Construction: The CAO Gold Vintage Cremant is a beautiful cigar (maybe because of the cool bands CAO always uses). It has a spongy firm feel to the touch and no veins can be felt with the hands. A light oily sheen covers the CAO making it impossible to see the wrapper lines in this caramel colored stick.

Draw: The CAO Gold Vintage has a perfect draw that some people might find a bit too easy. On the multiple cigars we have smoked we never had any burn hot on us. We suggest starting with a punch so you can gauge how easy or hard the cigar draws for you.

Burn: A few of the CAO Gold Vintage Cremant cigars needed a just a little touch up during the smoking process. It was not major enough to consider it a problem but keep a lighter near by. The ash was also inconsistent, some cigars had a great ash that stayed on while the others fell at every opportunity.

Flavor: The CAO Gold Vintage Cremant is one of the most delightful and consistent toro sized cigars we have smoked in a long time. On first light you are introduced to a very light sweet tobacco that has some nutty characteristics. The sweetness is a mixture of vanilla and caramel that is only amplified by the creamy smoke on the finish. The final component is a very nice spice that leaves you craving for more.

Towards the middle of the cigar, and consistent to the end, the nutty notes have warmed the Gold Vintage up. As the cigar is now smoking in the medium body range you will still get the caramel, the vanilla and perhaps a slight floral taste. The spice on the CAO has also changed and subdued a bit but the creamy finish still remains.

Drinking a coffee, espresso or any morning drink will only increase the enjoyment the CAO Gold Vintage brings. Thus making the cigar perfect for a morning start or paired with a light meal.

Final Verdict: CAO Gold Vintage Cremant retails in the $8-9 range. This is a cigar that everyone should try, buy and keep in their humidor. It pairs well with drinks and makes a perfect start to the day. The cigar also has qualities that usually do well with time, so hide this in your humidor and see how it does. It’s mild and complex enough that new smokers will enjoy it with ease and the seasoned aficionado will enjoy the subtle touches. Pick the CAO Gold Vintage up while you can and let us know your experience!

Construction: The Cameroon wrapper on the CAO Flavours has some medium sized veins running the length of the cigar. Veins on the Flavours will not effect the perfect burn of the cigar. Like most chopped filled cigars the CAO Flavours may feel a little soft in some places but do not worry as the cigar holds up like a champ.

Draw: The CAO Flavours Petite Corona provides the perfect draw with just a tad bit of resistance. Please remember to keep a cutter handy as the CAO Flavours Petite Corona is too small to punch.

Burn: Much like the other premium cigars CAO creates – the CAO Flavours produce a perfect burn. The ash is a bright white but is flaky due to being chopped tobacco. The ash will have a tendency to fall off and land in your lap with just a bit of movement. This problem is easily solved by ashing the cigar by yourself after a few puffs. Burn is very cool on this smaller cigar and will not leave you with a bitter taste.

Flavor: We aren’t going to go through all the CAO Flavours cigars. We simply do not need to because the wrapper does a very good job of telling you what your palate will experience. For example: The Cherrybomb has a primary flavor of cherry, the caramel have primary hints of caramel and the different variations of vanilla taste like vanilla.

The Cameroon wrapper is slightly sweet and pairs really well with any flavor that you decide to smoke. The Dominican filler is smooth and, again, compliments the wrapper and primary flavor chosen. These are all around light cigars that anyone can and will enjoy. They can be smoked as a dessert cigar, a morning cigar, or anytime you just want to give your palate a sweet treat.

Final Verdict: The cigar retails for about $5.xx and can be found online in the $3.xx range. These are the type of cigars that everyone should have (at least a couple) in their humidor. It is the perfect cigar to give out in social gatherings that every person can truly enjoy. Let’s not forget it is also good for the experienced smoker who wants to take a quick break away from the “usual” and give their palate a nice treat. The CAO Flavours are the best flavored cigar on the market and the quality can not be matched, so buy a box and keep these handy. However, please remember that the CAO Flavours should not be kept in the same storage area as your regular cigars. The Flavours can, and will, infuse both the cedar and other sticks. So as long as you can keep the cigars separate – then buy a box and enjoy the delight!

Quick Notes

Construction: Rich dark wrapper with some veins that run throughout. CAO Brazilia is rolled nicely and I can not locate any soft spots yet I wouldn’t say the stick was firm.

Draw: CAO gives all their cigars a draw test so you can only expect that most of the sticks will draw very well. With any CAO cigars I tend to punch but a cut will work just as well.

Burn: CAO Brazilia happens to have a burn that is just a little bit jagged. The ash is a gray color and is just average. It will not fall on you unexpectedly but do not expect to stand the cigar on the ash. Smoke was again just average but left your mouth with a little spice.

Taste: Lush tobacco and smoke with a hint of sweetness. Typical Brazilian maduro wrapper is giving the cigar a medium body.

Cigar is tasty but is lacking any unique flavors. You really get a good sense of the tobacco with a hint of sweetness. The Brazilia smoke is leaving a little spicy on the palate.

The CAO Brazilia is very consistent in flavors to this point. Sweetness still lingers with a slightly spicy smoke in the finish. CAO Brazilia is a clean cigar that is good for refreshing the palate.

Through the entire cigar you will also receive hints of coffee that seem to dance in and out of the smoke. If you smoke this cigar too hot you will end up with a bitter taste at the end, so be careful.

