CAO Anniversario Churchill Cameroon: young & old

[cv]

Dear LLGs,

this is (thanks to rjs!) the second compared review for CAO Ann. I post this one a bit late, and following to the "disappointing CAO" thread that recently appeared on the Club...
The old Churchill is from 2/00, the new one just 4 to 6 months old. Both these babies looked great, beautiful Cameroon wrapper, almost veinless, the youngest is still very well box pressed, the oldest a bit more back to the "traditional" look, though it did not lose the box-pressure like the Maduro that I previously reviewed.
Young CAO. The pre-light draw was very easy and tasting spicy and peppery. Lighting took quite a few seconds more than usual, but this is something I often find in CAOs. Then, right from the beginning, a mouthful of rich smoke invaded my taste buds with hints of chocolate and coffee, turning into a more complex taste after the first inch; here, spices and pepper kicked in, mixed to the chocolate and coffee taste of the beginning. Going towards the end, the pepper took its place, definitely, some small buzz started to appear, and in the last inch (took off the band to go on...) the cigar turned again on the sweeter side, the pepper mellowed slowly into chocolate again to leave me with a very pleasant aftertaste, lasting for half an hour or so. The burn has to be kept under control here to prevent it to get hot, which would lead some unpleasant ammonia in.
The burning was quite even, though not perfect; I had to correct it a few times, while the ashes were thick and long lasting on the cigar.
Old CAO. Here, as with the Maduro, the cigar seems to be more mellow, the pepper is still there but not as present as with the younger one. The pre-draw was very good, ligthing a bit easier than with the younger one, and tastewise I could pick almost the same type of flavors that the young brother provided me. Here, the complex blend of this cigar had the time to mellow, the oils to migrate, and this caused the taste to be more balanced, and less aggressive on the pepper side. The cigar burned much better after aging, almost no problem, and (after taking off the band on this one too...) I went on until my finger burnt. The end in this case needed less control for heat and ammonia, which were almost absent here. Again, a very nice aftertaste lasted for almost an hour in this case in my mouth, and making me wishing to light another one!
Overall, both cigars were great smokes. The older one (9.5), for my taste, was much more enjoyable, while the younger (8.5-9) was more aggressive.
Again as with the Maduros is worth to age these babies, but they are ready (and great!) to be smoked anyway! Thanks to our fellow LLG rjs again for the old CAO, and... enjoy!

cv

[DUFFER]

Very nice post! Almost always a good smoke. That's my mini-review.

[rjs]

cv,

Nice review. Great taste descriptions. My experience is much like you described. Glad you enjoyed the smoke.

... rjs

[cv]

rjs,

thanks for your posting, and of course thanks even more for the smoke! :-)

cv

[kjpman]