Tag Archives: CAO

by Craig Vanderslice | August 12, 2020 · 3:29 pm

CAO Bones and Pilón Cigars

I received some samples of the new CAO Bones cigars from General Cigars last week, along with some Pilóns too. I smoked the Pilóns when they came out in 2015 and wasn’t awfully enamoured with them, which isn’t really unusual for the CAO line, it’s one of those brands where I either really like a marque or I don’t. It’s like the Amazon series, I really like the Fuma and Anaconda, but not so much the Basin and Orallana. I have been smoking a lot of CAOs recently, probably because I bought a bunch from CigarThief, then Bones came along. A happy coincidence. By the way, I had a job interview this morning, I think it went well, I start Monday! LEt’s start with the Pilón. The reason this one has renewed interest is that the French Magazine L’Amateur de Cigare just named it cigar of the year. Here’s the press release that I didn’t post when it came out:

CAO Pilón Named Cigar of the Year by L’Amateur de Cigare

CAO Pilón was named “Cigar of the Year” by celebrated international cigar magazine L’Amateur de Cigare.

The magazine’s prestigious tasting panel rated a total of 450 cigars, with Pilón ultimately winning out against the finest cigars available in France, one of the world’s leading markets for handmade cigars.

Regis Broersma, president of General Cigar said, “We are extremely proud that CAO Pilón received this honor from such a distinguished and respected international publication. When we created Pilón, we developed the brand according to a 19th-century Cuban fermentation technique, so it is ironic that Pilón beat out the best of the best cigars from Cuba, as well as other top cigar-producing countries.”

L’Amateur de Cigare described Pilón as “elegant” and hails its “great complexity and agreeable persistence,” while praising Pilón’s “satisfying finish” and “excellent value.”

CAO Pilón was introduced in the U.S. in 2015 and launched in France in 2018 at an exclusive event in Paris at the DuPont headquarters.

Handcrafted in Nicaragua at STG Esteli, Pilón was created by Rick Rodriguez and the CAO blending team who utilized the labor-intensive pilón process of natural fermentation to maximize the flavor and color of the Cuban seed Ecuadoran wrapper, delivering a taste and appearance unattainable through other methods. The blend consists of spicy Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves from the distinctive growing regions of Esteli and Ometepe. CAO Pilón bears a deep, rich color and an incredible depth of flavor, featuring notes of wood, spice and a touch of sweetness.

CAO Pilón is available in the U.S. and in select markets worldwide in these formats:

Churchill 7x 48 – SRP per cigar $8.49

Robusto Extra 5 x 52 – SRP per cigar $7.49

Corona 5.5 x 44 – SRP per cigar $7.09

Toro 6 x 58 – SRP per cigar $8.49

Torpedo – 7 x 54 – SRP per cigar $8.89

I smoked one that they just sent, and pulled one that I found buried in the humidor from 5 years ago. I didn’t get around to smoking the older one, I decided to celebrate landing a job after nine months of frustration with a Sin Compromiso instead, sorry Ricky! I have my reasons. Anyway, the Pilón still doesn’t really do it fr me. It’s the wood, maybe mushroomy lack of sweetness that doesn’t endear it to me, but must be something the French appreciate! I suppose I can see how a palate that’s used to Havana cigars would appreciate it. I think it’s appropriate now to move from the old to the new!

Bones! As you’ll recall from the press release I posted a couple weeks ago (here), CAO Bones pays homage to dominos and dice games. If you buy a box, it comes with a pair of dice. When I took a pic for Instagram, I asked my son if he had an interesting die I could include in the pic, as much as I love the Cigar Props, it gets a little boring seeing the same poses in the IG feed! Corey came through with his bag of dice, which I thought made for a neat shot. Anyway, this is one of the CAO cigars that hits me right. The Connecticut broadleaf wrapper combines nicely with the Connecticut shade binder and Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican filers to make a very enjoyable smoke that’s, in my opinion, on the stronger side. General almost always sends robustos to sample, in this line they call it the Chicken Foot, which is a dominos game I’m to understand (I’m ignorant in the way of dominos, unless it’s delivered, or comes in a bag, ie. sugar). That means I’m going to be forced to go buy the other sizes to sample. There is a creamy sweetness that is just beneath the surface, barely there, but noticeable under the heavy espresso- cocoa of the Broadleaf. I smoked a second one while watching Ricky and Doug (whom I’ve yet to meet) on a Zoom presentation about Bones last night, rarely do I smoke two of the same cigar on consecutive days, but this one is a good one, I can’t seem to get enough (although it apparently isn’t good enough to celebrate finally getting hired after a nine month search, is it?). I look forward to trying the other sizes especially after Doug and Rick built up the larger sizes on their show. I don’t have a problem with large cigars anyway. I don’t think I’ll be smoking as many in the coming weeks. Anyway, good cigars, good news in a weird year filled with uncertainty. Now, I have 4 days to wrap up some projects!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as bones, CAO, cigar, cigars, General Cigar Co., L’Amateur de Cigare, Pilon

