Now, being that I’m in the PR business, I’m kind of fickle when it comes to what pitches I’ll accept. So, when the subject line of one of the latest pitches read, “Hassle Free gift idea for Father’s Day — Camacho Cigars,” I jumped for joy.

Obviously, our friends at Camacho (and their PR firm) knew that their pitch was dead on and rightly targeted, being that I write about cigars here frequently.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I asked their PR representative to send me a sample of the cigar so I could test drive the bad boy. They sent me a whole box and man, am I thankful.We dads work very hard. I’m working 60+ hours per week for my full time job and am pumping in another 20+ for my side gig as Executive Editor for Technorati. So, one of my guilty pleasures in life is to sit in my backyard, watch the kids play, while I puff away on a great cigar. I get the sense that it’s sort of what Red Auerbach did watching over his kids, the Celtics of yesteryear who won 11 championships in a row (side note, text BeGreatBos to 20222 to help the Boston Boys and Girls Club beat the LA Boys and Girls Club).

Back to the cigar…

Heavy, oak packaging

When I got the package, I was like a kid in the candy store. I couldn’t wait to open it up and let my eyes fawn over an entire box of cigars — good cigars at that.

The packaging (as you can see) is very cool. The black and silver gave the stogies a James Bond 007 sort of feel to it. Basically, it was very pretty and I didn’t even want to open it. I just wanted to keep staring at the box.

Upon taking the challenge of the 007 mission, I opened the box to find a neatly stacked bunch of Camacho Torpedo Maduro’s.

I took a big wiff and I instantly smelled tones of spice and some cedar, which excited me because I love spicy and rich cigars.

Since getting the box, I’ve had three of these bad boys and I’ll tell you this, they are consistent through and through.

The skin is slightly oily and has interesting lines that give the stick inconsistent veins, which don’t bother me at all.

Neatly stacked stogies

With torpedos, I like to cut about a half an inch of the back so I get the benefit of the slanted mouth piece, which helps the stick rest in your mouth pretty comfortably. When lighting the stogie, it took immediately. At the front end, each one I smoked was slight inconsistent in the shape it burned. They didn’t canoe, but the burn ring wasn’t circular at first. As it burned, it worked itself out and produced a decent ash that was flakey, yet added to the flavor.

Overall, the stogie had tones of dark spices and hints of things like nutmeg and cedar. It burned consistently through without burning out. On a couple of occasions, I left the stogie for a couple of minutes and came back to it without having to relight. It was a solid smoke and thoroughly enjoyable.

If you’re a mom, brother, sister, etc. and are looking for a nice stogie (or box) for your favorite cigar smoking dad, I highly recommend grabbing some Camacho Torpedo Triple Maduros. If he likes strong cigars, he won’t be disappointed.

Size: 5 1/4×52
Origin: Honduras
Binder: Maduro
Wrapper: Maduro
Filler: Maduro
Strength: Full
Price: $13 or in a full 21-piece gift-set for $274

actual size

Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as a PR exec, photographer and civilian journalist. He’s the executive editor for Technorati, a co-founder of Every Other Thursday and is a contributing writer for Shamable and the PR Finish Line. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com or @bigguyd via Twitter.

Just as a reminder, I don’t do these reviews like typical cigar nuts do. I use my own rating system and vernacular. The rating system is simple, 5 Tokes is a win win whereas 1 Tokes is a stick that you save and give to friends who really don’t smoke cigars.

Without further adieu…

The three sticks I’ll cover today are the My Father robusto’s. My Father is a new brand, made by Don Pepin and his son Jaime and daughter Janny. When I bought these, the guy behind the counter was telling me the story of how they were made. Apparently, the kids wanted to make a stick for their pops and made these specially for the father. They were so good, in  fact, that the family decided to share this gem with the rest of the cigar smoking world — and I thank them for it.

Cigar: My Father
Size: 5.5 x 54 (No. 2 Belicoso)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano with Criollo (Hybrid)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Full

Review: The pull on this cigar is what hit me first. After lighting it carefully, I decided to take a full drag whereas typically, I’ll just toke on it lightly to get it going. However, I wanted to test this bad boy out. On first puff, it was slight harsh, but two, three, four puffs in, the stick seemed to settle in a little but. The tones were rich and spicy, but over bearing. The ash was pretty study and gave the stick a good nutty flavor the bigger the ash was. It burned a little hot for me on first go, but I let it burn out and the started it again after about 15 minutes. The restart was tough, but finished very strong. This is a good backyard stogie with friends, while the grill fires up burgers and dogs. It comes across high end, but can totally be a worker-man type stick.

Big Guy Rating: 4 Tokes

Next up…

Cigar: Bahai Maduro Red Label
Size: 7 x 54
Filler: 5 year aged Nicaragua (Cuban seed)
Wrapper: 2 year aged US Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: 3 year aged Nicaragua (Cuban seed)
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Full

Review: This is the first time I jumped into any of the Bahai brands and I’ll tell you what, I was floored. This oily, rich, well-constructed beauty is the best cigar I’ve smoked this year. I’m contemplating buying a box and putting half away to age — they are that good. The draw is very open and the smoke is rich and think. There are tones of oak and chocolate, with a secondary kick of spice. The flavor is consistent all the way through and the ash is very thick, acting as a nice filter, adding flavor.

Recommendation: 5 Tokes

Next up…

Cigar: Tatuajes El Cohete
Format: Short Robusto
Size: 4 x 50
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua

Review: To be honest, I was pumped to light this stick, but was quickly disappointed in it. I think my disappointment, however, stemmed from the fact that this was the second stogie I smoked in that sitting. I had a Padron earlier in the day and that taste was still lingering. Regardless, this stick is well constructed. It’s jam packed and short, and as a result, has a tight draw. The smoke is pretty thick, which was enjoyable. However, I found myself working pretty hard to keep this one enjoyable. I think I got it to out at the outset, which might have ruined the experience. However, after letting it settle down, I came around on it. I wouldn’t have selected it as the last stogie of the night, and conversely, smoked it on the front end. It’s a good warm-up stogie. I got lots of cedar tastes, almost to a fault. It was pretty strong and buried the other flavors…though there were some hints of maple in there.

Rating: 3.25 Tokes

As always, these are stogies I’ve purchased online at some point of another and have been recommended by Cigar Aficionado.

Churchill

• Casa Magna Colorado: Wrapper is oily. Taste is very bold with leather, cedar and earthy tones.
• Ashton Cabinet Selection No. 8: There are great woody notes in this stogie. The smoke is full bodied and pulls nicely.
• La Aroma De Cuba: This is a dark stick with a firm draw (almost hard at times). Tones are cedar and wood.

Double Coronas

• Don Lino Africa Tembo: This is a dark stogie that has a really tough draw, but starts woody and finishes strong.
• La Riqueza Cabinet Selection: I found this stick to be dry from the start, though it had a good finish. Tones were cedar, wood and a slight pinch of spice
• Canimo Double Corona: This is a lighter tan stogie, but brings an earthy flavor to the smoke. There are notes of spice and wood.

It’ll be a few more weeks until I get to do another one of these. If there are sticks that you always have in your arsenal and would like to have me review them, just drop the type in the comments and I’ll go hunt them down.

Known on the social web as “bigguyd,” Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as a PR exec, photographer and civilian journalist. He’s a frequent contributor to Shamable, Every Other Thursday, The PR Finish Line, Blogcritics and an editor for Technorati. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com.