It seems that Perdomo is a name that many cigars smokers know about and often enjoy yet it’s also I brand that seems to do minimal advertising. I don’t seem to see them launch large campaigns or expensive sponsorship but rather it seems word of mouth and consistent quality help spread their name. I’ve also had the chance to review the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro and Perdomo Patriarch Maduro in the past. Today we are going to take a look at the Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro.

The Perdomo Grand Cru is a cigar grown and rolled with the intention of giving a Cuban-like flavor in each blend. All of the seeds used to grow the Tobacco in Nicaragua are from Cuba. The tobacco itself has also been well aged before being rolled into the cigars. Each box and cigar is clearly marked with a “Crop of 2004” label. I really like this idea and it lets you know just how old the tobacco is. If they decide to keep the same blend moving forward but change crops, I’m curious to see if they will just change the year or change the name. From what I can tell, all the cigars and boxes still say 2004. The website also says this blend is made from that crop as well so it may not change at all.

I would actually love to see that type of labelling adopted by more companies. I think it’s an excellent idea. There are other cigars that do this currently, such as the Tatuaje L’Esperit de Verite that Tony reviewed or the Camacho Liberty series (we’ve reviewed the 2009 and 2010) but those are more limited editions. Having this label on regular production cigars would be and interesting piece of information. The above linked reviews already show how much a blend can change from year-to-year. But enough about me complaining, without further adieu let’s jump into the review of the Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro.

Cigar: Perdomo Grand Cru Maduro
Drink: Delaforce 2005 Late Bottled Vintage Porto
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Price: $4.50 – $5.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A rough and bumpy wrapper with a few medium sized veins, but nothing concerning
• The wrapper has a sand-paper like texture and is a consistent medium chocolate brown color
• The cap is cleanly applied with a double-cap design, almost impossible to see the second piece of tobacco
• The foot appears well packed and the length of the cigar is pretty firm with very little spring to it
• The cut was very easy and quite clean, falling in a neat little package into the ashtray
• Draw is a little tighter then I’d like

Burn:
• The burn line is not neat and pretty on this cigar but it’s not out of control either
• Felt like the cigar was starting to go out after only an inch and started needing a few more draws
• The funny burn finally hit a rut and needed a small touch up just past the half-way mark
• For the most part, the cigar burned without much effort or extra draws

Smoke & Ash:
• Despite the tightness I’m still getting a giant mouthful of smoke from every draw
• There is a small bit of resting smoke visible while the cigar sits in the ashtray, it gives off a mostly woodsy aroma
• The ash is a little flaky on this cigar but not too weak
• A very nice white color to the ash as it burns
• Each ash tumbled into the ashtray shortly after an inch

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper gives off a strong hay and barnyard aroma
• The foot stays consistent with the barnyard aroma and mixes a touch of spice into the nose
• The pre-light draw brings an interesting bakers chocolate flavor mixed with some woodsy notes
• The initial draws give off a strong woodsy flavor with some hints of coffee here and there
• As the cigar progresses I’m picking up a lot of roasted notes, a mix of roasted almonds and roasted coffee beans, very nice
• I noticed a bit extra dryness on my throat with this cigar
• As I approach the halfway mark, the body has been mild-medium and retrohale has no bite with a woodsy finish
• The flavors still seem to hover around with roasted coffee, woodsy and roasted almonds all taking a turn
• In the last third the flavors got much more intense and I started picking up some more bakers chocolate type of flavors
• The body picked up only slightly near the end, making it a comfortable medium

Final Thoughts:
The Grand Cru Maduro from Tabacalera Perdomo proved to be a nice smooth cigar that can easily be enjoyed by many experienced or new smokers. It offers a nice variety of flavors that are neither too complex or too boring making for a perfect cigar to relax with. It’s something you can pick up and smoke without paying too much attention to and still enjoy and easily pick up on the various flavors. The price is also very attractive, make sure to search around a bit as my research showed a HUGE variance in pricing on these. I’d definitely suggest picking up a few of these to try out, especially at the good prices you can find them for.

Pairings:
Yes I’m still riding the Port train and today I bring something new. This bottle is something I haven’t seen around before so I grabbed it to try something new. Damn am I ever happy I did. The Delaforce 2005 Late Bottled Vintage offers some excellent flavors backed by a robust and bold red wine flavor. A lot of Ports overdo the fruity notes but this one seems nicely balanced between a full bodied red wine and a flavorful fruity port. It paired well with this cigar but was maybe not the perfect pairing. I think this cigar was made for coffee, the roasted coffee and almond notes would have made a great compliment. You could also enjoy this with a nice dark porter with some coffee flavors.

