Tag Archives: CAO

by Craig Vanderslice | September 1, 2019 · 8:04 am

CAO Flathead V19, Acid 20 and Coyaba Natural Cigars and CigarCraig’s 10th Anniversary

You may recall that last Wednesday I had typed a brilliant post and lost it. I posted an abbreviated, yet almost as brilliant post, but I wanted to try to recap two of the cigars that I had written about. The first of which was the new CAO Flathead Camshaft V19, the 5½” x 50 line extension to the Flathead line. The Flathead line is one of my favorites in the CAO range. I enjoy all of them, although the largest of them is the least smoked just because the 70 ring gauge is just too large, but the square press does make it a little more manageable. The flat cap gives me a chance to use my favorite Adorini punch, which has two sides, one of which is 13mm, which makes a nice, large opening in the cap of the 50 ring V19. The V19 has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Connecticut Habano binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, making for a full-bodied, delicious cigar. They are only making a limited number of these, but they sure are tasty, bolder than the regular line. Like I said, I’m a fan of the whole line, and they all are a little different, but the V19 might be my favorite so far.

The ACID 20 started hitting stores this week, so I figured I better smoke the sample that Alex, my local Drew Estate rep, gave me a few weeks ago before it wasn’t special any more! I’ve noted before that my ACID experiences have been limited, to the point where I could list the occasions I smoked ACID cigars off the top of my head. After really enjoying the new ACID Kuba Arte, I was less skeptical about smoking this one. I’m told that the infusion is the same as the ACID 5, which was the 5th anniversary cigar. Of course, this meant nothing to me, having never smoked the ACID 5. The ACID 20 has a San Andrès wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers, and is box pressed with a flat cap, which is sweetened. I used the 9mm side of the Adorini punch on this one, even though it’s 5″ x 52. I’m not sure why I used the smaller punch, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Fun fact, ACID is an acronym for (of?) Arielle Chester Industrial Design, artist Scott Chester’s company’s name. He’s the guy on the motorcycle on the ACID logo, and a super-cool dude. Anyway, I didn’t taste any infusion, much like the Kuba Arte, it was a darned good tasting San Andrès wrapped cigar, with dark espresso flavors and rich cocoa. A throughly enjoyable cigar. I’m starting to worry about myself, enjoying ACID cigars, I’m going to have to smoke a regular Kuba Kuba again one of these days to see if I find it as repulsive as I did the first time I tried one long ago and needed to scrape my tongue afterwards…

Thursday was my 56th birthday, and that means it was the 10th anniversary of CigarCraig.com! It was on August 29th, 2009 that my wife gave me the domain name for my birthday and started me down this road. Perhaps this calls for a celebratory contest, I’ll have to think about it over the next few days, any objections can be noted in the comments! I did manage to smoke a few cigars Thursday to celebrate, I started with a Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Lancero, spent some family time, then enjoyed a Serie Unico UF-13 that was from a box I received for me 50th birthday, then wrapped up the day with a Cornelius and Anthony Señor Esugars. It was a good day.

Last night I smoked a cigar that was sent to me to be my “white” cigar for Diner en Blanc, however, the US Mail didn’t cooperate, and I didn’t receive the cigar until the Monday following the event. I spoke to Juan Nuñez briefly on the phone a week before the event, and he told me a little bit about his Coyaba White Label, or Natural cigar, although I should have gotten more information. From what I can gather, the cigar he sent was the Toro Gordo, a 6½” x 60 with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. I went back to my ScrewPop Magpulse cutter for this one. I really like this cutter. I also have gone back to the Colibri Daytona lighter, which had given me some trouble until I threatened to send it back, and decided to give it a good blowing out with compressed air which got it right as rain again. It’s back to being one of my favorites again. Anyway, this Coyaba cigar was a tasty smoke, it was on the mild side, with some nice flavors. It was creamy and nutty with a little floral note, and was a pleasant smoke. I hope I run across these when I visit Miami in a few weeks, maybe I can even meet up with Juan. The Coyaba Band is beautiful, a great improvement over what I remember the old band (which was nice).

