I smoked a few of these cigars, but this one in particular was actually sent to me by our good friend Mike at Mikestogies.com. Mike was the man who actually sent over the sticks I did on my first blind review set which you can view here. He’s a great guy, with great reviews.

The Good Stuff: Each year Camacho releases a limited release cigar called the Liberty Series.The tradition started back in 2002 and is one of my favorite annual releases. They retail anywhere between $18 and $22 a stick and come in boxes of 10 individually coffin-boxed cigars. If you’d like to read our review of the 2009, you can see Daniel’s take on it here. Again, the scenery may look a bit different. I am doing yet another review at my favorite local shop, Tobacco Rd.

Size: 6 x 54 (11/18)  – Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatran  - Binder: Honduran Corojo  – Filler: Honduran Corojo and Dominican Ligero

Prelight: The Camacho Liberty 2010 holds true to all the past Liberty series in terms of presentation. The Liberty starts out encased in a dark blue, shiny, painted coffin box. Each box has a sticker with each cigar’s unique number. This one happens to be 775 /40,000. Once the seal on the box is broken I was showcased with a nice cedar scent and a tissue wrapped cigar placed carefully inside the box. Once then tissue is removed you are presented with the standard, flashy, black and silver Camacho band that you would expect. One interesting thing about this band is out of all the 2010 Liberties that I smoked, this was the only one with  a black band. All the rest of them had a dark blue similar to the color of the paint on the box. The band is very similar in design from the previous years. The Liberty 2010 also comes fitted with a nice little foot band that simply states “Liberty Series” in silver on dark blue ink. The wrapper on the Liberty is a very light, very consistent, milky brown. The smaller foot leads up to a much wider body before tapering off to a smaller, rounded cap that matches the size of the Liberty’s foot. For the most part the cigar is very firm to the touch with the exception of the foot. There is a crack at the top of the cigar from the head to about the middle of the band. Mainly just a wrapper crack. It looks as thought it didn’t harm the binder. Normally I wouldn’t review a cigar that already has a crack in it, but this is my third Liberty 2010 from three totally different boxes that have similar cracks. Not to mention I had a few similar issues with the 2009’s I smoked last year. This just must be a delicate wrapper. The wrapper has this immense scent of straight up cedar. It seriously smells like the inside of a brand new humidor. which happens to be of my favorite scents in the world. Some how the foot has an ever stronger cedar scent with just a little whiff of spice. The Liberty cut very clean with my double bladed cutter. Lucky enough, the crack didn’t increase much in size.  The cold draw kicks out this wonderful milky, cedar flavor and leaves behind just a tiny bit of spice.

First Smoke: The Liberty 2010 starts off slightly different than I expected. Instead of being smacked in the face with soft cedar, the cigar starts off bold, with some earthy, leather notes. Not long after the cigar turns into this just massive cedar bomb, holy crap. This is the reason why I love these Liberties. Outside of the cedar there is a slight spice sneaking into the mix. All around this cigar is starting off very smooth and flavorful. The draw is easy, and plentiful, but the main story is the stationary smoke. The Liberty 2010 gives off a ton of cedar scented stationary smoke that even overpowers the other three cigars that are going in the room at the time. The burnline is slightly wavy, but I always have that problem with this size. They almost always fix themselves. The ash is a very light grey with some slight flakes, but overall tightly compacted. The ash held on for a little over an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: One major difference with this year’s 2010 Liberty is a big one for me. The cigar burns so much slower than the previous year. The 2009 was soooo good, but at the price point I was always hesitant to spend the money to buy a cigar that would burn so quickly. The cedar is still rocking very hard into this second third. The spice is still there as well with notes of leather and some really creamy chocolate. The retrohale in this cigar is absolutely amazing. After a few retrohales I swear my nasal passage made me feel as if I have been locked in a humidor for the last 3 days. The body is slowly starting to creep in as well. It’s not full, but it is noticeable. The burnline has completely fixed itself and is holding solid as I expected. The ash is ugly, but the experience is wonderful.