by Craig Vanderslice | July 28, 2020 · 10:04 am

News: CAO Launches Bones Game Themed Cigar

Here’s a new cigar coming from CAO, and I’m generally (no pun intended) a fan of CAO, as evidenced by my last post and past history. The thought of another Broadleaf cigar from Ricky has my mouth watering. I recently gave the Session another try and was quite happy with it! So I look forward to this. My only thought is the gimmick with the dice thing. Earlier this year we saw another brand come out with a box that included a dice game, so I can’t help but wonder about the copycat factor. I know concepts are months, sometimes years, on the drawing board, and coincidences happen, it’s just too strange…Will it work? Gimmicks can be a crapshoot! (groan).

CAO LAUNCHES BONES

Full-time collection celebrates dominoes, dice and great times with great smokes

CAO presents “Bones,” a collection made to celebrate the memories that are made when a great cigar is lit and the games begin. Bones was named after dominoes and dice, the deeds that are best done with a cigar in hand and in the company of friends old or new.

CAO’s blender/brand ambassador Rick Rodriguez said, “Bones is about kicking back with your friends with a cold beer in your hand, playing a game, smoking, grilling, talking a little trash, and having the time of your life. And that’s what CAO is about, too. It’s about being yourself, enjoying the people you’re with and not having a care in the world while you’re having your cigar. Most of us need a break right now and Bones is just the cigar for that.”

Rick and the Nicaraguan-based CAO blending team set out to make a medium-to-full-bodied smoke that could easily be the topic of conversation or take the backseat during a game night or any smoking occasion with fellow cigar smokers. Rick and the team also developed the blend to complement a wide range of libations that go hand-in-hand with a handmade cigar.

Bones features a four year old Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a Connecticut Shade binder. The blend is comprised of two varieties of Honduran tobacco from Jamastran and La Entrada, along with Nicaraguan Estelí and Dominican Piloto Cubano. Bones is a meaty smoke that delivers bold notes of wood, nuts and vanilla.

Bones is a full-time addition to the brand’s top-rated lineup and is handcrafted in Nicaragua at STG Estelí. The brand will ship on August 4^th to cigar retailers across the country and will be available in four sizes, each named after classic games of dominoes. Each box contains 20 cigars, comes with two standard 16mm dice and is outfitted with a felt-covered inside lid which is a suitable surface for playing dice.

Chicken Foot (Robusto): 5” x 54 – SRP per cigar $7.49

Blind Hughie (Toro): 6” x 54 – SRP per cigar $7.99

Matador (Churchill): 7.25” x 54 – SRP per cigar $8.49

Maltese Cross (Gigante): 6” x 60 – SRP per cigar $8.99

For more information about CAO Cigars, please visit www.caocigars.com.

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Tagged as bones, CAO, cigar, cigars, General Cigar Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | July 26, 2020 · 10:10 am

Some Diesel Torpedos and Some Classic CAO Cigars

First off, let me get this little rant out of the way. One of the first things I saw when I got up this morning was a discussion about removing bands from cigars. In a nutshell, it seemed like there was a thought that there could be one single surefire solution to band removal. Here was my response: “There’s absolutely no set rule on how a band will come off (I’ve figured out RoMa), after thousands of cigars of as many brands, just about as many just slide off as come off cleanly. Some paper absorbs the glue and some doesn’t. Some factories use more glue than others. Uncello’d cigars shouldn’t have the bands glued to the wrapper at all and would be easier. Shade wrappers would be easier to slide off than broadleaf or San Andrés because they are smoother, but would damage easier because they are thinner. 9 times out of 10 your best bet is to wait until you are about to burn the band and carefully slide it over the business end of the cigar, taking care not to burn your fingers or the ring. This is the only way to successfully remove the RoMa bands, by the way!” Now, the only reason I referenced the RoMa bands was because someone else brought it up. It irks me that people put forth the notion that there is, or could possible be, a way to remove a band every time without either damaging the band or the wrapper or both. Some bands come off nicely, some are a trainwreck. As always on forums when I see misinformation, I try to correct and inform in a polite and respectful manner, and I hope to educate, although I often wonder if I’m wasting my time!