That’s plenty for today. It’s Labor Day weekend, and I’m working again. It beats not working, been there, done, that. Enjoy yourselves, have some great cigars, and until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigars, Coyaba, drew estate

by Craig Vanderslice | March 17, 2019 · 12:29 pm

Saint Patrick’s Day Cigars, CAO, Villiger and Diesel

I have a slightly different take on Saint Patrick’s Day, not being of Irish descent. I have been known to smoke a candela cigar on March 17 over the past few years, considering the cigar companies like to put them out around this time to capitalize on just this sort of thing. Admittedly, I do enjoy a good candela cigar from time to time, I find them a refreshing change of pace. I may pull out an old Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan today, I have one of the original candelas, and the first year the made the barber pole, unless I stop at the store and they happen to have this year’s iteration, and/or the Shamrock, which I’m quite interested in smoking. I kinda dig the triple-wrapper barber pole treatment for some reason. Anyway, the main reason I like Saint Patrick’s day so much is less about the green and Irish part, and definitely not about the drinking part, but all about the snakes part. You see, I hate snakes, and I’m a huge fan of anyone who can drive them out of an entire country. This is one thing I find appealing about Ireland and New Zealand, they are the two places that are naturally bereft of snakes. I get it, in 400AD there weren’t a lot of affordable direct flights to North America, but I certainly would have helped get this guy over here to get rid of the slithering bastards. So if I had a Culebra to smoke today, that would be my choice, but the only one I have is an LFD that was gifted to me in 2004, and I feel guilty for not smoking it at the time it was gifted, but that’s another story. It’ll keep the story and the cigars).

I guess if that were the case, I wouldn’t have had a CAO Amazon Basin Anaconda to smoke this week, unless he drove them to South America, which seems plausible! In honor of the coming anti-snake holiday, I smoked a CAO Anaconda, perhaps my favorite in the Amazon Basin line. I didn’t care for the original Amazon Basin, lots of people raved about it, but it didn’t do anything for me. the subsequent releases were more appealing to me. The Fuma em Corda was very good, although I only smoked it in the robusto size, and I really enjoy this Anaconda, although I hate the name, I mention I don’t like snakes, right? I do like the 6″ x 52 size of this, and the recipe of Brazilian Bahiano Habano Ligero wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Brazil (Bragança & Fuma Em Corda), Colombia & the Dominican Republic are very interesting. The Brazilian fillers used in this are a combination of those used in the Amazon Basin (Braganca) and the Fuma Em Corda (obviously). I guess it wasn’t the Branganca that turned me off in the Basin, unless it just worked better in the blend in this Anaconda. This is a woody smoke with some spice, more on the savory side than sweet to my palate. Like I said, love the cigar, hate the name.

Thursday was a brilliant spring day, I got the bike out of the garage and rode it to work, however, when I left work, it wouldn’t start. it’s a 2005, I’ve had it since 2008, put 29k miles on it, and it’s started every time. I guess it decided that day was the day it wanted extra attention. Better it let me down in a parking lot than on the side of the road, I guess, so today’s project will be getting it to the shop, but I came home and took a walk with a Villiger La Vencedora Churchill. It was warm for a change, I wanted a Churchill, dammit, and this one was front and center screaming ” smoke me!” So I did, and it was good. I guess it’s ironic that La Vencedora means “The Victor”, and I was feeling rather defeated that day, as the bike letting me down wasn’t the only odd thing to happen. Perhaps I was not letting all the little defeats ruin the day completely. The La Vencedora is a Nicaraguan puro, wrapped in a dark Nicaraguan grown Habano Oscuro leaf. I had to take a break from writing to go get the bike to the shop, so I lost my train of thought…OK, the wrapper on this wasn’t pretty, it’s a mottled brown, but it makes up for it in flavor. It’s got some sweet earthy flavors along with a bit of spice. I rather enjoyed it and I spent quite a while with it on my walk, then on the porch watching hockey on the iPad. It’s a 7″ x 50 Churchill, with I don’t mind at all, although a 47 ring Churchill is traditional. All in all, a darned yummy cigar, no surprise this is made at Joya de Nicaragua.

