Camacho Factory Unleashed 3

In May 2021, Davidoff of Geneva USA created a new limited edition under its Camacho brand named Unleashed, a 6 x 50 toro composed of an Ecuadorian corojo wrapper, a binder from Honduras and a filler blend made up of tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Camacho Factory Unleashed 2 was released in April 2022, and while the 6 x 50 vitola remained the same, the blend was different: an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper covering a Nicaraguan binder and corojo fillers sourced from the Dominican Republic and Honduras.

Earlier this year, Camacho announced the third addition to the series, a 6 x 50 toro named Factory Unleashed 3 that is made up of a Mexican San Andrés wrapper covering a binder grown in Honduras and a filler blend of tobaccos sourced from the Dominican Republic and Honduras.

As has been the case for all three cigars in the series so far, the Factory Unleashed 3 is made at Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A.

There were a couple of notable aspects about all three incarnations in the Factory Unleashed Series thus far. First, each of the cigars so far has been rolled with an unfinished foot, meaning the filler tobaccos extend slightly past the bottom of the wrapper, which allows a smoker to taste a cigar without the wrapper burning.

Second, all three versions of the Camacho Factory Unleashed have featured the same two different packaging formats: traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have received 100-count crates of the cigars, while online and catalog retailers were shipped 10-count bundles. In addition, the total production of 125,000 cigars has stayed the same, as has the breakdown of the two different formats that has been made up of 1,000 of the 100-count crates and 2,500 of the 10-count bundles.

“We are thrilled to introduce the third iteration of Camacho Factory Unleashed after our past two successful releases,” said Lana Fraser, director of marketing and retail for Davidoff of Geneva USA, in a press release when the cigar was announced. “In our mission to venture off the beaten path to provide bold and unique blends, we continue to work with our devoted craftsmen in Honduras to showcase what truly makes our Camacho Factory unique. This exciting, new blend highlights the rugged terrain of Honduras, while expertly blending diverse tobaccos from Mexico and Dominican Republic to provide a complex and unforgettable experience.”

There have been three releases in the Camacho Factory Unleashed Series so far:

• Camacho Factory Unleashed 1 (6 x 50) — May 2021 —1,000 Boxes of 100 Cigars and 2,500 Bundles of 10 Cigar (125,000 Total Cigars)
• Camacho Factory Unleashed 2 (6 x 50) — April 2022 —1,000 Boxes of 100 Cigars and 2,500 Bundles of 10 Cigar (125,000 Total Cigars)
• Camacho Factory Unleashed 3 (6 x 50) — April 2023 —1,000 Boxes of 100 Cigars and 2,500 Bundles of 10 Cigar (125,000 Total Cigars)

A combination of a rustic, slightly oily, dark brown wrapper and an exposed foot all combine to make the Camacho Factory Unleashed 3 a visually interesting subject the first time I see it. There is no lack of obvious veins running up and down the length of the cigars, and all three have a nice amount of give when squeezed. Aromas from the wrapper are quite sweet overall: raisins and nuts lead, followed by cinnamon, leather tack, barnyard, cocoa and earth. While still sweet, the strongest scent emanating from the foot is barnyard, along with brewed black coffee, peanuts, dry straw, cedar and more raisin sweetness. Finally, after a straight cut, the cold draw brings flavors of sweet peanut butter, gritty earth, bitter dark chocolate, cracked black pepper, cedar and light citrus peel.

The Camacho Factory Unleashed 3 starts off with some very aggressive spice on my tongue and a strong anise flavor, both of which continue to be part of the profile during the entire first third, albeit not nearly as strong. After about 10 puffs, the anise flavor is overtaken by a distinct and slightly sweet chocolate nougat flavor, followed by secondary notes of cedar, leather tack, espresso and a slight citrus peel flavor. Interestingly, the retrohale is not nearly as sweet as the main profile, with a combination of cracked black pepper and light milk chocolate that seems to be getting stronger as the first third burns down. Flavor starts off strong at medium-plus, body is just below medium, and the strength hits a solid medium. Construction-wise, there are no issues with the smoke production or the draw on all three cigars, but one cigar does run into enough of an issue that it needs a quick correction with my lighter to avoid larger issues.

Although the same chocolate nougat flavor remains at the top of the cigar’s profile during the second third, it is joined by a creamy cedar note that has moved up from the list of secondary flavors. Those additional notes include hay, toasted bread, gritty earth, leather and light cinnamon, all of which flit in and out at various points. While the amount of cracked black pepper on the retrohale remains constant, the milk chocolate sweetness has increased slightly. Flavor increases to medium-full, body hits a solid medium and the strength increases to medium-plus and is still rising. In terms of construction, the burns on two cigars have enough trouble that they need to be touched up, but the draws and smoke production continue to give me no issues for all three cigars.

The chocolate nougat flavor has no issues holding the top spot in the profile of the Factory Unleashed 3 during the final third, but the creamy cedar note that joined it at the top in the second third has been replaced by a flavor of sweet hay. However, other than a bit more of a roasted coffee bean flavor, the secondary notes in the profile have changed very little compared to the second third, with toasted bread, gritty earth, leather tack and cinnamon all getting their chance to shine. There is a bit less cracked black pepper on the retrohale, but the milk chocolate sweetness remains at about the same level. Flavor remains at medium-full while the body hits medium-full and the strength level reaches a point just below the full mark. Thankfully, only one of the cigars needs a minor correction each with my lighter and all three cigars continue to feature excellent draws and plenty of smoke before I put the nubs down with about an inch left.

Final Notes

• Although it has never been all that common, the brushed foot—or exposed binder/filler look—has been used on a small number of different releases over the years, including the Viaje Summerfest, the JFR Lunatic Shaggy Foot Torch, various RoMa Craft Tobac lines and the Oscar Valladares Raw Dog.
• The 100-count crate packaging is also not new: variations of the packaging have been released by Alec Bradley, La Flor Dominicana and Viaje, just to name a few.
• This would be a good cigar to smoke for a Redux review down the road, if only to find out if the overt sweetness and the nearly full strength change at all.
• While all three cigars I smoked for this review were very close to the official stats in terms of length and ring gauge—six inches by 50 ring gauge, i.e. a standard toro vitola—the weight of each varied dramatically: the cigars weighed in at 14.85g, 16.05g and 17.28g.
• The construction on all three cigars was quite similar: excellent draws after straight cuts, copious amounts of dense smoke and, unfortunately, at least one minor burn correction.
• Davidoff of Geneva USA advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged one hour and 49 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Camacho Factory Unleashed 3 cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Corona Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop all have them in stock on their respective websites.