“AGED” Review – Camacho Liberty 2003
Tonight’s review is the first in our new section “AGED” Reviews.
Our first “AGED” Review will be the Camacho Liberty 2003.
On a trip to CigarInn on the Upper East Side of New York City, I happened to be digging through the piles and piles of boxes that Gus and his brothers have in their walk-in humidor. The space is small and jam-packed with cigars, so many times, you have to dig around to find certain things.
It was on just one of those rummaging sessions in early 2009 that I discovered a treasure. Sitting under stacks of boxes, I discovered a 3/4 full box of 2003 Camacho Liberty. I immediately grabbed 5 of them and brought them over to Gus to pay. He was astonished that he even had any left.
The 2003 Camacho Liberty is an enormous perfecto shaped cigar. It measures 8″ by 50 x 52 x 38. It has light brown wrapper and comes wrapped in tissue paper and rests in it’s custom cedar coffin. A sticker on the outside of the coffin says “Liberty 2003″ and “9,022/20000″ which indicates there were 20,000 of these cigars made. Having almost 7 years of age on it, I am very excited to dive into the 2003 Liberty.
The wrapper is a light brown and has a mild aroma of cedar (certainly from the cedar coffin) and some barnyard. Despite being almost 7 years old, the cigar is in perfect condition, I’m sure in part due to the tissue and coffin.
I cut the head with my Palio cutter and lit the perfecto foot with no problem. Both cold and hot draw were a little tight but nothing too bad. Initial flavors were of mushroom and a toasty quality. There was definitely an earthy funkiness to this cigar. The entire first half of the cigar had intermingling flavors of toast, earth and a very light spice.
Second half of the smoke turned a little woody and introduced a creaminess to the smoke that made it feel even milder than it originally was.
A huge tunnel developed at around the halfway point. It lasted for a while, but considering the sheer size of this smoke, it didn’t ruin the overall experience.
I would say the 2003 Liberty is a nice smoke, but not nearly as interesting or complex as the more recent versions of this line. I’ve smoked at least one cigar from each year the Liberty has been released and I can honestly say that the blends have gotten better over the years with 2005 and 2007 being my favorites.
The 7 years of age that this cigar has on it has certainly had an impact on the strength. The first time I smoked this cigar, I remember more of a distinct spice and a heavy dose of leather. There was almost no leather and just a remnant of that spice left. It has definitely turned into more of a toasty, creamy and smooth smoke that has a mild-medium bodied profile. Simple, but enjoyable.
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February 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 pm
any chance you would be willing to sell one of the coffins? i have been searching for a 03, 04, & 05 Liberty coffin for over 2 years. give me a price…
February 26th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I have a single 2003 if you are still interested.