CAO Vision Prana (6.25 x 52) Review

[pusherman]

CAO Vision Prana (6.25 x 52)

Visual-
This is a good looking cigar, the wrapper is good lookin for the most part. The wrap is a little sloppier than I would expect but not so much I would think it would impact the smokin. The band is purdy... real purdy (queue up the banjo music) Fancy white paper with embossed silver piping. It looks like a 10.00$+ smoke...

Pre-light sniff-
Spicy tobacco flavor. I like this smell, my mouth is watering!

The Cut-
nice firm feel tween the thumb and forefinger no soft spots, the palio cut is a just right , takes 1/4 an inch off the end and the cut is laser sharp

pre-light draw-
Just right, not to lose, not to tight. No flavor to speak of

the light-
took A little more work that I thought it should. Took some flamethrower work with my pb 207 to get it right...

1st draw-
A little harsh, but uninteresting for the most part. fair amout of smoke but nothing to shout about

1st 3rd
Im not impressed so far, the flavor is tobacco with a sharp metallic(?) after taste. It seems very mild in body I nose exhaled without the expected sniffing fits I get from a pepin
The Strength is medium
This cigar is well on the way to being not bad.

2nd 3rd
the sharp flavor is still noticeable a bit and the burn isnt great(but not bad) Ive had to touch up 2 times now.
There's not even a hint of spice. This is a very smooth smoke...
very mild
not bad...

last 3rd -
still mild smooth smoke
few more touch-ups on the burn,
This has been rock solid mild flavored smoke, the nic buzz is kicking up a bit now, not a lot, but I can feel it.
Started to get harsh with a little less than 1-1/4 of a inch left on the nub- Tossed it in the compost.



Conclusion-

If the best you can say about a cigar is "not bad" well... thats not bad but I'm not going to drop 10 bucks on "not bad" stick of tobacco more than once. The burn kinda sucked but not so badly that I would fault a good tasting cigar for it. Bottom line is the flavor wasnt there, The box is very cool, but Im very happy I didnt drop 200+ on a cool looking box with a bunch of "not bad" smokes in it.
The high point of this smoke was the band, my 3year old daughter thought it was very cool.

Id smoke these every day if they where free, I wont buy another one.

-pm