Finish: The cedar has begun to fade a bit into the final third of this Camacho Liberty 2010. The cedar is still the main flavor with the backing flavors of spice, and this really strong leather flavor. The body has really ramped up too, which is totally unexpected.  I’m even getting a slight nicotine kick from this one. There was a slight harsh build up into the last inch but nothing too concerning, it was almost expected.  All in all the cigar finished very smooth, a bit heavier than I expected, and burned much slower taking about an hour and forty five minutes to finish.

Overview: The Camacho Liberty has always been a cigar that I look out for every year. The similar blends are just wonderful. The cost is a little high, but it’s a great cigar, for those special times. The slower burn was great, but it had its own drawback. Towards the end of the experience the cedar starting to get overwhelming and it made me want the tobacco flavors to come in and really take over. The crack really didn’t make much of a difference, and seldom does in this cigar. All in all, it’s a good cigar, at a decent price. But the Liberty is not something that I would put in my regular rotation due to the price, and availability. I do however love to keep a few of these on hand to satisfy those cedar cravings.

Cruzado

I have heard of these cigars, but most shops locally in El Paso, Texas don’t even carry Illusione cigars, so unless I was to receive these as a gift or trade, I probably never would have got my grubby little paws on one.

Luckily, a great little shop by the name of Tobacco Road recently jumped on the Illusione bandwagon and not only started stocking Illusione cigars, but Cruzado as well. Adam, the owner of the shop, actually gifted me a few of the Cruzado cigars in hopes to spread word of the brand. If you’re ever in town, Tobacco Road is a must-stop.

The Good Stuff: As stated earlier, the Cruzado line of cigars is another line blended by the mastermind himself, Dion Giolito. The Cruzado line was released in mid 2008. With the success of Dion’s Illusione lines the Cruzado had quite a bit of hype to live up to. Unlike the full-bodied Illusione cigars the Cruzado is best described as a medium to full, with complex flavors, soft spices atop leather and general creaminess. The size I have recieved is the Dantes Robusto. The Cruzado is blended by Dion, and then rolled in the Raices Cubanas along with the rest of the Illusione line.

Size: 5 x 48 -  Wrapper: Nicaragua Criollo  -  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan/Honduran  - Strength: Medium

Cruzado

Prelight: The Cruzado’s wrapper is very firm to the touch. There were no soft spots whatsoever, actually quite the opposite. The wrapper was nice and oily, but at the same time it seemed a bit firmer than what I was used to. As most of Dion’s cigars the Cruzado sports a nice, rounded triple cap. I really wish more cigar manufacturers would take a que from Cuban construction and triple wrap their caps. The cap seems to be the only portion of the cigar I ever really have any problems with. not only is the wrapper a nice, milk chocolate shade of brown, but it also carries with it chocolate scents with hints of spice. The foot of the Cruzado smells very leathery with notes of nutmeg.

Cruzado

Cold Draw: I cut this particular cigar using my Palio double-bladed cutter. The cut was very clean, and there were no signs of misconstruction upon the slice. The cold draw was very spicy, with timid hints of what I could only categorize best as German pastry.

First Smoke: The Cruzado was wrapped a bit too tight for my liking. I was able to pull a decent draw off of the cigar but it took far more hits than I am used to. Almost instantaneously I was smacked in the face with a burst of pepper I wasn’t expecting. Other flavors were oats, bread, spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, leather, and again the German pastry. The Cruzado didn’t leave much of an aftertaste, just the slight lingering tobacco taste that is expected when smoking cigars. The burn started off well but is beginning to get slightly wavy. It’s still too early into the cigar to tell how this will affect the overall experience. The Cruzado is a great retro-hale cigar, clean, non-burning. I got about and inch and a half into the Cruzado before the ash gave way for the first time.

Cruzado

Halfway There: Shortly after I reached the halfway point the draw began to open up a whole lot more. I was no longer having to hit this cigar three or four times to get the massive burst of smoke I wanted. The burn line did get a bit wavy and I had to touch it up, I don’t see any further issues with it though. The flavors are holding their own. At this point the pepper is no longer in the mix, more spice, vanilla, oats, and bread. I’m really quite surprised how slow this cigar is burning. The smoke is thick and very light in color where as the ash is a whole lot darker than what you would normally expect out of any cigar. It’s not really flaky, but it isn’t really packed either.

