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Stogie Reviews: Camacho Diploma Diploma Maduro

25 Feb 2009

Camacho Diploma Diploma MaduroAs a big fan of the regular Camacho Corojo line, I was excited to review a cigar from one of the Honduras-based company’s ultra premium blends. Unfortunately, my recent experience with three sticks from the Diploma line—a “monster cigar comprised of the finest authentic corojo crop”—left me disappointed.

Also the name of a vitola in the blend, the Diploma features corojo binder and filler tobaccos and, in this case, comes wrapped with a dark and oily maduro wrapper. It’s a classically sized robusto at five inches with a 50 ring gauge, and the three I smoked for this review were very similar across-the-board.

Prelight I found a rich tobacco aroma with a little hint of cocoa. The cigar feels overly soft and spongy from top to bottom and the bunch of tobacco at the foot looks loose. Not exactly what you expect from an $8 cigar.

It lights easily and the initial burn is razor sharp. The draw is too easy for my taste, sort of like drawing air through a straw with no resistance at all. The taste offers up lots of leather with a hint of cocoa on the finish.

At about the one inch mark, the burn starts to go ragged and eventually demands a correction from the torch. Then, at about the halfway point, the leather and cocoa fade and are replaced by woodiness and spice that remain until the end.

All three Diplomas suffered from the same construction and burn flaws and overall the experience was underwhelming. While the flavors were enjoyable they weren’t overly complex, and once the burn problems started they continued through the majority of the smoke. I expect better construction and a little more complexity from the flavors for the money. For that, this high-end offering from Camacho earns only two stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

Patrick M

photo credit: Stogie Guys

10 Responses to “Stogie Reviews: Camacho Diploma Diploma Maduro”

  1. cigarfan Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 6:10 am #

    It's the Camacho Maduro counterfeit test: if it burns straight, it's a fake!

    By the way, guys. I think you could use a few more Patricks on staff. Maybe you could make George an honorary Patrick?

  2. Patrick A Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 6:48 am #

    It's official from now on: When it comes to StogieGuys.com, Patricks need not apply.

    In all seriousness, though, we're excited to have Patrick M on board and look forward to the perspective he'll offer on the many cigars he'll review. I hope you will join me in welcoming him to the Stogie Guys family.

  3. Regina Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 7:56 am #

    Welcome, Patrick M! The more Patricks the better, if you ask me…

    Sorry to hear you too had a bad experience with the Diploma maduro. I also thought the burn sucked and the draw was way too loose.

  4. Patrick M Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 10:25 am #

    Thanks, for the welcome. It was an unfortunate experience with this cigar. The flavors had promise and with better construction it would probably be a good cigar at the $5-$6 price point.

  5. George E. Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 6:08 am #

    I am thinking about changing my name.

  6. craig Friday, February 27, 2009 at 8:39 am #

    I'm done with Camacho. I've been burned with bad SLRs and even worse 1969s. The Coroylar can be good, although too strong for my taste.

    The only Camacho I would consider buying are the CI Legends. They're not ultra-premiums, but at least they burn straight.

  7. craig Friday, February 27, 2009 at 8:40 am #

    oops, meant to refer to the horrible Camacho 1962s, not 1969s

  8. steve Friday, May 29, 2009 at 1:27 am #

    I was also very disappointed in the new Diplomas after a BOTL sent me a few to try. The old Diploma was the only Camacho I thought was worth the extra dough. Camacho also made a cigar for CI called the Camacho Corojo 08/22 Ltd. that was top notch. Now they don't make a cigar I truly enjoy. The Coyolar is OK.

  9. Jeff Monday, September 16, 2013 at 6:48 pm #

    Luckily, I received this cigar in a sampler of 20, and there were only one of these. So, with the deal I got this cigar ended up being about $2.49. It was well worth that price, but not the $8 range I'm seeing on other sites who are selling singles. I will start off with the appearance. The overall appearance was ok. It had a few bulges here and there. The band was beautiful I have to say. I collect bands of all the new cigars I smoke. I have well over 500. Anyway, I gave it a good sniff or two and it smelled wonderful. Had some notes of cocoa with a hint of leather. The pre-lit draw was a little tight, so I cut a little more off the cap, and it burned a lot better. A little too much! I love a lot of smoke though. I had to take it slow with this one, as not to smoke it too fast and cause it to burn funky. It started to run on one side, but after sitting it down in the tray with the fast burning side facing down to cut off some of the oxygen, it corrected itself. After 5 mins of waiting, I started puffing on it again and got some nice notes of old leather and more cocoa! After the first have, it started to burn crooked again so I used my usual method for correction. This time it didn't work, and i had to use the torch. Now, I had to let it cool a little. I think the high heat changed the flavor. After letting it rest for a few mins I took a big puff and got some flavors of charcoal. That quickly passed after a few puffs. Now, I'm at the last third of the cigar, which means there is only 1.6 inches left. I normally but them out around this size, but since it was a Robusto and I had some time to waste before bed, I burned it down as far as I could. It never came unraveled like a lot of people say these have done. Well, this has a lot to do with how well they are taken care of. This one appears to have been in the right conditions most of its time on earth. It looked good when I received it in the mail. I always allow my cigars rest in the humidor for at least a few weeks to get any funk out that they may have gotten while in transit. If I buy a newer high quality cigar, I try to give it a year. It's so hard though! I have 3 humidors. One for long-term aging, in hopes of some vintages, one for a year or less, and one for everyday stick. No matter what though, I always let them sit for 2 weeks or so, even if they are already vintage, as to get the humidity back to normal, etc. I would buy this cigar again if it were around $5 or it came in another sampler. I probably won't be buying any singles for $7-8 though.

  10. Ryan Monday, January 20, 2014 at 12:41 am #

    A local tobacconist had these cigars for sale at a discounted price. I've had some experience with the Camacho brand and was expecting a quality cigar, but the smoke was a letdown. Burn issues notwithstanding, the cigar began to fall apart at the halfway point and it became entirely unsmokable. Before the "wrapper malfunction," the flavor had been unremarkable for a maduro. I can see why they were discounted.