Camacho Candela - Robusto *pics* Review

[MrGudgeon]

Well, that was interesting. This was my first candela cigar, and for those who aren't familiar with candelas take a look here for some good info:
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...2,1251,00.html

I got a sampler of camachos back in December, and these candelas have been resting in my humi since then. I was feeling a bit adventurous tonight so I figured I would give one a try.

The order of business for the night. The flash really washes out just how green these smokes are, it looks like its been wrapped with a 4 leaf clover in real life, which is appropriate since these were originally released as a limited edition St. Patrick's day promotion:

The scene on my balcony:


Construction: as I have found with all the camachos I have smoked, the candela has a solid construction. Couple veins, but otherwise a smooth wrapper over a firm, solid feeling stick.

Clip + Prelight: Things took a turn for the worst right from the get go, as a good 1" crack in the wrapper reared its ugly head as I made my clip. May or may not have been my fault, but either way it did not prove to be really problematic aside from the aesthetics. Prelight draw was more or less exactly what one would taste with a camacho corojo (I believe it is the same blend inside, anyone confirm or deny?).

Getting into it:


Light and overall Burn: Lit up like a champ and had a beautiful burn for the first 2/3 of the stick. Draw was a bit loose for my tastes, but even still it produced gobs of smoke. Beautiful for smoke rings I found. Ash did not hold overly well, the stick ashed itself at about the 3/4" mark. Getting into the final third of the stick it went out on me, and I really did not feel like fighting through that awful tarry flavor of an extinguished cigar that I'm sure we all know, so I let it die afterwards. I have found this is a common occurence for me with camachos.....

Tasting Notes: As expected, reminded me a lot of a camacho corojo with a twist. Full bodied with a dominant earthy twang is what dominated my palate. The candela wrapper gives a bit more dimension to the stick though, offering a very grassy flavour with what I thought tasted like a tea-like flavour mixed in. Some of that traditional camacho spice thrown in there too, predominantly in the middle of the stick I found.

Getting into the home stretch, shortly before I let the cigar die on its own accord:


Overall not a bad smoke, but something about the flavour profile just doesn't mesh too well with me, I can't quite put my finger on it. It has definitely mellowed out since the last time I smoked a similar camacho though. I definitely recommend everyone out there at least try a candela sometime, from what I hear these used to be pretty popular back in the day.

Sorry if this is a bit long winded guys, I just love writing these

[daviddunn]

Thanks for the review. Too "dry" for me. Makes me miss my OILY maduro wrapper. =)

[wharfrathoss]

good review-BTW, what type of cutter is that in the 1st pic?-looks like a modified xikar

[MrGudgeon]

see www.cigarstar.ca for the cutter, my local B&M is a dealer of their products.

[Ceedee]

Nice review! I have never had a Candela before, but I have a Fuente 8-5-8 Candela sitting in my humi... you may have just awakened the need for me to smoke it! Thanks for sharing - great pics too!

CD

[gary106334]

Nice review.

[KASR]

Great review! being a Camacho fan, I've seen these and wondered how they were. I can put that question to rest now.

[tazziedevil]

Interesting. I would have thought that a Camacho Candela would have been a little too weird....

thanks for the review...!

[oldforge]

This was my commuting smoke this morning. Mine had been aging for a couple of years and was _very_ smooth and the different tastes had blended together well.

This is an underrated cigar imho.

[Ratters]

I'm a bit of a Camacho whore but this is one smoke that I just don't care for very much. I believe it is the same filler as the corojo but the wrapper just makes it taste to wierd to me. Funny thing is I've never seen these sold by the box, only in sampler packs.

[TankerT]

Thanks for the review. I saw one of these things today... and yeah... the flash does take away some of the green. I mean... they are GREEN.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be bold and try one of these... but... sounds like I might have to!

[weak_link]

Starbuck from the original Battlestar Galactica tv series smoked candela's but being as I'm no where near as cool as him, I haven't found a taste for them myself.

I still have a Camacho candela laying around from a sampler, maybe it's time for a revisit to see if things have changed for me.

[ca21455]

Thanks for the nice review! I like the Camacho Corojo Monica Maduro a lot, but never had a candela from any manufacturer. Did not think they would be as full bodied as you stated. May have to give one a try.