Tag Archives: Camacho

April 12, 2026 · 9:43 am

Davidoff Puro Dominicano, Avo Syncro and Camacho Ecuador Cigars

I was sorry to read about the passing of Gary Korb, who fairly recently retired from Famous Smoke Shop where he was the main guy behind their Cigar Advisor magazine site. I first had contact with Gary in 2004, he tried to weasel his way into a ticketed event I hosted as media. He was an inspiration, for sure! I had a pretty good rapport with him, last time I saw him he actually told me that he had mentioned my name in their search to replace him. I felt honored. My condolences to his family. He probably would have loved the cigars I’m about to talk about.

I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t smoke Davidoffs if they didn’t send me some to try. I consider myself fortunate to have done whatever I have done to warrant this consideration. I recently received some of the new Davidoff Puro Dominicano in their Black Band line. These come in three sizes, a Short Robusto (4½” x 52), a Corona Larga (5 7/8″ x 44), and a Perfecto (5½” x 50), which is the only figurado of this size in the Davidoff portfolio, which is what they sent. They used tobaccos from six regions in the DR, Yamasá for the wrapper, Martin Garcia for the binder, and Villa González, Mao, Piloto, Navarette and Yamasá in the filler. I went into this cigar wondering if it would be a good fit for me, many times I don’t appreciate the flavors found in Dominican puros, though a lot of folks do. This cigar was a delight. I was surprised by the prelight draw, which was very free. Odd for a perfecto. I’d say that it started off earthy, maybe loam or mushroomy, not usually my jam. The burn was perfect with a flat ember, no cone, no tunnel, just perfect. I sipped it, like I would a lancero, because the draw was so free I didn’t want it to heat up too much. I really enjoyed this cigar much more than I thought I would. I wanted to smoke another one this week, but I felt like that would be pretentious. $25 is a lot for a cigar, but they could probably have gotten away with asking more, this is a really nice smoke.

Somewhere along the way I came into possession of an Avo Syncro Nicaragua in a square tube. I can’t remember where or when, but it has to have been in my humidor for seven or eight years. I decided to smoke this one finally after hearing some discussion on KMA Radio about the square tubes, which Avo apparently released in 2015. This one was a bugger to get out of the tube. The cigar is a 6″ x 54 box press, which is probably obvious since it’s in a square tube. Who would put a round cigar in a square tube? By the way, Abe and Coop, CAO Anniversary had a square tube going back to 2003 or so, so Padron and Avo weren’t the pioneers in this area! ( while I’m at it, Coop: ” The Spanish phrase el reloj (the clock/watch) is phonetically pronounced el rreh-LOH or el rreh-LOHKH. The stress is on the second syllable of “reloj” (loh), with a rolled “rr” at the beginning and a soft “h” or slight “kh” sound at the end”. It’s my mission in life to correct Coop on this). I was surprised that this started with some harshness, but the dark fruit took over and it was really a nice cigar, very tasty. Kudos for not putting a cedar sleeve in the tube, I can’t seem to learn to take cigars out of tubes for long term storage because they always seem to just taste like cedar after a while. This one was good, I wonder if they are still available?

I had picked up a five pack of Camacho Ecuador Toros a few weeks back, and thought I remembered liking this blend. The toro is 6″ x 50, which feel like a corona in this day and age. It has an Ecuador wrapper of some sort, Brazilian binder and Dominican and Honduran fillers. These came out in May of 2014, so they’ve been around for a while. I realize that this is probably my least favorite Camacho. I’m starting to question my palate lately, but it’s always been questionable. This started out with some sourness, which I’ve gotten a lot lately for some reason. It didn’t get better, and while I powered through it, I really wanted to put it down and get something else. Perhaps I’ll stay away from this one for a while, maybe some age will help, maybe I’ll give the rest away, I don’t know. Two out of three ain’t bad, I guess. I smoke more delicious cigars than not, so I have that going for me. Side note, I kinda wish Davidoff would have an informational site about their cigars and not a direct to consumer sales site. If I’m looking at the wrong one, someone please correct me! I feel like more of a shill than I already am linking to a sales site!

