For me the Camacho Ecuador is the most attractive of the new Camacho branding with its colors of teal and black, my personal favorite color combination. Does packaging sell cigars, no, but it can lead you to try a cigar for the first time. From the second I saw the pictures I knew this was a stick I wanted to try.
According to Camacho, “The Ecuador Habano leaf is one of the most storied tobaccos in Camacho’s arsenal, a wrapper unique unto itself in color, texture and aroma. Grown in the rugged and nitrogen rich soils beneath the towering Andes Mountains, a majestic region where tobacco-growing first took hold thousands of years ago. Ecuador Habano is one of the most versatile wrapper leaves in existence, opening the possibilities for their master blenders to experiment and drive the boundaries of flavor to new heights. This dynamic new blend features an earthy Brazilian Mata Fina binder, a pair of powerful high-priming Honduran tobaccos and rare Dominican Pelo de Oro ligero for the filler. From the blast of pepper to the hints of floral and citrus throughout, this cigar delivers a wide range of complex flavors.”
Cigar: Camacho Ecuador
Size: 6 x 50 (Toro)
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Honduras (High Priming), Dominican Republic (Pelo de Oro)
Strength: Full
Source: Two Guys Smoke Shop
The Look: The Camacho Ecuador features a an auburn brown Sumatra wrapper from Ecuador. There are some thin veins visible on this perfectly rolled cigar. The teal and black band provides a nice contrast, though I always question the slogan “Infamous Since 1962” as that would be famous for bad reasons. In the hand the cigar has a nice weight, with no soft spots and a well packed foot.
The Notes: The cold draw of the Camacho Ecuador serves up some earthy notes with a slight sweetness lurking in the background. The sweetness almost gets lost in the earth and it appears more as an afterthought. The nose off the foot is a tad musky and some of the earthy components experienced on the cold draw remain.
Once the cigar is lit there is an abundance of pepper through the nose which caught me off guard and made my eyes water. Note to self, do not retrohale for about the first half-inch of this cigar, giving the pepper a chance to subside. On the palate the cigar serves up some leather, and some sweetness. As the cigar progresses into the first third the leather notes remain as a soft note with some growing sweetness and a hint of raisin creating a yin and yang between bitter and sweet.
The second third of the Camacho Ecuador the retrohale enhances the notes of the cigar with wood being the dominant taste. Once you exhale through the nose it is easy to become aware of the woodsy aroma that is compliment to the smoothness on the palate that introduces some coffee notes and a fading raisin.
The last third of the blue label Camacho becomes sweeter, with notes of caramel and a continued raisin with a hint of wood on the moderate finish.
The Burn: The draw on the Camacho Ecuador is right in my wheelhouse with a slight resistance. The burn line is true and the medium gray color ash holds on for a quarter of the stick at a time. Looking at the ash you can see little magnesium spots from the wrapper which was unnoticed before the light and this is a very good thing.
The Finish: The Camacho Ecuador might just be my favorite release from the company to date especially considering it uses two of my favorite tobaccos in Brazilian Mata Fina and Pelo de Oro. A subtle mix of spices and sweetness that are enjoyable at any time of day, this is a cigar that is definitely box worthy and a welcome addition to the great Camacho portfolio.
Score: 93
Price: $7.49 each or $129.99 a box
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Camacho Ecuador
Camacho Ecuador Foot
Camacho Ecuador Burn