Finally, last night I decided to revisit a cigar that people have raved about, and I haven’t really “gotten” in the past. Last year the Diesel Whiskey Row came out and people were excited, especially people close to the blend, which I understand. I suppose this is another St. Patrick’s day tie in. To me it’s just another woody/earthy cigar with great construction, and, if that’s your thing, it’s a great cigar. I will say that I enjoyed this one perhaps more than previous cigars, so maybe time in the humidor has added value, but it’s still not a cigar I get excited about (about which I get excited? I regularly dangle participles…I guess I write the way I talk). I’d rather smoke a Diesel Unholy Cocktail as I find that it more closely aligns with my flavor preferences. But that’s me, and if the Whiskey Row is your kind of cigar, great! That’s what’s great about cigars, there’s something for everyone and who’s to say what’s not right for me isn’t right for you! That’s why I try most everything, which I can’t say for food, some foods I look at and know I won’t like…I know it’s wrong, but it just is!

That’s all for today, time to get some things done! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as amazon, Anaconda, CAO, cigar, cigars, diesel, La Vencedora, Villiger, Whiskey Row

by Craig Vanderslice | February 24, 2019 · 9:00 am

Nica Rustica Robusto and CAO Esteli TAA Edition Cigars

If this post is different today there’s a few reasons. I’m a little out of sorts because yesterday somehow my WordPress user name was changed and I couldn’t log in, which caused some panic. I still haven’t quite figured this out and I haven’t had time to sit on the phone for long periods of time with anyone. I added a user as a workaround, and when I got in, it look like WordPress has changed their interface from the old familiar to something called the “wonderful world of blocks”, which is a completely different layout and I don’t have time to figure it out because I have to go to work and just wanted to get a quick post done. So now I’m stressed out. Great. Anyway, I spent the last few days going through all the old posts fixing videos so they work. There seems to be some photos missing, which will be a much larger job, something I’ll have to do in front of a computer as opposed to on an iPad. Anyway, enough of my bitching and moaning, I did get a few cigars in this week.

I had a long stretch between days off, so when Thursday rolled around, I was all set to relax after my dentist appointment. Unfortunately, I ended up having a root canal in the afternoon, which kinda harshed my mellow a little. I hate Novocaine. After cleaning up the pulled pork sandwich that I dribbled all over my face, I grabbed a familiar favorite, a comfort food cigar, the trusty Drew Estate Nica Rustica, this time in the Short Robusto vitola. I’m quite sure I’ve smoked this size before, but I certainly haven’t smoked as many as the El Brujito or the Belly, and this will probably change. In this circumstance, it got off to a slow start, with the first third having less of a flavor impact, but as the Novocaine wore off, the flavor intensified and the familiar Nica Rustica goodness came through. I love this cigar, the Broadleaf, the cocoa and espresso flavors ht me just right. I always have some of these on hand and will stock up on this size. Highly recommended for post-root canal.

Friday I decided to pay a visit to my local shop, just two miles from my house. I don’t actually spend a great deal of time there. I go to events when they have them, I know the people there, and stop by from time to time, but I’m just not the guy who spends a lot of time hanging out in any cigar shop. Neighbors are often asking me why, when they drive by this particular shop at all hours of the day, mornings especially, the parking lot is always pretty full. My usual response is that there is a group of guys that hang out there, some retirees, some who set up their laptops and work from the lounge. So I figured since I had Friday off I’d go in for a smoke and hang out for a while. Since CigarCigars is a TAA shop, I decided to give the CAO Esteli TAA Exclusive a try. This is a 6″ x 54 Toro, and it is made in the Scandanavian Tobacco Group’s Esteli Factory, with a Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper, Honduran binder and fillers from Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. This was an intriguing cigar, and if I ‘d been smart, I would have smoked the CAO Nicaragua when I got home to compare, but I was distracted by a shiny band. It was a nice, medium bodied cigar, with a distinct cookie-like flavor. It had some caramel and almond nut kinds of flavors, if that makes sense. It was a departure from many CAO cigars, much like the CAO Nicaragua is, but they are different cigars. I’ll work through more of the TAA exclusives as I visit the local CigarCigars shops (there’s no less than six with in ten miles of my house).