I’ve been plagued over the last few days with attempts to take over my social media accounts and I’m sick of it. I’m not really that interesting. It’s not like there’s money to be made, it’s just a huge nuisance. It’s absurd how many hoops one has to jump through to change passwords. I’m too old for this shit, please leave me alone! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

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Tagged as Avo, Camacho, cigar, cigars, davidoff, Davidoff of Geneva, Ecuador, Perfecto, Puro Dominicano, Syncro, toro, Tubo

February 1, 2026 · 9:33 am

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Camacho and Maestranza Cigars

We are saddened here this week by the passing of our beloved dog, Macha. Many have met Macha over the years, she even made an appearance on the Cigar Authority once, and she was a large part of our household. We suspect she was 14 or 15 years old, so she lived a long life, especially since the last 12 were with three legs. We adored here and she leaves a hole on our hearts. I appreciate everyone’s condolences. I smoked a Padron 1964 Anniversary that I got in 2014, the year we adopted Macha, in her honor.

A few weeks back I walked into a local shop that I haven’t been to in a while, and asked the owner what was new and exciting. He said that they just got the Colonel E.H. Taylor San Andrés and it was selling well. I don’t know anything about this brand, I suspect it’s a Meier and Dutch (CI) creation. It, obviously, has a San Andrés wrapper, Criollo binder and Nicaraguan fillers and is made in the Dominican Republic (La Isla, I generally like their stuff). It isn’t really budget priced, I think it was around $12. I smoked it, and my first thought was that I should have asked Jeff what was good, not what was new. It was OK. I would think it would be better at half the price. I know E.H. Taylor is a bourbon brand, and I didn’t get any boozy flavors, but I really wouldn’t know one if I tripped over one. It was a typical dry cocoa, San Andrés cigar. Nothing special. My notes say that the E.H. is for eh…

For obvious reasons (welcome Davidoff to the CigarCraig family! thanks for the support!), I feel the need to get back into some of their lines, such as Camacho and Avo. This week I revisited the Camacho Triple Maduro in the gordo size. This 6″ x 60 has a Honduran wrapper, Mexican binder, with a filler blend from Brazil, Honduras and the DR. The website is a little out of date, it says it’s the only all maduro cigar, a category which now includes the Drew Estate Blackened. Fun fact: Abe Dababneh, owner of Smoke Inn, coined the term Triple Maduro and licensed it to Christian Eiroa when he owned Camacho. Davidoff bought the brand and I want to say they paid Abe off. (Edit: Abe tells the whole story on the latest Prime Time show with Cigar-Coop, which I listed to a whole 24 hours after writing this post.) I remember smoking this a long time ago. This was a really good cigar. It’s heavy and rich, with a load of cocoa and some sweet earth. I enjoyed this and will pick up some more.

Finally, I was in yet another store nearby and picked up a couple of the RomaCraft Maestranzas Caballería Valencia (6 x 52). These were very reasonably priced, around $10 I think. This is a core line cigar that’s been out for a year or two and this is the first I’ve come across them in the wild (granted, I don’t get out much). This is another San Andrés wrapper cigar, with a Brazilian binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. It’s made at the Nica Sueńo factory. I’ve been a fan of the Nica Sueno output going back to 2011 or thereabouts. Fortunately the new ownership of the local CigarCigars stores brought in RomaCraft stuff, so I have a local source now. I enjoyed this 6″ x 52 cigar quite a bit, although it didn’t have the intensity that I find in most of their stuff. Again I got a dry cocoa predominantly. I’ll be grabbing more of these, as well as the Cromagnons, next visit.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigars, Colonel E.H. Taylor, davidoff, Macha, Maestranza, RoMaCraft, Triple Maduro

