Camacho Ecuador Robusto

I have had the Camacho Ecuador a few times over the last few years but have never had a chance to review it since I started this blog in 2020.  As I was researching this smoke, I was shocked to find that it is not an Ecuadorian puro as the only item sourced from Ecuador is the dark and oily Habano leaf wrapper. Bare with me a second: this cigar is manufactured in Honduras with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Brazilian binder, and filler tabacco from The Dominican and Honduras..... and this qualifies to be called "Ecuador?" 

Whatever, I'mma just be over here mad for Ecuador.  The size and thickness of the Robusto is at least the traditional 5"x50. The Robusto vitola can be purchased with a tubo, if desired, as well. The Camacho Ecuador can also be found in Toro, Churchill, Gordo, and Figurado vitolas with each of them also being, more or less, traditional lengths and ring gauges. 

Price wise, these cigars do not fall in to my "daily smoker" category because they retail for around $8 USD per stick. You may be able to squeeze that down a bit using auction sites and waiting for sales as these are very common smokes. 

Wrapper: Ecuador

Binder: Brazil

Filler: The Dominican Republic and Honduras

Length: 5"

Ring Gauge: 50

Size: Robusto

The Smoke: I paired this smoke with an Old Fashioned. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf provides a nice milk chocolate hue. It is oily and has some toothiness to it that gives it a bit of a velvet like texture.  It has a huge teal/aqua/turquoise band that provides a nice contrast to the wrapper leaf's color. 

I used my Xikar V2 cutter to take a wedge out of the head. The cold draw was good and felt open despite the smaller cut. The cold draw had some wood and earth. Toasting and lighting the cigar came with ease. The light cigar had cedar and earth as well but also added some pepper. The cigar is slightly sweet. This cigar and its flavor profile changed very little and provided consistent flavor from beginning to end. 

One thing I felt was an issue was the construction. The burn rate of the cigar was uneven and required multiple corrective burns. Towards the end, the wrapper leaf began to unwind too. It took an hour and ten minutes to work through the robusto, which I did smoke down to a nub. 

Overall, the cigar was decent. The consistent flavor made the cigar fell less than complex and more like a one trick pony. The flavor it did have was pronounced and enjoyable. The construction could have been better. For $8 USD I would not buy this cigar again but for $5 or less I would consider it. 

The Score: Buy a Single

Camacho Corojo Robusto

I can assure you that I did not plan to review a Camacho cigar right after a CLE cigar, the "old" Camacho, but life in 2020 will continue to hit hard I suppose. I bought a box of these Corojo "red" robustos about a year ago and have been slowly pecking away at the box since. 

I originally bought a box because, at one time, they were the smoke I reached for when I wanted something straightforward and cheap to smoke. LULZ, I know, I know.... these run around $8-9 USD per stick from most places so they do not really fit into the "cheap daily" smoke category but occasionally you can find them priced around $5 during sales and certain events.

The 5" x 50 robusto vitola is one size that this cigar is offered in and it also is available as a toro, gordo, churchill, gigante and cigarillos. The tobacco, binder, and wrapper all come from Honduras which is also the same country where the entire Camacho brand is manufactured in. The tobacco is "Cuban seeded" but I will post my thoughts on that elsewhere and what that means to me, but I do not really feel like getting into it during this review. Corojo leaves are used for the wrapper, binder, and fillers. 

Wrapper: Honduras

Binder: Honduras

Filler: Honduras

Length: 5"

Ring Gauge: 50

Size: Robusto

The Smoke:  The cigar feels well made when held in the hand; the light tan Corojo leaf is inviting. The red banding on the cigar is ridiculously large and I feel that it is strictly made to satisfy the Instagram world, but whatever..... I enjoy a good cigar Instagram picture.

The cigar has herbal and floral aromas. The cap was easily removed with my straight cutter. Once lit the floral aromas were mixed with some slight hay. The flavors from the cigar include a spice element from pepper along with some solid cedar wood.  As the smoke progresses the pepper subsides while some mild sweetness joins the fun. The body of the cigar is full from beginning to end. 

The construction was good, and the cigar holds together well during the entire 45 minute session. The draw is good throughout the entire session and comes along with an even burn rate. I had to ash a few times to ensure none of the ash fell onto my lap. 

Overall, the cigar is very good and is a decent value, especially if it can be found closer to $6 a stick. That is probably not something one will find at many B&M cigar stores but I will say that this cigar smokes incredibly consistent and I have yet to be disappointed by any of the sticks I pulled from the box I have. They are fairly easy to find so I would not flood your humidor with an entire box unless you have a large cooler or several tupperdors that you are looking to fill, and for that reason I lower the score slightly since the rarity factor is nil.

The Score: Buy a pack of 10.