8:20pm
I picked up this Camacho stick as I headed along my way to the barbershop. It was spa day, apparently. Minus the wet shave because my back wasn't hearing any drivel about me sitting that long.
Look for a link HERE, just as soon as I post the barbershop write-up. In the by and by, here's a photograph of Camacho Triple Maduro and me. (Photo courtesy of my barber.)
 |
| Apologies for the hair-clippings. |
Camacho Triple Maduro
San Andres Maduro wrapper
Original Corojo Maduro binder
Maduro fillers via Brazil, Honduras, & Dominican Republic
5 x 50 Robusto
[Advertised as the world's only full Maduro cigar. Maduro puro?]
Nicely oiled, but a thin, dry oil which doesn't feel messy. Water soluble pomade, in keeping with my spa day. This shows as a very nice sheen which translates, too, into a very nice feel. A visible seam or two, but nothing ugly, ditto on the veins. Very dark brown near Obscuro, but still with a glow about it, a warmth -- not inky dull. Very even complected. Very even-packed too. Stiffly so. The foot tobacco shows surprising flashes of pale tobacco which almost sparkle on the background of the darker, richer browns. Or better yet as dirt blond hair on the dark stained hardwood floor of the Royal Ave Barbershop.
I am not a paid spokesperson. Although the free haircut was quite nice.
Chocolate barnyard mulch notes on the nose from the wrapper, a ripened and deep tobacco (natch). At the foot I detect notes of a spicier variety. Roasted cinnamon,some cumin, maybe a faint whiff of marshmallow and graham. I love San Andres, mi amigos.
Nibbling off the well-appointed double cap feels a tricky proposition, so I punch through with my Old Timer. That's a tad tricky, too, as the head of the stick is surprisingly dense -- as is the rest of it. A cold draw is a tad on the tight side and of red pepper, chocolate smorgasbord, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, graham, cream/marshmallow. In that order of strength. There's already a pleasant finish by way of the cinnamon/chocolate riding on a graham backing. Very flavorful. Very delineated. Very nice thus far. Although I do hope the draw loosens.
Last licks are coming up for the Cubbies in game 3. As soon as my Metropolitans win, I'll
Light:
[LET'S GO METS GO]
Toasting the foot lets loose into the air notes of roasted nuttiness and warm hearty bread. The first hot draw is red pepper, dark rye and black licorice. A nice finish is already developing of the licorice sweetness and the joining off the back of the draw of a very deep tobacco with notes of sweet and hot spices. A second hot draw is retro-haled and of hotter spices -- foremost a cumin, nice red pepper, some black. There is also an buttery leather. The butter is clarified, and very smooth and lays super lovely and gently on the palate from draw to finish. Third pull is a combo platter of the first two, with the addition of a red pepper on the tip of my tongue, and a joining of graham to the finish. Very nice all told, but somewhat and strangely -- unexciting.
Burn is even but a bit ribbon'd, ash is pale grey with rare charcoal low-lights. Very dense and not overly oily, but bound tight. Draw has loosened a smidgen, but could stand to loosen another.
The burn evens here foot-smoke is an earthy leather almost simple tobacco, but quite ripe (natch again). The licorice subdues even more, and it was only ever a hint -- more of an essence now that contributes less in terms of flavor, than along with the clarified butter mouth-feel.
I lay my hankie/schmata out across my lap for purely schtick purposes, because I cannot imagine this ash simply falling off. It's on like Donkey Kong, gentlepersons. Very thick and well-stacked. All around packing firmness holds, draw is now almost medium, but a hair tight. Profile at this point is a medium. Flavors are mainly leather earthiness on a black bread back. Some dark chocolate. A hint at a dried red fruit. Finish is cocoa to baking chocolate with a touch of indistinguishable sweet spices and that black licorice vibe. You know after you eat the stuff and the taste fades, but you still 'feel' it? That. It mottles with a dried red fruit/fig.
All told, it's a tad dry and I sip my French Roast. Flavors are nice and nicely balanced, but not as of yet fully delineated as they were on the cold draws. Deep, but not lively enough as to be rich. The java pulls a sweetened espresso note on the draw, but it fades quickly into something like a syrupy cola.
Ash just builds and builds in an unchanged manner of a nice slow and cool burn. Firmness holds. Burn is dead on. Burn-line is medium thin.