I’d like to welcome a new advertising partner, Cigar Thief. You’ll notice their ad on the right side of the website. They have a nice selection of cigars, and I never work with companies I don’t personally do business with, so before taking them on I placed an order for a sampler from their site. I received communication from them promptly that they were out of stock of the item I wanted, with options, which included canceling with a full refund which included the offer to send free cigars! I looked around and chose a less expensive sampler and told them if they wanted to substitute that and credit me the difference it would be fine, freebies weren’t necessary. A few days later the package arrived, well packed and as I expected, only with a 5 cigar Diesel Torpedo Sampler as the “for my trouble” cigars. Totally above and beyond and not needed. The sampler was the classic CAO sampler, the same sampler my wife had gotten me about 10 years ago, the one with the CAO classic in natural and Maduro, an MX2, a Brazilia and an Italia (times two). Excellent service, check them out. I hadn’t smoked a CAO Italia in many years, honestly, it’s a cigar I always wanted to like, but never really did. The Ciao vitola is 5″ x 56, and smoked very well, and I quite enjoyed this one. It has some Habano tobacco grown in Italy, along with some Peruvian tobacco, so it has a unique flavor, so it’s not at all like the Toscanos that use Kentucky tobacco (I know, right?). Different, not as bad as I remembered, I think I like these now!

The Diesel Torpedo sampler was a little frustrating to me, as four of the five cigars are not clearly labeled as to what they are. I suppose the Diesel experts out there will scoff at me for no knowing the color scheme delineating the various series. I figured I’d start with a benchmark, the Unholy Cocktail, of which there is a box in the humidor (from 2011). Clearly the color palate of those bands has changed over the years, because there wasn’t a clear match. The Diesel Uncut had a band on that that said Uncut, so I smoked that one first! I’ll work the rest out later. This is a nice cigar, a natural shade PA Broadleaf wrapper with a good amount of strength and spice. This had a good dose of espresso and cocoa too, I liked it. I think it had a good dose of nicotine, judging by the poor quality of my sleep that night. I still like it quite a bit.

I sorted through the rest of the Diesels, colors on screens never match actual colors on things in your hand, and it isn’t helpful that the folks at Diesel like that PA Broadleaf Maduro wrapper so much. I figured out that the beige band must be the Unlimited Maduro, which made it easy to match up the rest based on the band colors and wrapper colors. So I smoked the Unlimited Maduro. This one has a PA Broadleaf Maduro wrapper with a Mexican binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. It was rich, earthy, spicy, but not as strong as I figured it would be. Actually, it was downright smooth. Like the Uncut, it burned well, it’s made by AJ Fernandez, so that’s not a surprise, and it’s the 5″ x 56 “Unholy Cocktail” vitola. I’d be interested to see how this compares to the original Unholy Cocktail, but I think I’ll be more interested to see how the current Unholy Cocktail compares to a 2011 Unholy Cocktail, which I might do this week.

I just realized that the last four cigars I smoked were al 5″ x 56, that’s kinda weird. Last night I followed the Unlimited Maduro with a CAO Brazilia GOL. This is a pretty old school CAO, it came out in 2001, so it’ll celebrate it’s 20th anniversary next year. Let’s just get this in the post for the sake of search engine crawling: “CAO Brazilia 20th Anniversary”. There, I said it here first! Ha! Anyway, The Brazilia is a bit of a classic, Brazilian Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan filler and binder, it’s been a good, consistent smoked for a long time, and I think we all can agree that it’s managed to survive the transition from Ozgener CAO to General Cigars CAO without any issues. It seems like the same darned cigar that it used to be to me, rich and spicy and pretty darned tasty. They even manage to hold the price down pretty reasonably. It’s hard to go wrong and I imagine this is still one of the workhorses of the CAO line.

