CAO

Brazilia

Unusual and Extremely loose draw on this stick right here!

My go/to #1 in my book cigar for me!

Absolutely great smoke.

One of my favorites this is a great stick. The dark maduro Brazilian wrapper sets this one apart.

Great flavourful smoke. Nice sweet aroma, hints of chocolate, coffee, at times caramel. Pleasant smoke overall paired with an espresso.

Excellent Experience, Will definately seek this one out int he future....

Brazilia is always a good smoke. Never had a bad stick.

Bra, lite mörk, krämik, inte alls så besk, svår i början men del 2 fantastisk. Njutbar. ca 70 min.

3mo rested. Great burn and draw. Flavors of earth nuts chocolate and bit of spices. Great pairing with a mocha.

A good cigar and a a goodnight price

These are good cigars when properly aged

It usually like but this was sub par

First, I love this vitola. I’m a robusto fan generally, but the 56 gauge on this makes it look and feel substantial. It’s an easy light, but cut a little deeper than usual to get an easy draw. The flavor is intense and hearty from the start, but the retrohale is still smooth. The second third builds the bite more, and the retrohale really resonates in the nose. Be ready for it. Haha. Construction wise, it’s a beautiful cigar, dark and moody looking. The final third builds to greatest intensity and depth, but it’s still enjoyable for my novice palate.

Started strong and then mellowed. Nothing great.

Love these! Smoked great

Fine cigar but I didn’t find anything special about it. Felt like it was rolled so tightly that it affected the draw.

Started off with an earthy nuttiness and developed into a sweet chocolate. I’m new to recording my smokes but the chocolate was very prevalent. Towards the middle I started getting some baking spices and fruit. Apple I think. The draw was a little tight on the start but improved. Didn’t produce a lot of smoke but I didn’t ask it until almost the halfway point. The chocolate became richer and creamy until the end. There were other flavors I couldn’t identify but this was enjoyable down to the nub. I think a free months in the humidor did this cigar some good

Started off with an earthy nuttiness and developed into a sweet chocolate. I’m new to recording my smokes but the chocolate was very prevalent. Towards the middle I started getting some baking spices and fruit. Apple I think. The draw was a little tight on the start but improved. Didn’t produce a lot of smoke but I didn’t ask it until almost the halfway point. The chocolate became richer and creamy until the end. There were other flavors I couldn’t identify but this was enjoyable down to the nub. I think a free months in the humidor did this cigar some good

I've been turned to the dark side loving the maduro aged in humidor

Wow so much better after some time in the humidor! Really enjoyed. !

Not a fan of Brazilian maduro

Cold draw had chocolate and cedar notes. Really nice cocoa flavor throughout with nutty flavor developing in second third. Really nice med-med/bold flavor

Cold draw had notes of chocolate and cedar. Draw was a little tough. Construction was great and burn was good. Throughout the smoke there was a good cocoa powder and nutty flavor throughout. Really nice smoke.

