Cigar Review – Camacho SLR Rothschild Natural

I’m not terribly familiar with Camacho’s lineup, though I had read a few reviews of their smokes, most of which were positive. A few days ago my coworker Jason told me he smoked a Camacho SLR Rothschild Natural, and said that it made him realize why people smoke cigars in the first place. Hearing such praise made me pretty anxious to go home and smoke the one that was given to me, as the last couple of cigars I had were a bit discouraging; cracked wrappers, crappy burns, and the like.

I made it home after a long wait, and it was finally smoking time. This cigar looked awesome. The wrapper, a Cuban-seed Habano grown in Honduras, had a slight oily sheen and was dark enough that I would have believed it was a Maduro had I not done my research. The pre-light draw was so peppery that it made me cough, and as I am a fan of full-bodied smokes, this was a good sign. The cigar was very tightly rolled—I could barely see the gaps between the filler leaves. It took a bit of effort to light it and the draw was not as easy as I’m used to. I realized about halfway into the smoke that if the draw had been any looser, it would’ve been overpowering.

When I took the first few puffs of this cigar, I got some very spicy smoke with hints of coffee. The smoke was just thick enough despite the tighter draw and lingered around medium-to-full bodied. Around an inch into the smoke, I started getting a slight hint of sweetness that tasted distinctly like honey. Liking the taste so far, I continued to puff away.

Around halfway through the smoke, the sweetness really started opening up. I started getting malt and burnt sugar on the draw, and the spiciness of the Corojo filler was still pretty prominent. At this point I was inspired to open up a Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale, and I think I may have figured out the perfect combination. The spicy, caramel sweetness of this cigar meshed really well with the sweet malt character of the brew.

As I got further towards the band, the sweetness evolved even further with a very recognizable hint of dry cocoa, which lasted for only a few minutes. Once I took off the band and the ash grew a little more, I got a ton of cedar, which was complemented by the pepper. I don’t know how, but the smoke stayed cool until I got to the ¾ inch mark.

One thing I need to emphasize about this smoke is that the burn was PERFECT. It is extremely rare that I smoke a cigar that has a self-correcting burn, but this one did. I saw the occasional ridge go unlit in the burn line, and time after time I watched the ember slowly move across until the burn was perfectly straight again.

I even put the cigar down a few times; once to get my beer and several times to insist that my girlfriend, exhausted from work and playing PS3, needed to come outside and try this smoke. She is typically not interested in cigars, but still enjoyed what she had of this smoke before I snatched it back from her like Gollum.

I’m generally not the type of guy who nubs cigars. I like to take the band as a suggestion of when to put the stogie down, save for some shorter smokes and double bands. This was not the case for this smoke, which I smoked until it started to burn my fingers. All I can say at this point is, get a box of these—I know I will—and nub ‘em all.