single I think that it may be a little overpriced. It lacked some of the complexity that I have come to really enjoy in the Perdomo Reserve Cameroon, which is in the same price range. I think this is more in the league of the H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon and the 4.50 price range.

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