TL;DR: A good medium+ cigar with tasty flavors up front and power at the end. ——— 70% RH @ Cap, 64% RH @ foot - Home humidor aged 2 days. ——— Initial observations - Say what you will about CAO cigars, but their bands are always eye catching, and this one is no different. The blue, yellow, and green, along with the gold font, really capture one’s attention, and it plays perfectly off the wrapper itself. A nice, oily, toothy, chocolate color, this cigar looks like it’s going to be a creamy smoke just on looks alone. There are veins a plenty and a couple seams that aren’t hidden so well, but I doubt that either of those will affect the smoking experience. The foot is clean cut and neat, and shows the bunching and packing very well. It’s a tight cigar with little give and should impart a dense smoke. The cap is set straight and deep, though the cutting of it seems to be slightly “irregular”. All the same, it appears to be set well enough that it should withstand any kind of cut thrown at it. Finally, scents off the unlit wrapper included hay, coffee, and a touch of musty leather. The foot smells more of cinnamon and chocolate. ——— Cold draw - As predicted, the cap took my double-sided straight scissor cut very well. The draw is nice and relaxed with “the right” amount of resistance to it. Flavors I got from the unlit stick mainly included wheat bread, cinnamon, and hay. I fully anticipate that I’ll experience all 3 of those at some point during the smoke. ——— Light up - Upon light up I got notes of a dark wheaty bread, like pumpernickel, black pepper, and dark coffee on the palate. Retrohales gave a black pepper/red pepper mix in the sinuses, along with coffee and dark chocolate. The finish left me with black pepper, dark coffee, and earth. ——— First third - The cigar was off to a good start with an even burn line. The ash was a medium gray, slightly flaky, “stacked”, with visible “tooth” in it from the wrapper. It started to wave on the burn line, but also corrected itself once I rotated the cigar regularly. The draw kept a good resistance and the overall burn was nice and slow, probably due to the ring gauge. Primary flavor notes on the palate in this third were dark wheat bread, a touch of molasses, black coffee, and walnuts. The retro was now black pepper only, cream, a floral note, and a faint sour dough. Lingering in the finish was coffee, leather, and a touch of earth. The aroma in the air held a nice hickory scent along with a non-offensive standard tobacco. Peaty earth and sweet tobacco flavors are left on the lips. The ash held on through the end of the first third and into the second, which was brought in by subtle changes to the blend. ——— Second third - A slightly wavy burn line didn’t stop the ash from hanging on all the way to the band. The flavors continued to mellow with a slightly more pronounced sweetness on the palate and in the finish that went from molasses to pure sugar cane. The cream in the retro shifted to just dark chocolate. The sour dough in the retro hung around though. Dark wheat continued on strong on the palate, along with a more pronounced leather note. I was able to remove the band without disturbing the ash, but it fell off a few puffs after that anyway. This was a well constructed cigar. At this point, the darker leather and peaty earth that were only on my lips found their way into the smoke flavors. The finish was noticeably darker and bolder. The strength was a solid medium plus here and the flavor presence continued to ramp up. The transition into the final third was gradual, fairly undetectable aside from the bold presence of the earthy notes. ——— Final third - The wrapper’s sweetness became gradually overpowered by the darker coffee, leather, and earthy notes, though it still tasted balanced. A new charred oak note entered in this final third on palate but not in the finish, as did a faint anise. The smoke texture was thick and silky throughout the entire stick. Since the pepper in the retro receded, I found myself retrohaling more in this third than the previous two. The ash held on through till the very end. It got more flaky and ugly, but had no impact on the smoke itself. Just be careful in breezy conditions. Final tasting notes in the last few puffs were charred oak, anise, sweet tobacco, and leather. ——— Other notes - I smoked mine down to a 0.5” nub in 1 hour, 10 minutes. Overall a pretty good smoke and I’d definitely reach for this one again. The end of the first third going into the second third was the best part. Final third was my least favorite, but still okay. Many thanks to my buddy Trevor for gifting me this one. I’ll have to give him one of my favorites to try. ——— Personal Final Score - 87

1st third -Chocolate, almond, spice, pepper and earthiness. Great smoke production. 2nd third -The chocolate, almond and pepper receded and Coffee, caramel, wood and some creaminess showed up. 3rd third -Leather and coffee moved to the front and the other flavors dropped off except the pepper.

Great cigar! Got some beautiful floral notes from it which was very nice with my J. Lohr Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.

Incredible flavor, draw was good but had some uneven burns from time to time, needed a little bit of correcting. Burn was much longer than expected and overall anice looking cigar. Great price quality.

Foot and wrapper have a dark earthy tobacco aroma. Cold draw has notes of dark roast coffee and leather. Definitely has leather on the lips. First draw is earthy with dark roast coffee with black pepper on the retrohale. Into the first third it holds the coffee, earth, and pepper but also brings in notes of walnuts and semi-sweet chocolate. Notes stay the same throughout the entire stick with only the intensity changing. Good solid smoke that produces a lot of smoke. Had to touch up the burn a few times but nothing serious.

I’ll say the same for this cigar as I say for my current job; I’ve had worse…

Strong Expresso almost burnt. But generally a good med-strong smoke. Smoke amt was very good. Burn was fair with a few touchups.