Camacho’s New Master Built Series: American Barrel-Aged
A new brand from Camacho has arrived at retailers, and it's the first line in a project the company calls its Camacho Master Built Series. The debut line is called American Barrel-Aged, and as its name suggests, a component of the blend contains tobacco aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels.
"The Master Built Series is a new pillar for us," Dylan Austin, director of marketing for Davidoff of Geneva USA, told Cigar Aficionado. "It centers on the fusing of our master [blenders] with those in other categories, in this case, Bourbon makers. Working collaboratively to build experiences that break the chains of convention. This series will also be the top of the pyramid for Camacho."
The new cigar features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and binder, both grown in the United States. The filler consists of three elements: Connecticut broadleaf, Pennsylvania maduro and one leaf of barrel-aged Corojo from Honduras.
"The only barrel-aged component was the one leaf of Corojo tobacco, which spent five months in the barrel," Austin said. "The barrels were sourced through a close partner of ours, but we are not disclosing what Bourbon house they came from."
Austin mentions that barrel-aging is a slow and time intensive process. He says that the company is aging around 2,000 pounds of Corojo filler and rotating the barrels one leaf at a time, every few weeks. Each batch takes five months to complete.
 |
Made in the Dominican Republic, American Barrel-Aged is the first Camacho rolled outside of Honduras since Litto Gomez made a special, limited-edition Camacho called Face-Off in 2003. Barrel-Aged is manufactured at Occidental Cigar Corp. and comes in three sizes: Robusto, 5 inches by 50 ring gauge; Toro, 6 by 50; and Gordo, 6 by 60. The cigars ship in 20-count boxes and 3-packs.
As for the next Master Built Series cigar line, Austin says that collaboration will remain a theme, but the Bourbon barrel-aging category will not be returning.
"We'll change categories with each release and as the series expands," Austin said.
Camacho Master Built American Barrel-Aged cigars retail from $10 to $12 each and are available in stores now.
