CAMACHO FACTORY UNLEASHED review by Don José

Hey team, Don José here back with another review.

Today we have the

Factory Unleashed

by Camacho

If this is your first time here, my reviews rate each cigar on 10 factors and each factor gets a rating out of 10 giving me an overall out of 100. The 10 factors are: Construction, Draw, Burn, Flavour, 1/3 overall, 2/3 overall, 3/3 overall, Journey (how well it flows), Complexity & Value for money.

let’s take a look at how this stick is put together.

Camacho Factory Unleashed is a new annual limited edition. It is a multi-country blend featuring an Ecuadorian corojo wrapper over a Honduran binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Brand: Camacho
Size: Toro
Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua

New into NZ, and adding to a now quite substantial line of Camacho sticks available here, the Factor Unleashed is unlike your usual Camacho. It features a shaggy foot (that I don't recall them ever doing before!?) and available as a bundle keeping the price relatively moderate compared with many of their other lines.

For those that don't know, the shaggy foot is a section of cigar at the lighting end without wrapper. The idea is that you get to taste the binder and filler before getting to the wrapper which usually provides around 80% of the flavour profile.

“Introducing a blend that represents the full potential and innovation of our Camacho factory is a privilege and great responsibility,” said Lana Fraser, director of marketing and retail for Davidoff of Geneva USA, in a press release. “It goes without saying that Corojo has to be the core component of the blend bearer of the badge of boldness, and the shaggy foot symbolises the character of our factory to always push boundaries without compromises. The aromas and flavour of this new annual release will surely capture and indulge the palates of the greatest fans of the Camacho legacy.”

Ok, so now lets talk a little about the wrapper. Use the Corojo (core-ro-ho) leaf originated in Cuba, but today it is grown in Honduras and in Western Kentucky (and even a little in Dominican Republic, made famous by the Opus X) Cubans used the leaf for wrappers that carried a significant level of spice, but the susceptibility of the Corojo leaf to disease led the Cubans to abandon it and develop hybrids like Habano 2000.

Honduras grows pure Corojo, but hybrids are grown in many other regions.

Ok, so let's get into the review.

Construction

Well I've never see a Camacho with anything but perfect construction and this is exactly that.

Burn & Draw Burn is great, so is the draw. Truck loads of smoke on every puff, nice even burn line and a good tight ash.

Flavour & Complexity Flavour wise I'll break it into pre and post wrapper starting.

Pre wrapper I get mostly cedar and a hint of sweetness, dare I say rather Cubanesque...

Post wrapper it changes drastically, presenting nuttiness, leather and a whack of spice.

The biggest weakness for me is the complexity, flavours are nice but it feels like there could be a bit more going on.

Strength Mid strength. I've seen it called mid-full but not to me, its a mid sitting around 65%

Enjoyment / Journey This is a little bit of a tricky section on this cigar. As I mentioned, the complexity had me wanting a little more, but it was a great smoke and very enjoyable too, so I bounced around on this score a while. Ultimately, I would very happily smoke more of this stick and it got better and better as it went. Then seeing as I score complexity on it's own already, I decided to not take it into account on the Journey score.

Overall Camacho have never released a bad cigar thats for sure, and while this is not their best offering, it also doesn't pretend to be. The price point of this toro and the great flavours, coupled with the fun of the shaggy foot, mean that this is a stick that will have a regular place in my humidor. Also, being a limited yearly release, I'm excited to see what they do with it next year.

A look at the numbers.

Construction -- 10/10

Burn -- 9/10

Draw -- 9/10

Flavour -- 8/10

Complexity -- 7/10

First 1/3 -- 8/10

Second 1/3 -- 9/10

Third 1/3 -- 9/10

Journey -- 9/10

Value -- 10/10