Camacho Limited Edition 2025 | halfwheel

For most of the 2000s, each summer brought a guarantee that cigar smokers would get a chance to smoke a new limited edition cigar from Camacho.

In 2002, Camacho—then owned by the Eiroa family—introduced the Camacho Liberty Series, which was released around the July 4 holiday. While there were exceptions, for the most part, these cigars shared some similarities: released in the summer, limited, packaged in coffins and offered in the unique 11/18 vitola.

Oettinger Davidoff AG, which acquired Camacho in 2008, kept the series going for more than a decade. But in 2021, the Camacho Liberty series got its final release.

In April, Davidoff announced a new limited edition series for Camacho with its debut release called the Camacho Limited Edition 2025, a 6 x 52 toro that uses a Mexican wrapper over a Honduran binder and a filler blend made up of Honduran and “well-aged” Dominican tobaccos.

Rather than packaging the cigars in individual coffins, this time, the cigars come in aluminum tins with cedar inside. Additionally, Davidoff’s focus for this release is paying tribute to the blenders at the Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A. factory, i.e. the present-day Camacho factory.

“Our Camacho Limited Edition 2025 is the essence of boldness and a statement in itself,” said Edward Simon, CMO at Oettinger Davidoff, in a press release in April. “Our Master Blenders took on a challenge that was as daring as it was ambitious: to fuse our most powerful and richest Camacho tobaccos from various countries of origins into one exceptional masterpiece. This cigar is the first in a series that not only honors the commitment, craftsmanship, and drive for excellence of our team in Honduras but also delivers an unforgettable experience for true aficionados.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Camacho Limited Edition 2025
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Honduras
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Honduras
• Length: 6 Inchs
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $17.50 (Box of 20, $350)
• Release Date: June 19, 2025
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Camacho Limited Edition 2025 is a rather generic-looking cigar. A reddish-brown wrapper that is darker than average, though certainly far from a black color, but the veins, oils and discoloration are all solidly average. If there’s any superlative, the seams are incredibly flat. The aromas from the wrapper are medium-full with a scent that reminds me of newspaper and tree bark leading each of the three cigars, though the first two have the former over the latter, whereas the third cigar is reversed. Secondary notes include barnyard and some mayonnaise. The feet keep the newspaper smell but pair with a sweet milk chocolate. The first and third cigars are pretty similar, around medium-full, but the second cigar is milder and has a distinct gingersnap cookie scent. I make the aroma observations when I weigh and measure the cigars, but then the cigars go in a humidor and rest until it’s time to smoke the cigars. While my notes from the weighing and measuring don’t show anything about the dryness of the cigars, when it’s time to cut the first cigar, I’m concerned. The wrappers on the first two cigars feel a tad dry and both have issues with the cap coming slightly undone upon cutting, though the third cigar feels fine and doesn’t have any issues when it is cut. Flavor-wise, the cold draws are inconsistent. The first has a muted hot chocolate flavor over some woods and acidity; the second is less sweet with a muddy earthiness edging out barnyard, leather, saltiness and apple sweetness; the third cigar has lots of poundcake flavors over some damp earth. The first two are medium-plus, the third is medium-full; all three have great resistance.

Despite the cold draw differences, the Camacho Limited Edition 2025’s first puffs are similar: lots of earthy notes—barnyard, terroir, damp earth—over woods, saltiness, pepper and a starchiness that reminds me of plain Pringles. It’s medium-full, rich and detailed. With the exception of the second cigar, whose flavors seem amped up for the first part, that’s how the first inch of each cigar goes. At around that mark, things have changed. Most puffs are still led by the different earth sensations, though about a quarter of puffs are more wood-forward. The larger changes are with the secondary flavors of saltiness and acidity, which have changed in a way that makes the profile seem juicier. Secondary notes include creaminess, some of the Pringles flavor, varying amounts of sweetness, and, in the first cigar, signs of a musty flavor that is reminiscent of many eponymous Davidoff cigars. During the transition to the finish, the profile gets a bit brighter before getting much more bitter with a lot of mineral flavors and white pepper. When I take a retrohale, the first few seconds are quite intense with a dry wood leading salt and white pepper, though after just a few seconds, it finishes with a sweeter wood flavor and around medium. After about 20 seconds, the pepper and bitterness kick in. Flavor starts the first third medium-full but eventually gets to full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. The first and third cigars need touch-ups to help with smoke production, but otherwise, construction is good, with the ash being very impressive on the first and second cigars.

By the halfway point, I’m starting to feel the effects of the nicotine. It’s not strong enough that I need to lie down, but quite surprising given how calm the cigars started. Flavor-wise, the mineral aspect of the earthiness has become the strongest part of that family of flavors, though sometimes the woodiness leads. Comparing my notes between the first and second thirds, I don’t see any new flavors other than some herbal flavors in the third cigar. However, in the second third, the profile seems much more reactive to any movement I make after I blow the smoke out. If I am still, it develops naturally, but making movements with my mouth immediately results in the flavors getting more amped up and harsher. Given that I can control it, I don’t find it to be as much of an issue as you might think. Retrohales follow a similar trajectory as the main flavor: the earthiness is now led by the terroir flavor, though accented each time by some fruity sweetness. The retrohale proper hits like a thud, delivering seemingly all of the flavor in one big burst that trailed off after just a few seconds. This is a bit different from how I normally taste things, when flavors will continue developing for 10 or so seconds. The finish of the retrohale changes quite a bit with a balanced mixture of creaminess, nuttiness, cedar and a sharp black pepper before the minerals, pencil led and roasted flavors close the gap. It’s more dynamic and flavorful than the initial retrohale. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full and building. While the burn lines are getting more uneven, I’m able to get through each second third without any construction issues.

Predictably, the final third of the Camacho Limited Edition 2025 sees a major uptick in toastiness. For a good chunk of the final third, the woodiness remains the strongest flavor, but with an inch left, the toastiness is leading in a way that was similar to the earthiness in the early parts. I think it’s as much about the other flavors—nuttiness, starchiness, earth, white pepper—declining, while other flavors like creaminess and sweetness have pretty much departed. When the toastiness isn’t overwhelming the other flavors, I find the profile to be much calmer and more integrated than the second third. The finish is closest to the middle part: an even mixture of earth, barnyard, leather, white pepper and harshness over some saltiness and herbal accents. Unlike the second third, where I found the way the flavors interact with my taste buds to be rather unique, this is much more normal. Retrohales have an initial blast of black pepper before the toastiness enters, though it doesn’t get as strong as it is when not retrohaling. That allows for more of the roasted and starchy flavors, but it’s still drawing from the same list of flavors. Flavor finishes full, body medium-full and strength is full, though not at the levels where I feel like I need to lie down. All three cigars have issues with combustion in the final third, though only the third cigar needs more than one touch-up.

Final Notes

• When the cigar was first lit, the aroma that filled the air is really enjoyable. A somewhat sweet roasted flavor that seems like a great fragrance for say Christmas morning.
• The inside of the canister has a pretty strong smell, one that reminds me of burning woods.

• I really like the vertical wooden slats used inside the tin.
• The aluminum tins are not airtight but probably more restrictive than most cigar boxes. Of note, they did not come with any sort of humidification element.
• This is the second time in less than a month when I’m reviewing a cigar that came packaged in non-standard boxes and found that the cigars showed signs of being dried out.
• The ash formation was beautiful.
• Davidoff advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.