Pre-light Experience

The soft rectangle pressed Camacho Liberty 2020 is covered with a light brown wrapper that has a couple of lightly raised veins. The seams are quite smooth and really only noticeable due to vein placement. The head is finished off with a slightly wrinkled set of caps. The band is blue, red and silver and denotes the brand, line and year. The aroma from the wrapper is sweet hay and wood while the foot brings sawdust and a heavy dose of stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw is a mirror image of the wrapper aroma with sweet hay and wood along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with cedar and mellow black pepper. At a half inch in, the black pepper picks up a fair amount. The retrohale begins with a decent black pepper zing and then musty wood follows. At an inch and a quarter, a slight mustiness joins the profile. At an inch and a half, the black pepper mellows a bit and is slightly ahead of the cedar with the mustiness in the background. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the black pepper picks up again and has a decent lead over the cedar. At a half inch in, the cedar and black pepper are even. At an inch in, the cedar, black pepper and mustiness are all even. The retrohale is musty cedar with light black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the cedar, black pepper and mustiness remain even. The strength remains at medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the pepper drops into the background as the cedar and mustiness are even up front. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper has dropped out. The retrohale is musty cedar with light black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the cedar gains a light char and remains even with the mustiness. The cigar finishes out at medium strength.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy throughout and the cigar went out once in each third, requiring re-lights.

Draw

Even with a shallow cut, the draw was still pretty loose and may have contributed to the cigar going out.

Overall

The cigar was average throughout and started with a cedar and black pepper focused profile. The black pepper moved up and down in intensity through the first half and then it began to fade away. The large format with a loose draw caused me to really have to focus on the draws and I believe contributed to the burn issues. This is a long standing line, but I feel that it has waned the last few years. With the experience I had, paired with the high price point, I really don’t see coming back to the Camacho Liberty 2020.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.05

Cost/Point

$3.96

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Camacho Liberty 2020