That’s all for today. I have to work another Sunday, but I should have next weekend off, with is nice for a change! I gotta figure out all this new WordPress nonsense! As always, thanks for reading along, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigars, Nica Rustica, TAA

by CigarCraig | November 3, 2018 · 10:40 am

Some Mombacho Cigars, a Fuente Añejo and a CAO Nicaragua

Another full work week under my belt, getting in the swing of working an unusual schedule. This week I had Monday and Wednesday off. I should have announced the winner of the great Big Papi humidor from El Artista Wednesday, but I ended up posting a news item about Foundry Cigars reuniting with founder Michael Giannini and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters instead while smoking a really old Casa Toraño Maduro Lancero. Congrats again to Matt Hopper! One other news item that I posted was that Drew Newman, General Council of JC Newman Cigar Co., spoke at the FDA Conference, which was actually the Tobacco Product Application Review: A Public Meeting, which was a multi day event with many speakers, the full agenda can be found here: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/TobaccoProducts/NewsEvents/UCM622683.pdf. I added this link in the comments of the original post, but the article could have been a little more specific about what the FDA meeting was all about. Anyway, lets talk about a few cigars I smoked this week!

Last year I smoked a few Mombacho cigars, the Tierra Volcan and the Liga Maestro, and I remember really liking one, and not really liking the other, and I couldn’t recall which one was which. I came across a pair of them in the humidor and decided it was about time to figure it out once and for all (and try not to forget this time!). Both samples were from the 2016 vintage and came from the 2017 IPCPR show. I started with the Tierra Volcan in the 5½” x 50 Classico size. this is a Nicaraguan Puro with a sun grown Jalapa Habano wrapper, criollo viso Condega Habano binder, and Condega and Jalapa tobaccos in the filler. I really liked this medium bodied cigar, it had a nice, sweet flavor that I appreciated, and it burned very well. This wasn’t the one I didn’t like!

I smoked the Tierra Volcan on Monday, on Wednesday I smoked the Mombacho Liga Maestro, and it’s sometimes hard for me to get excited about smoking a cigar when, in the back of my head, I think maybe I’m not going to like it. This was the 5″ x 54 “Gordo”, I think, it didn’t seem all that “gordo” to me…but it was certainly five inches long, that is for sure. this one is also a Nicaraguan puro, with a shade grown Jalapa Habano wrapper, Jalapa Criollo binder and Condega and Jalapa fillers. I enjoyed this cigar too! I just have to think that when I smoked one or the other of these two cigars before I must have eaten something that conflicted with the flavor of the cigar and put me off. While the Liga Maestro wasn’t as sweet as the Tierra Volcan, it was more on the savory side, it was still a very good tasting cigar, one I’ll happily smoke again. I really look forward to a time when circumstances are such that I can, one day, visit Grenada again and tour Casa Favilli, as I understand it’s a beautiful factory. My brief visit to Granada in 2011 was little more than a drive by.

I went back to a favorite, the classic Fuente Añejo No. 50, on Thursday. Sometimes one just needs comfort food, and this cigar is so good. The barrel aged Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper compliments the Opus X filler blend (or whatever the blend, I don’t care because it’s good) so well. It’s loaded with wonderful cocoa and espresso flavors that I love. I am fortunate to have a box of these resting in the humidor and will try to keep my hands out of it long enough to let it age a while, it hasn’t even been in there a year yet. These are delicious cigars, I have some other classic cigars from the Fuente family that I will revisit in the near future, the Hemingway Classic is calling to me.

Friday evening after work, and before going out to the movies, I ran down to Old Havana Cigars south of West Chester, PA to have a visit with Ricky Rodriguez and finally smoke a CAO Nicaragua. I bought some Toros, as that’s my go-to size, and it’s the only size I saw there. They say this is the first CAO cigar that is Nicaraguan-centric in the blend, which I find hard to believe, but now that I think about it, I guess it’s true. The blend is a Jamastran wrapper and binder, and filler from Jalapa, Esteli and Condega. I love hanging out with Ricky, he’s an actual friend, I’ve known him a long time and try not to miss him when he’s in the area. He’s blended this CAO Nicaragua to be different from other Nicaraguan cigars, it’s not heavy, it’s medium bodies with a peasant sweetness and I really enjoyed it. Considering I smoked it before going out to a late dinner, it was a good thing it wasn’t a strong cigar! I actually wanted to smoke another one last night, but I got done work too late and didn’t feel like going out for a cigar when I got home. I’ll probably smoke one after work today!