November 16, 2025 · 9:16 am

Camacho, Powstanie and Mi Querida Cigars

It’s funny, Camacho cigars were a staple for me back in the 90s, the Corojo and Havana were favorites. They used to label the boxes “dark” Corojo if I remember correctly, they were the best. I even smoked though a box of Camacho Candelas. This was all before the company was sold to Davidoff. Since they have owned the company, I’ve continued to enjoy the cigars, oddly not as often as I used to. I recently saw them on a local retailers shelves, and decided to pick some up. I grabbed a Camacho Corojo BXP, which is the box pressed toro, a size I haven’t tried before, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a Corojo in any size. This is a well-behaved, spicy cigar. Apparently they added some Pennsylvania ligero to this Honduran puro, giving it some more zip than the round versions. I liked it, and I’m going to grab more, along with the round version to compare the two.

I had to take a road trip for work this week, moving some vehicles around. It was 7+ hours of windshield time, just out and back. I dis go right past Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and it timed out right for a rest stop. Sadly, James wasn’t in the store, I’ll try to plan better next time I get out that way. I picked up some Powstanie San Andrés toros, a cigar I had been looking forward to trying. I like the guys at Powstanie, Mike and Mike (and Greg). If you were to search my archives you’ll find a video I did with them. (here, I made it easy for you!). I lit one up shortly after I got home. This is a Nicaraguan binder and filler with the San Andrés wrapped cigar made at Nica Sueńo in Esteli. It had a nice earthy, spicy sweetness, I liked it a lot. My only complaint was that it burned too fast, I’d like for it to have lasted longer. It was also pricy, but that’s getting harder and harder to complain about, they all are. Another winner from the Powstanie guys.

Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust traditionally sends out media kits around this time of year, strategically to get cigars on people’s year end lists. Over the last bunch of years this has resulted in one of his cigars being at or near the top of the Halfwheel Consensus. I think we can all agree that the timing is strategic, but we can also agree that the cigars are exceptional and deserve whatever accolades they receive. Two of the four cigars included have already graced my pages, as I went out and purchased some, but there were two that I hadn’t yet tried, one of which is the Mi Querida Gorila Gordo, This is a 6″ x 60 with a “109” style bullet head. It’s basically an overweight belicoso. It’s also an excellent cigar. I personally adore the regular old Mi Querida line with the blue bands. It’s rich and chocolatey, with just enough spice to make it interesting, but basically, to me, it’s smoking a dessert. I don’t shy away from 60 ring cigars, there’s a lot I like, it’s cool to have a Mi Querida in this gauge.

Back by popular demand, I’ve launched the 2025 edition of the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. Go HERE to sign up. We have a really great core group. That’s all for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as BXP, Camacho, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Gorila Gordo, Mi Querida, Powstanie, San Andrés

June 22, 2025 · 6:00 am

Camacho, Plasencia and Micallef Cigars

I saw Jack Heyer at the Camacho booth at the Smoke-Onos event last month, and, funny enough, I received some samples of the new Camacho Limited Edition 2025 last week. I’ve smoked a lot of Camacho cigars over the years, going back to the ’90s when Christian Eiroa owned the company. I even went through a box of the Camacho Candela Monarcas. This new cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Dominican fillers. It’s offered in a 6″ x 52 Toro and they come in tins of 20 priced at $17.50 each. I smoked a couple of these, it’s unusual for me to smoke the same cigar over a week’s time, but the first one I smoked was so good, I had to smoke another one. These suit my palate ( but not necessarily my wallet!). It’s a really good cigar, loads of espresso, with some spice. This is an excellent cigar.