Dark chocolate now emerges and goes nicely with the espresso and on into the cola. I'm almost put in mid of a malted milkshake, as a toasted cream comes in now. It's surprisingly mellow, but you can kick it up with a retro-hale which establishes a very deep, savory tobacco with a crema touch.
I roll off the ash and toss it into my rose food bucket and it doesn't budge one iota. Profile remains medium. Maybe medium plus in terms of body since the crema has set in along with the clarified butter -- and the dark chocolate continues to enhance. I can't stress the need to retro-hale enough, as a cumin amps up there along with a host of bakers spices. Only occasional red peppers. Funny note here (peculiar, not LOL), is that some folks call this a red pepper bomb -- others speak to a distinct lack of the stuff. I've seemingly hit the one in the middle.
I open up the cap a bit more, as the draw seems to tighten. A little nibble really opens it up. That's what she said.
Act II:
Dryness abates, and I haven't sipped my coffee in a good while. Still, there is not a lot of 'life' in the smoke. Mellow, quite mellow. The retro-hale looses some complexity and a toasted marshmallow enters the draw. Peppers too, black but kind and very roasted in now creamery butter. That butter is in the deep tobacco room-note as well, along with a brushed leather. Very nice, there. Although I fear a lack of delineation.
Not a kick-in-the-door full flavor Camacho smoke, but it does have somewhat of a cop-knock. Very nice buttery mouth-feel. Finish is nice, sweet but not sickly, but also mottled a bit. It lasts into the next pull easily bu vaguely, and if you wait long enough, the brushed leather is there with a certain pumpernickel taste.
At the halfway point, a bit of a sharpening occurs and I sip my now cold coffee. This offering is very well-built and all nods to construction hold with an emphasis on firm. The burn heats a bit and hastens. Very nice offering thus far, but nowhere near the complexities or robust nature I'd envisioned.
Profile is surprisingly medium, although the strength has joined the body at medium+. The transition I was looking forward to, is seemingly somewhat of a further devolving in regards to a lack of delineation. All very nice, but as uncomplicated as Velcro clasp footwear. Spices have mainly left. Baking to dark chocolate remain with toasted cream and occasional laces of peppers and dark brewed coffee. The bread goes from wheat to black, and when black, is very good. A certain savoriness remains, but is vastly subdued.
Not a solitary, hat brim over eyes smoke. Instead, it's one which would go well with conversation. I'd have liked to watch the game with it, but the game was in my living room -- where my wife lives. I'd have loved to smoke this thing in the barber's chair. The mouth-feel is the high-point here. Creamy and deep sans being burdensome. Flavors are well-meaning and kind, but lacking in nuance, let alone complexity.
At the end of the second act, there's a touch of a catch in my throat as the only real 'change.' Maybe there's a bit of a ripening of flavors (again, again natch and I speak of course to the Maduro), but those flavors are now perfectly inter-mingled and it's hard to pull one out from the crowd. Same goes for the finish. It's a darn good cigar, but doesn't stand up to a pedantic dissection -- which some folks and some instances, might see as a selling point. But I don't believe fans of anything other than dull and pedantic peruse this particular blog.
I'd (let ya) buy (me) a box for a ballgame or card game or a trip to a 1930s barbershop -- and to never be let down. I'd also take a couple to the track or to the fights, But I wouldn't plop moolah for a single to fawn over.
Act III:
The pack loosens as expected, but holds well enough to be considered firm. A dark chocolate is all I can honestly point to. That should take nada away from a nicely toasted and deep offering. A good smoke, not a wow smoke. I like it. I like it like I like a trip to a diner. Simple fare that sticks to your ribs like Paula Deen's cooking, but there ain't a proper chef to be seen. This cigar slings hash, though, like no body's business. I bet it cooked in the Navy.
At the end, it tickles and teases at a full profile. This cigar is Mel's diner, if Flo never got hired on.
Not worth the price point. That might sound harsh, given it's a notably long smoker, but I'll stick to my knee-jerking guns. A beautifully constructed offering but sans complexities and with a tendency to be somewhat dry and lifeless.
I do take note that hardcore Maduro fans very well might take a fondness to this offering. Too, hardcore chocolate cake fans often eat 3 cakes in one sitting. Waitaminute -- they do not.
Pairings:
Coke is it. Coffee, too, with cream and sugar. Manischewiz anything -- wine that is. A dry Manischewitz matzo mixed with this offering very well might kills ya.
Final Grade: B-
Epilogue:
10:05-:10ish
I wanna go back to the
awaaayyyyyy.