That’s all I have for today, Hopefully you remembered to mess with your clocks if you live in a place that does that. I hate that it will be dark earlier for the foreseeable future! I really wish they’d just leave daylight savings time in place year round, but I probably say that every year! I can’t wait for spring! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Añejo, CAO, cigar, cigars, fuente, Liga Maestro, Mombacho, Tierra Volcan

by CigarCraig | April 8, 2018 · 8:18 am

CAO Event at Tobacco Field Cigars in Delaware and the CAO Zócalo

Friday I took a drive south to New Castle, Delaware to visit the new Tobacco Fields Cigars location where they were hosting Ricky Rodriguez and Rami Dakko of CAO Cigars. I was familiar with their store closer to home, in the Concord area, north of Wilmington, and just over the Pennsylvania border. I remember the area fondly as the site of the Brandywine Raceway, where I used to go watch the harness racing, and near where I used to go buy beer when I was underage. That’s not at all important to the story. I stopped in to the old store because I didn’t read the announcement and didn’t know about the new store. Apparently the new location opened in December of 2015, so I’m woefully out of touch! Twenty-five minutes later I arrived at the new store and went in to buy some CAO cigars. Ricky was in the lounge talking about cigars and tobacco. Due to the indoor smoking laws in Delaware, the lounge is membership based, and I assume that my purchase granted me a temporary membership, as I was welcomed by both the owners. The store is well appointed, with loads of cigars, as well as other tobacco products, and the lounge, although small, is augmented by a large, enclosed outside patio. Fortunately, the weather was cooperative. I smoked a CAO Colombia, in the Magdalena torpedo size, a 6¼” x 54 size. This cigar has a Jamastran (Honduran) wrapper, Cameroon binder and Brazilian and Colombian fillers. It’s super smooth and has a very pleasant flavor. It’s on the milder side, and is a very nice cigar, one of my favorites in their “World” range of cigars. I bought a few of these, a couple Consigliere in the toro size and a Brazilia and America. They had all three of the Amazon lines, including the Amazon Basin, but since I have some Fuma Em Corda and Anacondas, and am not really that fond of the Amazon Basin, I opted not to pick any up. There was a good crowd present, and I enjoyed catching up with Ricky and Rami, great folks if you ever have a chance to meet them, and the shop is great if you find yourself in the New Castle Delaware area.

CAO had two announcements this week, which other sites covered, one being the Pan-Am Tour, an online journey down the Pan American Highway highlighting the various growing regions where tobacco used in the CAO line is grown. There is a game on the CAO website where you can win prizes and follow along. From the press release:

In true CAO fashion, Rick’s virtual journey has an in-store component. His Pan American Tour will be mirrored by an interstate highway tour of sorts, as Rick will be visiting cigar shops across the U.S. for a deeper dive on the tobaccos that make up CAO’s unique blends. Events will take place between April and December, 2018 and at each event, cigar lovers can win CAO branded items like lighters, tee shirts and duffle bags, and have the opportunity to smoke special Pan Am Tour-exclusive cigars blended by Rick and the CAO team.

As I was driving to the event I received the press release about the newest offering from CAO, the limited edition CAO Zócalo San Andrés. This cigar kicks off the Pan Am tour and represents the first CAO cigar to use the San Andrés Morron wrapper, with a Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan fillers, offered in only the 6″ x 60 size. They have an attractive $8.49 MSRP and are due in stores before May 5, (Cinco de Mayo). I happen to know someone, so I had the opportunity to smoke the CAO Zócalo San Andrés last night, and I was thoroughly impressed. I am personally a fan of both Broadleaf and San Andrés, especially when it’s over a Cameroon binder, that combination makes me happy. The cigar was impressive. It had a perfect burn and draw, as all good cigars should, and the ash was a solid white, which took some effort to knock off in 1″ chunks. It started with a pepper spice and coffee, with an earthiness and some sweetness from the Cameroon. I got that same sweet sensation in the Colombia, which also has the Cameroon binder. Halfway through I was surprised by a new flavor, an interesting almost burnt caramel flavor. Earlier in the day I smoked another Macanudo Inspirado Red, which I thought was my favorite new cigar, and I smoked a CAO Fuma Em Corda this week that I really like, but this gives them a run for their money, and I can’t wait for these to hit the shelves, I’ll be putting a handful in my humidor. I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to score a sample of this great new cigar, thanks to Rick and Rami! It’s a big cigar, and maybe 6″ x 60s aren’t your bag, but give them a try. Yummy, a fiesta in your mouth!