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as CAO, cigar, Cigar Thief, cigars, diesel

by Craig Vanderslice | June 17, 2020 · 10:24 pm

A Visit to Best Cigar Pub and Best Cigar Prices Exclusive Rare Select Cigars

Pic from PCB’s website

Yesterday my wife and I took a drive to Scranton to pick up a cool cigar lamp that she won in an auction, so on the way back we stopped in to Best Cigar Pub in Drums, PA for lunch. I had visited here briefly over the winter and gotten a tour and had a cigar (you can read about it here), today we enjoyed a meal at the pub. They had just re-opened last Thursday, and were observing all of the precautions we need to become accustomed to. Fortunately it was a beautiful spring day, and they had copious outdoor seating, even extending into the parking lot. My first stop was into the retail shop, masks required, with only three patrons allowed in a a time and no handling the product. Charlie was very helpful, recognizing me behind my cigar mask (which coordinated with my shirt, I’m a dork). I picked up some of their exclusive 601 Pennsylvania Toros and joined my wife outside. The Pub has an excellent menu of fresh food, My wife had a Cuban sandwich, and I had a Short Rib with Provolone sandwich and both were delicious served with potato chips made there. I enjoyed one of the 601 Pennsylvanias while we enjoyed the views. Kyle was our server and did an excellent job, everyone there was very friendly and accomodating, although I am having trouble getting used to hearing people speaking through masks. I have enough trouble hearing as it is. I really like the 601 PA Edition, by the way, but it was a bit breezy and I had trouble with the burn, leading to a bit of a tunnel. Best Cigar Pub is a destination, I can imagine when restrictions are lifted it will be a great place for events, or just to hang out and have a nice meal.

Papier-mâché cigar lamp

By the way, here is the cool lamp we picked up. While we were eating, Charlie from the humidor came out and very kindly handed me a bag with one each of their Rare Select series from General Cigar. I selected the CAO Rare Select when I got home for my evening walk. After spending the day in the car I needed to stretch my legs. The CAO Rare Select was a 6″ x 50 toro with a Sun Grown Honduran wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ll preface this by saying there are some CAO cigars I like, and some I don’t, and the ones I don’t are typically the Criollo and Gold series. this cigar performed very well, and was not a bad cigar by any stretch of the imagination. It was a medium bodied cigar, with flavors on the leathery side, not a lot of sweetness. It was a good smoke, and I enjoyed it, and I think if you like cigars that fall more on the floral/leathery side, this is a cigar you’ll like.

Today I selected the Macanudo Rare Select. I was surprised by a Macanudo with a Sumatra wrapper as opposed to a shade wrapper. I wonder about the through process here, I see that green Macanudo band and I expect a Connecticut Shade Wrapper over a Mexican Binder. In this case, we have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder with fillers from the DR, Nicaragua and Jamaica. I was also expecting a milder cigar than I got, this was a medium bodied cigar with some interesting flavors. Again, the construction was right, the burn and draw were perfect. The Jamaican tobacco adds a little something interesting to the blend. I’ve had a Macanudo in the past couple years with Jamaican tobacco, one of the Estate Reserves I think, but prior to that I have to go back to the 90s when I had a box of Price Philips from Jamaica. Considering those had the Connecticut wrapper, there’s no way to make a comparison, not sure why I mentioned it. This was a pretty good smoke!

Tonight I smoked the Punch Rare Select. Looking at this, I knew I was in for a treat. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper was dark and oily. It has a Nicaraguan binder, and, get this, fillers from Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic! I didn’t have to light it and the flavor on the lips made me happy. It had a nice, chocolaty taste, and when I lit it those flavors intensified. This is a hearty cigar, loads of flavor and good to the last drop. All those great tobaccos combined to make for a delicious cigar, and the whole Rare Select series is very reasonable priced, making these a great bargain. Punch is another brand that I’ve enjoyed for a long time, almost always in the darker expressions. I can’t tell you how many maduro and double maduro Rothschilds smoked in the 90s. This one competes favorably, and it’s a cigar I’ll smoke again. I smoked it to a finger-burning nub and was sad when it was finished. Thanks to Charlie at Best Cigar Prices shop for sharing these three cigars with me!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, Best Cigar Pub, CAO, cigar, cigars, macanudo, punch