Final Verdict: A lounge will carry the CAO Brazilia in the $6.xx-7.xx range. The online retailers seem to have it in the low $6.xx. CAO Brazilia is a cigar that needs to be in your humidor. It works as a sweet maduro cigar that can deliver some spice and stay interesting from start to finish. However the Brazilia can also be the cigar that helps you clean the palate or throw something new into the rotation. So buy half a box, pick up a couple of sticks, and enjoy the smoke (but it may not be interesting enough for a full box purchase).

This story was released by Reuters. The text in the red writing is additional information  embedded by PuffingCigars.com.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Europe’s largest cigar manufacturer, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, said on Thursday it had bought two family-owned cigar factories in Central America for an undisclosed sum to expand its global footprint.

From the Scandinavian Tobacco Group website: STCG cigars are sold throughout the world, the most important brands being Café Crème, Nobel Petit, CAO, Henri Wintermans, Mercator and Colts. STCG, which is also known as Henri Wintermans Cigars, is the world’s largest cigar exporter and has sales companies in France, Belgium, UK and Canada.

The factories are in Danli, in Honduras, and Esteli, in Nicaragua, and jointly employ around 950 people producing about 17 million hand-rolled, premium cigars a year, Denmark-based Scandinavian Tobacco said in a statement.

The sellers are the Olivas and Torano families. No financial details were provided.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group is the world’s largest pipe tobacco maker and the world’s third-largest cigar producer.

The CAO America Landmark box of cigars was brought into PuffingCigars.com and everyone was excited. A bright blue box with patriotic markings opened up to some beautiful pinstriped cigars. Construction of the Landmark cigars looked great, the box sat nicely next to my copy of the constitution, and each Landmark has beautiful bands at the head and foot.

Too bad the CAO America Landmark only looked great.

Smoking the Landmark was disappointing. The CAO started off bland, finished bland, and reminded everyone of cardboard. Knowing it may need some more time to age the box was set in the humidor for a period of 6 months. Each month that passed a new stick was removed to see how it was aging and if was enjoyable at that point. At the 6th month mark (we were prepared to leave it in for longer) the cigar became smokeable.

These are the CAO Landmark cigars we reviewed.

Construction: I give credit where credit is due – and CAO deserves some credit. CAO builds cigars that are always well constructed. The CAO Landmark had a nice wrapper with only two soft veins running down the back of the cigar. The pinstriped wrappers do not come apart while smoking. Tobacco was packed in tight and the Landmark had no troubles passing the “pinch” test.

Draw: CAO has very high construction standards and gives all their smokes a draw test. Because of this I always expect the draw to be good/perfect. This box of CAO Landmarks was really a crap shoot though. I would say 50 percent of the cigars had a medium draw and the other half had a more medium-hard draw that required some elbow grease. I wonder if it had anything to do with the double wrappers?

Burn: The CAO Landmark is rolled with two full sized wrappers, and by knowing this I did not expect the burn to be perfect. I was correct. The burn was a bit jagged and depending what cigar I got from my box – the burn got bad. Even when it was bad the CAO Landmark burn would manage to correct it self.

Taste: The cigars prior to the 6 month resting period were bland and boring. Plain. Cardboard-esk (yes I made that up). I really couldn’t pull any immediate flavors from the sticks and I would find my self throwing away half smoked cigars.

Now once the CAO Landmark cigars were properly aged for about 6 months things changed – just a little. The cigar took on a heavier body that was still in the medium range. Each draw gave me a slight spice, a slight… something that made the cigar tolerable.

Final Verdict: On the retail level the CAO Landmark cost about $9, searching the internet brings the price of the cigar down to $7.xx. Either way you wasting $9 or $7.xx. The CAO Landmark is boring and… plain. There is no reason to spend that kind of money on a cigar that needs aging. However this is a cigar that’s mild-medium in strength and looks really nice. This is important because it now becomes a cigar you can give to your non-smoking friends (if you have to get rid of them).

Other Cigars: Do you really want to know what other cigars are bland and boring until you age them for 6 months? And even at that you still just get a little bit of spice? I didn’t think so. CAO makes some high quality, great cigars – so don’t be afraid to pick something else up from them (think LX2).

I put some people to work and was able to obtain 20 CAO LX2 sticks in the Robusto size.

About the Cigar: As you may, or may not, know this is the new cigar by CAO that was created to hit the full-bodied market. The  CAO LX2 will combine a Nicaraguan wrapper and a Honduran binder. The filler is: Two different ligero fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua (hence L-X-2).

The Marketing: CAO always has great marketing behind it. The boxes are white based, black graphics, beautiful and unique looking. The bands, print material, and everything else about this cigar is very dark and clean. Heck, even if you don’t want to smoke this cigar you cant help but pick it up and look at it.

Quick Smoke: Let me start off by telling you that the CAO LX2 does the job and gives the full-bodied smokers attention. However as I have smoked about 3 of these CAO LX2 cigars so far I have to tell you this: The cigar was rushed out for the show.

You can taste how young the cigar really is and I know I am not getting its full effect or taste.

I could provide you with what I have experienced thus far but I do not want to give off the wrong impression.

Verdict Is: The CAO LX2 is really too new, too rushed, and not ready to smoke. I have put the cigars to rest in the humidor. I will let you know how they are prior to the official release date (no specific date was mentioned).