Cruzado

Finish: There was a slight harshness to the nub of the Cruzado, but not anything serious. It may be in part to the massive smoking I did early into the cigar. The Cruzado finished very smooth otherwise. There was no nicotine feel. Overall the Cruzado was an incredibly smooth smoke. The pepper made a quick return towards the end of the cigar, but just enough to effect the aftertaste. After the halfway touch-up I had no further burn issues at all. The flavors finished off very Vanilla Coffee Creamery, with Oaky Leather and hints of pepper.

Cruzado

Overview: Although the Cruzado had great flavors, and was extremely smooth, it was just a little on the light side for my taste. This isn’t to say I won’t have it again. I actually think the Cruzado will be one of the few Medium smoke I will have in my regular rotation. This is a perfect cigar for novice and casual smokers.

Cruzado

Drew Estate ACID Subculture Def Sea Perfecto

If I am not mistaken the only place you can get these are through Cigars International. They’re awesome, and provide super quick shipping out of Pennsylvania.

I would imagine most other subculture blends will be equally hard to find. I have been blessed to have stumbled across 2 other subculture cigars. One was the largest cigar I have ever had. The ACID Hawg. This one was found in my hometown of El Paso, Texas at Kern Place cigars. The place is great, and Brad, the owner is an amazing conversationalist. They have two locations on the West side, one in the Cincinnat Entertainment disctrict and the other a bit further down mesa. They also have one (in which I frequent most often) snuggly hidden just off Lee Trevino on the east side.

The other is the ACID Toast. This I was lucky enough to receive in an infamous Acid Tin. Contents of these tins vary, but they are incredibly easy to find.

The Good Stuff: The entire subculture line boasts “taking cigar manufacturing to new limits”. Each small batch cigar is not only aged an extra year, but is also the most intuitive of infused blends. The ACID Def Sea is no exception. The Def Sea is a smoothly blended cigar wrapped in Sumatra seeded tobacco leaves and infused with the insane blend of flavors from honey water, to jasmine.

Size: 6 x 52  -  Wrapper: Sumatran  -  Strength: Medium  -  Shape: Perfecto  -  Country: Nicaragua

Prelight: The ACID def sea is a perfecto shaped cigar. This means it holds a torpedo shape at both the foot, and the head. Torpedos have to be my favorite shapes as they burn almost perfect every time. The cigar holds a very oily, creamy, dark Sumatra wrapper. It’s very close to a maduro, but no where near as sweet. Sadly from the picture above you can see that my cigar didn’t come in the best condition. Not only does it have a few cracks but the head of the cigar looks like its been smashed one time too many. Outside of that the cigar is great in construction, I can’t image how hard it is to roll one of these.

First Smoke: Kinda funny, but every time I smoke a cigar my wife takes the shaving from the head left on my cutter and sucks on it. Since she isn’t a cigar smoker this is how she bases her reviews. Oddly enough she looked at me with a sad face. She obviously gave this one a thumbs down. Being a man, I felt my review would be much different. The first hit was enormous. That had to be the best part of this cigar outside of the shape. It sports a very large, thick draw. Not nearly as big as the Ambrosia Kaya I reviewed recently, but large none the less. The taste. This is what caught me by surprise. Maybe I’m not a Jasmine fan but I really didn’t like the flavor produced by this cigar. It was really sweet (a good thing), with hints of honey, jasmine, pine, and cedar. The cigar itself wasn’t that flavorful at all and actually felt more like I was smoking a traditional cigar than an aromatic. The cigar was very easy to light, and burned very clean.

Halfway There: Another surprise was the fact that shortly after the first few draws not only did the cigar ash off (not even a half inch in, this may be due to the condition the cigar was in), but the burn seemed to have a mind of its own as you can see here:

Drew Estate Acid Subculture Def Sea Perfecto

One minute its burning great, the next its powerful on one side, then the other. It was kinda interesting to watch. Also note in the picture you can see the wrapping beginning to come undone.

