Camacho Corojo - April 2000 vintage

The cigar is very pretty. It appears well-rolled, with a finely veined rosado colored wrapper. The bands are interesting. One, a nondescript Camacho band, is glossy brown and white. The other, a red, white, and yellow one which says Jamastran Corojo Habano is eerily similar to the Habanos sticker that ISOM boxes display across the upper right hand corner. Coincidence? Hmmmm.

Great pre-light draw and taste. The flavor before lighting is spicy and has a nice tobacco tone.

Here's where it goes funky. The wrapper is apparently a cross between tobacco and asbestos. It laughed in the face of my blazer. I tried everything to keep this cigar lit, and ended up very frustrated. As it burned, the flaky ash exhibited bizzare behavior. Severe tunnelling, uneven runners, and all around insubordination.

The flavor was strong and one-dimensional. None of the pre-light flavor made it through, and the cigar left a powerful but flat impression. Clearly not for the feint of heart, this cigar would be fine if nicotine is your number one criteria in a cigar.

All my efforts to keep this thing lit resulted in a very unpleasant taste in the second half. The cigar turned so sour I contemplated sucking on a lemon just to take the edge off.

Summary: If I had to make a road trip to hell, I would want a suit made of this wrapper leaf. The large flakes and chunks of ash that fell off and drifted around my car were quite distracting. The flavor was strong and unspectacular. On the bright side, I got a decent buzz off it.