Stogie Reviews: Camacho Diploma Diploma Maduro

25 Feb 2009

Camacho Diploma Diploma Maduro As 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.