My youngest son has taken to getting me a couple cigars for Father’s Day the last couple years. He stops in CIgar Mojo in King Of Prussia, PA and they have done and excellent job of recommending cigars that I haven’t had before. This year one of the cigars was the new Plasencia Alma De Cielo Amancer, the Hexagon pressed 6″ x 60. The press isn’t as the Alma Fuerte Sixto, which has sharper corners. This isn’t a surprise, given that the wrapper appears to be quite thin. It looks like a shade wrapper, but it’s actually a Nicaraguan wrapper from Condega, which they say is grown at 1300 meters above sea level. They say it’s the highest Elevation cigar on the market. The rest of the cigar is Nicaraguan as well, binder and filler, obviously made at the Plasencia factory. This is on the milder side, which starts out a little drying on the palate. There’s a sweet cream sort of thing going on. As it heats, it rounds out, losing the press. I’m always embarrassed when my kids give me cigars, especially when they spend so much, it was a very generous gift. A great gift is something I wouldn’t buy for myself.

A cigar on the opposite end of the spectrum in several ways is the Micallef Black Firecracker. Like the Camacho, it has a San Andrés maduro wrapper, with an Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers. The format is 3½” x 50 with a fuse pigtail cap. I’ve smoked many of the seasonal Firecracker releases, I try to buy them from Two Guys Cigars when they come out, I think I missed a couple here and there. The most memorable was probably the Fratello that I smoked on the Spanish Steps in Rome. I keep a bunch around for those times when I don’t have a lot of time. I also like the Micallef Black blend, I’m a fan. This was a strong little cigar. It started out with a blast of pepper, the mellowed slightly, although never dropping below strong. The burn was perfect, and it was a very enjoyable cigar. The only problem is that it’s priced a touch higher than the toro (and the box pressed toro that’s a Smoke Inn exclusive, also excellent), but it’s a different cigar, and requires a bit more work to make.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alma Del Cielo, Amamcer, Black, Camacho, cigar, cigars, Firecracker, Hexagon, Limited Edition 2025, Micallef, Plasencia

April 24, 2019 · 9:43 am

Camacho American Barrel Aged and Corojo Maduro Cigars

I went into the Camacho stash fir the first couple of cigars this week, and the first one that caught my eye was an American Barrel Aged Perfecto Gorda. This was in a Sampler from the IPCPR a few years ago, so I’m not entirely sure it’s a regular production size, hang on, let me go look. OK, It’s available, and it’s a terrific size. It’s a hair under 6” x 52, and lit easily and opened up to a perfect burn and draw. This is an all US Broadleaf blend, PA Broadleaf wrapper with broadleaf fillers, aged in bourbon barrels and made in Davidoff’s Dominican factory. I found myself mesmerized by the sweet, medium-bodied flavor of this cigar. I’ve smoked this blend before, but I don’t recall enjoying it as much as I did in this shape. Perhaps it was the several years of additional age? As my regular readers know, if there’s any bourbo

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n flavor from the barrel aging, it’s lost on me. If I ever even had bourbon it’s been over 30 years, and it wasn’t good, I’ll tell you that.

Last night was another late start, and I was tempted to go

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with the Nicaraguan Barrel Aged, but a Toro was more cigar than I wanted. I happened across a lonely leftover from a Camacho event I attended back in maybe 2011. It was a Camacho Corojo Maduro in the Monarca (robusto) size. Camacho Monarca is actually one of the first documented cigar reviews I did back in 1997 in Steve Saka’s Monthly Officious Taste Test, which can be found through some searching through CigarNexus.com via archive.org. It wasn’t even close to this cigar, except in name, but interesting to me at least. The Corojo Maduro came out of an amber cellophane sleeve, and was not the powerhouse it once was. It was still quite rich in flavor, with some punch, but had mellowed. Oddly, I always regretted not just sticking with the natural Corojo as opposed to the Maduro in this line, as I think the darker wrapper somehow overshadowed the great flavor of the original Corojo line. I’ll likely never see another one of these old Corojo Maduros anyway, and it was an enjoyable smoke. Maybe the Nicaraguan Barrel Aged will be on the mine today.