Saturday, August 1, 2009

Black Band Cigar 'A', aka Camacho Connecticut

Yes, it seemed like an eternity for some of us, but here they are:



I'm not crazy about shade-grown Connecticut wrappers. I'm just not entranced by the sweet hay flavor that I get from them most of the time. Also, many blends that sport a shade-grown wrapper tend to be fairly mild, and some downright bland.

On the other hand, I have grown to love most of Camacho's cigars. Never shy, and most often bold, the Eiroa blending philosophy has tended to suit my palate well. So, when I heard that Camacho was doing a Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, I was willing to entertain the notion. Camacho with a shade-grown wrapper? Some influence from the recent Davidoff acquisition?



The tawny, shade-grown Connecticut wrapper had a couple obvious veins and gave a mild hay aroma with peppery spice on the lips. After cutting the cap, the draw was fairly free. While smoking the cigar had a fairly sharp burn line and mildly flaky silver ash. It seemed like the cigar burned a bit faster than other Camacho offerings, and then dropped ash after an inch and a half.

The initial puffs brought leather and hay flavors, with a present spice for the sinuses. Started medium, but pulled back to mild after the first inch. Occasional puffs brought a medium-bodied hay/leather flavor, but mostly mild, and the spice tailed off as well. The hay flavor was occasionally grassy.

To compare, Camacho's Connecticut seems a little milder and less earthy than Oliva's recent Connecticut release. Connecticut is till not my preference, but the blend had flavor, for those who like the grassier flavor profile. I imagine that it suits Mr. Coffee and Scones just fine.

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