by Craig Vanderslice | November 3, 2019 · 10:45 am

CAO Orellana and Fratello Navetta Inverso Cigars

Welcome to the first day of Standard Time, if you live in an area that messes with the clocks, which is most places I guess. I despise this time of year, shorter days, dark early, getting cold. It’s always a downer for me and it’s harder for me to keep a positive attitude this year! I’m still better off than I was a year and a half ago, head-wise, and I have plenty of cigars. On a positive note, Halloween was this week, and it’a always been one of my favorite cigar nites. When my kids were little I’d take a cigar along trick or treating with them, now that I stay at home I sit on the front porch with a cigar handing out treats. I always put the cigar down when the kids come to the door, and nobody ever complains. If the neighbors haven’t seen me walking the streets with a cigar in my mouth the other 364 days of the year, I can’t help them, ya know? Lot’s of other houses to go to if they don’t like it. Anyway, I smoked a RoMaCraft CroMagnon Cranium for the entire two hours of trick or treating, and it was outstanding.

I felt like I needed to give the CAO Orellana a try again after giving them some rest time. The first one I smoked was unimpressive, and I felt like I should have been impressed. This is the fourth cigar in the Amazon Basin trilogy, which I guess isn’t a trilogy anymore. I wasn’t really impressed with the original Amazon Basin, which everyone raved about, however, the Fuma em Corda and Anaconda I thought were exceptional cigars. This Orelana, which is named after Francisco de Orelana the first European to navigate the Amazon river (is he the guy we have to blame for ruining brick and mortar retail? 😁) has a Brazilian Cubra wrapper. I’ve enjoyed plenty of cigars with that wrapper before, mot recently the Vicarias Red Label. The 6″ x 52 toro also has a Nicaraguan binder and Brazilain Bragança, Columbian and Dominican fillers. I found this to be a good cigar, but fairly pedestrian and routine in flavor, nothing really interesting. I suppose it hit me much like the Amazon Basin did, I just didn’t see the big deal, it’s another good cigar. I’ll tell you one thing I really didn’t like about it, and I’ll preface this by saying that I’ve been rather fortunate in my long cigar smoking career to have not burned a lot of clothes, this cigar can burn a hole in your shirt. I got down the the “band” which is cords of tobacco, and started to smell an “off” room note, then I realized that a piece of the tobacco cord had dropped on my sweatshirt and was burning a hole in it. it pisses my off a little, actually, but it could have been much worse, as it’s an easily replaceable sweatshirt. Come to think of it, the only other time this happened was a closed foot on a CAO Flathead Sparkplug! I’m seeing a trend here! I gotta have a talk with Ricky Rodriguez about this…So I guess the score on the Amazon series for me is a tie, 2-2, proving that not every cigar is for everyone.

I go through this all the time, during the day I’ll think of a cigar I want to smoke, then by the time it comes around to smoking it, I’ve forgotten what it was I was thinking about smoking. This happened yesterday, I really should make a note someplace. Of course, every time after I’ve lit whatever cigar I settled on, I remember the cigar I thought of earlier and it’s too late at that point. Not that I would call it settling, but as I was rummaging around yesterday, trying to remember what cigar I had thought of earlier, I came across a Fratello Navetta Inverso Robusto and figured it would be a great cigar to smoke. I had smoked a Toscano Garibaldi last week from a pack I bough in Rome last year, I forgot about it until I saw an announcement that that line was going to be imported to the US, now they weren’t going to be special any more! It was a really good smoke, and I think I paid 8 Euros for the 5-pack or something. That really has nothing to do with the Fratello except that Fratello and Navetta are Italian words and it reminded me of that. The Navetta Inverso has a Habano Nicaraguan wrapper, Ecuador binder and Dominican and Nicaragua filler, compared with the Navetta, which has an Ecuadorian Oscuro Wrapper, a Dominican Binder
and Nicaragua Filler. Like most Fratello cigars, it’s made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory (the Oro is made by La Aurora in the DR). I love the flavor of this cigar, it’s solidly medium to me, with hints of sweet tobacco here and there. It was hard to put down, literally and figuratively. Fratello Cigars recently hired Robert Hernandez as the new Regional Sales Manager based in Florida and Georgia. I received a press release about this, but news about personnel moves and inside baseball sort of stuff isn’t the kind of cigar news I like to post here as a stand-alone news piece. I just don’t feel like my readers are that interested in that, I’ll let Halfwheel, the Industry’s Blog, handle that. Anyway, always hard to go wrong with any Fratello cigar, and even better in the Boxer size, in my opinion! I really need to get a Boxer sampler one day!