I don’t think 2017 has offered the strongest class of packaging award nominees we’ve seen, but the Camacho Diploma Special Selection is something special. Not just special for 2017; but special for any year. Davidoff of Geneva USA has won this award multiple times for products that are simply better versions of cigar boxes, but this isn’t a cigar box. Instead, it’s a completely different take on a vessel for presenting cigars. There are a literal handful of times I’ve had my mouth drop at cigar packaging, this is one of them.
The Camacho Diploma Special Selection pays tribute to the original Diploma and its trapezoidal boxes, but updates it by flipping it 90 degrees. Cigars come packed in already unique triangular coffins, which are then placed vertically in a trapezoidal box around a center spoke.
Both box and coffins are packaged in an incredibly shiny violet outer shell that was so mirror-like it challenged us to shoot it due to its reflectiveness. It’s not cheap, it’s not efficient, it’s not particularly retail friendly, but the Camacho Diploma Special Selection is impressive. — Charlie Minato.
