A few of us here at CigarBid recently had the opportunity to travel down to Honduras and visit the esteemed Caribe factory and tour their whole operation. Caribe produces quite a few cigars, most notably Camacho and Baccarat. I must tell you, I was impressed with their level of dedication to quality and attention to detail. I just wanted to comment on some of the things I found very interesting and think ya’ll would feel the same.
First, one of their flagship cigars, the “Camacho Corojo”, is grown with actual Corojo leaf. The yield of this plant is very low and is susceptible to various diseases; many manufacturers do not use this plant for that exact reason. We were taken to several fields of tobacco growing and I saw first hand the differences in size of corojo and other types of tobacco. It made me realize that the Camacho Corojo does in fact stand apart from other cigars. I smoked this cigar most of the trip, and is now a regular in my rotation, the flavor and strength of this cigar is unsurpassed when compared with other cigars. I also smoked the Camacho SLR, which is another great cigar, more medium to full bodied with a very nice finish.
Second, the concern they have for their workers was pretty high. They realize the happier the workers are, the better they will work. Hondurans have a totally different work ethic, once they get a new pair of Nikes, or that TV they have wanted for a long time, they lose their work ethic. They don't see a reason to continue to work. At least that is how it was explained to me, not sure how true it is.
Thirdly, the overall operation at Caribe was impressive. The amount of effort it takes to plant, grow, harvest, dry, cure, ferment, sort, then roll is almost gargantuan. I am surprised cigars don't cost 2 or 3 times what they do. Both Christian and his father, Julio, are masters at both cigars and business and have successfully built a great operation that produces top-notch cigars. If any of you have not tried their products, I would definitely recommend sampling some. I will be posting some pics once I can a chance, hopefully by Friday.