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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.

The post Camacho Liberty 2010 Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The cigar itself is made entirely from Honduran tobacco. The leaves are actually from Christian Eiroa’s farm in the Jamastran region of Honduras. The wrapper is made up of Camacho’s single production of Habano leaf. This of course is at this time and could very well change in the near future.

I was gifted one of these cigars and purchased a couple more for myself. I decided to light this one up with a similarly limited production beer which you can read more about at the bottom of the review in the Pairing section.

Cigar: Camacho Cigars Liberty 2009
Drink: Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer – Canadian Cask 2010
Vitola: 11/18 – Toro (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras
Price: $16-$20
Burn Time: 2 Hours

Construction:
• A very smooth milky chocolate wrapper surrounds this cigar
• Triple cap is very cleanly applied
• The foot doesn’t appear to be too packed, there is some room in there
• The cigar has a slight bulge in the center
• There are some soft spots on the bulge but the foot and head of the cigar are slightly firm with a good spring
• The cigar has two beautifully designed bands, one in it’s normal last 3rd of the cigar and one near the foot
• The cut made a bit of an explosion of tobacco leaves but was clean on the cigar
• Before even lighting it’s evident that the draw is very open
• Despite seeming very open before lighting, the draw feels very comfortable with more resistance than expected
• Both bands slid off effortlessly preserving the wrapper almost untouched

Burn:
• Very easy toasting, was even and quick
• Through the first inch the cigar has been razor sharp with just a small wave
• The wave developed into a small canoe that I needed to fix with my lighter
• A few small canoes developed as the cigar went on and some fixes were required but nothing major and flavors were ever affected
• Stayed lit effortlessly without the need to babysit the cigar

Smoke & Ash:
• TONS of smoke right from the start
• Lots of resting smoke also giving off a delightful cedar aroma
• Ash a appears a bit weak but is not flaking and holding strong
• Very light colored ash, almost white but has a tinge of gray and some dark highlights
• Even though the ash looked weak, it held on for almost 2 inches before falling off
• This cigar is a smoke machine! lol

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a massive cedar aroma presence to it, smells fantastic
• The foot has more of the cedar and a bit of sweetness
• The pre-light draw is very cedar flavored with a smooth creamy sweetness added to the mix along with a light spice
• Initial draws are like a sweet cedar with a hint of spice. If you could prepare and eat cedar I imagine this is what you would want it to taste like, haha
• The Retrohale has more of that great cedar flavor, a small bite and a great sweet finish
• Cigar has been fairly mild through the first 2 inches but a nice creamy cinnamon spice has taken over with the cedar in the background, very tasty
• At about the halfway point, the spice has picked up a bit more but I’m also getting a nice sweetness
• Passing the halfway point, the sweetness is letting off a bit and the cedar has once again become the prominant flavor with a toasted wood type of background
• The retrohale has also developed a bit more of a bite and the finish has turned to a smooth cedar
• The cigar started mild but has developed into a good medium and seems to be slowly picking up body
• Getting some subtle coffee and leather notes as I approach the final stretch
• Cedar flavors stuck through to the end and a bit of bitterness just before the last inch

Final Thoughts:
There’s no denying this was a great cigar. I, for one, am a big fan of cedar flavors in a cigar and this one had tons of it! Add to it the sweet and spicy notes and you’ve got the makings of agreat cigar in my mind. Now I did have some minor burn issues with these but none were major and they never required a full re-light so flavors never got harsh. The biggest hurdle with this cigar for most people will be the price. Between the cost of the coffin and the extremely rare wrapper used on this cigar I can see why they are priced this way. At this point they are becoming harder to find although they are still available if you look. Even with the price these are definitely worth at least trying. I would definitely recommend tracking one down before they disappear completely

Pairings:
Today’s pairing comes from the Scottish Brewery of Innis & Gunn. Their Oak Aged beer is one of my favorite blondes and makes a great pairing for almost any cigar because of it’s woodsy flavors. This particular batch was a limited production run called “Canadian Cask” which was produced especially for Canada Day 2010 to commemorate Canada’s birthday.

This beer is aged for 54 days in Whiskey barrels and mixed with a malted rye crystal to give it an incredibly unique and flavorful experience on the palate. This is only the second year Innis and Gunn has produced this brew and I definitely hope they continue the tradition.
This cigar paired well with this brew and I would definitely recommend it, they just worked so well together. Other pairings could be a nice scotch, oaky red wine, dark soda or a coffee.

Here’s a picture of the box from this brew, it has a whole story about how it came to be and how it was made.

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