The flavor is still there and hasn’t increased as of yet. As much as I would like it to. The draw has increased a bit and again, its the best part so far.

Finish: On a good note, outside of the image above there were no further defects in the wrapping. The cigar finished very smooth, but still lacked in flavor. I didn’t take it to the nub, but close enough to call it quits. This cigar just wasn’t as “Action-Packed” as I was hoping for. The cigar was still very smooth, and did not increase in strength as I smoked along.

Overview: Would I try this cigar again? Probably not. Would I suggest it to anyone else? Yes, especially if it is someone that solely smokes traditional cigars, or has a fear of infused cigars. I’m not at all unimpressed with this cigar. A lot of work goes into the subculture line and it clearly shows. The flavors in this guy just wasn’t my cup of tea. I still have the “Toast” in my humidor, and the “Hawg” was one hell of a cigar. It actually took me two days to smoke that one down (thank god, and my wife for my Cigar Savor).

Drew Estate ACID Cold Infusion Tea:

Drew Estate - ACID - Cold Infusion Tea

This was another one of the first smokes I have ever had and again, one of my favorites. Outside of coffee the next great additive to a cigar…TEA.

Not only are these great cigars, but for the price… UNBEATABLE. I picked this one up from the local El Paso brick and mortar shop “Tobacco Tin”. These guys are AMAZING. If you are local, or visiting definitely check them out. They have shops on both the east and west side of town with a MASSIVE selection in both. Not to mention top notch service!

On To The Good Stuff:

Strength: Medium  -  Size: 6 3/4 x 44  -  Wrapper: Natural Connecticut  -  Country: Nicaragua

Cold Infusion Tea is part of the ACID Gold line of infused cigars. These Cigars are carefully infused using Drew Estate’s secret infusion process with notes of everything from floral, to peach cobbler (no joke).

Prelight: This cigar has to be one of the best scented ACIDs ever created. The scent isn’t as strong as the Acid Blue’s but it is unbelievably enticing. The construction again, was impeccable. No visible veins. There were small amounts of filler tobacco found hugging the outside of the cigar, but these quickly brushed off with a soft blow. I usually tend to like shorter, fatter cigars. This one is just the opposite. Its long narrow construction forms a perfect fit in your hands making for a comfortable wield.

First Smoke: Again, I am using a Cuban Crafters double bladed “Perfecto” blade and a single flame standard colibri butane torch. I’m really tied to this cutter, but I may choose a Xikar double blade once I can convince myself its worth it. And as far as the torch, I’ll probably hold on to this guy until its death. At first, this cigar produces a VERY smooth draw. Scratch that, UNBELIEVABLY smooth draw. The only downfall was it didn’t produce as much smoke as I am used to. A lot of that has to do with the shape. The taste is remarkable. A pallet full of fruits, hints of what I think is green tea, and floral scents. The taste is in no way overpowering. It’s lightly infused not flavored. The burn was perfectly even and ash held on for at least a good inch before falling off.

Halfway There: This came to me as a surprise but about halfway through the cigar the draw begins to increase. The flavor stays the same making for an incredible smoke. It felt as if the cigar gained strength well into the smoke. Could this be due to the shape as well?!? I’m not too sure but it was a great surprise. The cigar is still burning even.

Finish: I took this guy all the way down to the nub. I was “in the zone” so I even took it into the “danger zone”, and my burnt lips didn’t regret it. Unlike the surprise halfway through this cigar, the draw and taste remained consistent. It was almost like I wasn’t even close to reaching its end. The wrapper held its shape all the way through with no signs of unwrapping keeping a consistently even burn.

Overview: This is a great cigar for many reasons. If you are new to smoking, or to smoking infused cigars, then this is the perfect introductory smoke. Not too harsh, not too powerful, and not too flavorful. If you have been turned off by ACID cigars because of the heavy scent and flavor then this is a good medium and definitely worth a shot. And of course, if you love infused cigars, and ACID brands, then this is right for you.