Its that time of the year again.  The time when we see all the candela wrapper  cigars emerge.  Candela is a historic cigar wrapper which was hugely popular during the turn of the century up until about the 50’s for cigars.  Now, its almost impossible to find a candela cigar….unless it’s St. Patrick’s Day.  The candela wrapper, along with green beer, has become synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day.  Candela gets a bad wrap now because it usually has a bitter vegetal taste.  There are a few cigar manufactures that really know how to make this special wrapper shine.  One of them is Camacho Cigars.  The Camacho Candela use a Criollo leaf that was “flash cured” over a charcoal fire which leaves the chlorophyll intact which gives the wrapper its distinct green color.  The rest of the cigar uses Honduran corojo.  Let’s look at the specs:

• Wrapper:  Honduran Criollo Candela
• Binder:  Honduran Corojo
• Filler:  Honduran Corojo
• Vitola:  Robusto
• Size:  5 x 50

Purchased at The Cigar Shop in Biloxi, MS

Appearance

The cigar has a very smooth wrapper that is…..green.  I cut the cap with my Xikar MTX tool and tested the draw which was pretty loose.  The flavors I get on the cold draw are cedar and green leafy vegetable flavors.

First Half

The cigar started off with notes of cedar, leather, black pepper and sweet caramel.  There is a pretty good bitterness as well.  The draw has improved somewhat and the burn is perfect.  The body of the Candela is medium with full flavor.

Second Half

I get the same flavors of cedar, leather, black pepper and sweet caramel.  The bitterness has died down quite a bit and now I do get a slight vegetal flavor.  The body the cigar is still medium bodied and the Candela is burning superbly.

Conclusion

Some will say this is a gimmick cigar.  I can understand that because candela has been relegated to just being on cigars during St. Patrick’s Day.  This is not the case in my eyes.  Yes, it only comes out during St. Patrick’s Day, but consider this….you are smoking a piece of history as well.  This is what your grandfather and even your great grandfather probably smoked back in the day.  Camacho did an amazing job with the Candela.  It has great flavor and good body for a reasonable price.  These are limited so check these out as soon as you can.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!