Review - CAO Black - Frontier

[Texan_To_The_End]

DATE: 2006/06/05
REVIEWER: Timothy "Texan_To_The_End" Piper
CIGAR: CAO Black
SIZE: 7.0 X 50
ORIGIN: Nicaraguan
WRAPPER: Conn, Ecuadoran
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nic, Hon, Mex
SHAPE: Frontier (Churchill)
AGE: In my humidor since 2006/04/23
VENDOR: Gifted from Pegleg. (Thanks again!)
PRICE: Unknown; current retail is $5.40
AMBIENCE: 7PM Monday. Just woke up from a necessary nap, as
the NIN concert & transportation afterwards kept me up
until 4:30AM. Rather hot, humid and still air.
BEVERAGE: Coffee - black
APPEARANCE: Cedar wrapped with a silk ribbon at the foot, very
elegant. Smooth dry wrapper, very light weight cigar.
PRE_LIGHT: Wrapper was very delicate but the smell was sweet
and grassy, and the taste was good.
DRAW: Perfect resistance, which I find rare in larger cigars.
FIRST_THIRD: Started out similar to the AVO from last month, but a
bit milder. Had a grassy creamy taste to it that was
very relaxing. Also had none of the typical (to me)
Conn-wrapper bitterness.
SECOND_THIRD: Developed a bit more sweetness. The cap was so delicate
it required almost constant attention to keep it from
falling apart. Annoying, but it tasted good anyway.
FINAL_THIRD: It stayed consistent but was a bit one dimensional,
without any variance in flavors. Since the tastes were
good, this was acceptable to me.
BURN: Pretty even burn despite some wrapper problems.
ASH: Light grey solid ash with a very yellow center.
SMOKE: Enormous volume of sweet smoke.
STRENGTH: Mild throughout.
FLAVOUR: Creamy grassy sweetness.
FINISH: This cigar went very well with coffee and lingered on
the palette for a good 30 minutes.
SMOKE_TIME: 70 minutes.
IMPRESSION: I'd put this as a step below the AVO in taste and
quality, but it was pretty good.
RATING: 7 out of a possible TEN wooden matchsticks.
COMMENTS: If there was more of a mixture of the tastes I'd have
rated this higher. And I suspect it was in the humidor
for a year before being given to me so age probably
isn't an issue.
PICTURES: http://tinyurl.com/jp6ft -&- http://tinyurl.com/l2vqe

[mhillsing23]

The only CAO Black I have had was a robusto. I enjoyed it very much for a mild/medium cigar. Thanks for sharing this review!

[Jechelman]

Thanks for another nice review Timothy. Have never tried the Black but have enjoyed other CAO lines. Going to pick some up on my next visit to the local B&M.

[Jechelman]

I did stop by my local B&M and asked about the CAO Black. They carried several CAO lines but had not heard of the Black so they called their CAO rep. The rep told them that the Black is the same blend as the Gold, wrapped in cedar and produced specifically (exclusively?) for Cigars International. Has anyone else heard this?

[ResIpsa]

Originally Posted by Jechelman

I did stop by my local B&M and asked about the CAO Black. They carried several CAO lines but had not heard of the Black so they called their CAO rep. The rep told them that the Black is the same blend as the Gold, wrapped in cedar and produced specifically (exclusively?) for Cigars International. Has anyone else heard this?

From C.A........

C.A.O. made a first attempt at the cigar business, in 1980, with a brand called Casa de Manuel. “We learned everything not to do,” says Cano. Consistency problems compounded the difficulties of a dying market, and Cano retreated to pipes and the company’s fledgling humidor business. C.A.O.’s first humidors were antique boxes that the company retrofitted with humidification devices, and later it had humidors made specifically for C.A.O. by local Nashville artisans. The company even had its own humidification system. In 1995, C.A.O. began to sell cigars again, a Honduran smoke made by Nestor Plasencia called simply C.A.O.
The cigar boom was in full swing, and getting a consistent product wasn’t easy. The early C.A.O.s didn’t light the world on fire. Tim
remembers being embarrassed during his visits to retailers. “The guys would say, ‘Tim, we like you, but look at this box of C.A.O. cigars.’ One would be chestnut-brown, the other would be yellow.”
A production problem on the original C.A.O. line—which now is available in limited form and is known as C.A.O. Black—led to the company’s first cigar success. “Our biggest hit was the maduro,” says Cano. “That was created in a snafu. We had a beautiful maduro, but it didn’t burn well, so we called it back. We had about 100,000 to 150,000 cigars we had to recall.”

I've seen the Black for sale on several cigar websites other than C.I. so as far as you B&M is concerned I smell........

[Texan_To_The_End]

Originally Posted by Jechelman

Thanks for another nice review Timothy. Have never tried the Black but have enjoyed other CAO lines. Going to pick some up on my next visit to the local B&M.

Thank you for your support of my reviews... I actually do put some effort into them; from making sure I don't have unnecessary food or drink tastes on my palate to recording (if vaguely) current humidity & temperature. I also try to remain non-biased; although we'll see when reviewing the crap-load of Thompson's stuff people sent me...

[Jechelman]

Originally Posted by ResIpsa

I've seen the Black for sale on several cigar websites other than C.I. so as far as you B&M is concerned I smell........

You are probably right, I didn't go to my regular B&M so maybe they were giving me a line of BS. A Google search turned up a few retailers, several being in Europe, and some excellent reviews. Guess I'll try again to find some and keep an eye for them on the devil site.

[JPH]

Just had my first CAO Black last night and thought I would add my . For me it started out a bit harsh, about the whole 1/3 was harsh. But from then on it was a very relaxing smooth cigar. The construction was un-beleivable..absolutely flawless. As mentioned above I also found that the draw was perfect resistance. Over all it was a great experience and a great cigar. I'm not going to rate it because I am working on a scale that I will always use (hopefully others too)..and I may borrow some aspects of the first review in this thread for descriptive purposes...Nice work coming up with that, I think many factors mentioned above are important.

[Greenwit]

Originally Posted by JPH

Just had my first CAO Black last night and thought I would add my . For me it started out a bit harsh, about the whole 1/3 was harsh. But from then on it was a very relaxing smooth cigar. The construction was un-beleivable..absolutely flawless. As mentioned above I also found that the draw was perfect resistance. Over all it was a great experience and a great cigar. I'm not going to rate it because I am working on a scale that I will always use (hopefully others too)..and I may borrow some aspects of the first review in this thread for descriptive purposes...Nice work coming up with that, I think many factors mentioned above are important.

I like the Blacks but one thing I don't like is the wrapper. It's just plain ugly IMO. The color, the texture and the presence of a big vein that seems to be on every stick I pick up. A minor issue but the Black is not a stick I hold up to admire.

[JPH]

Originally Posted by Greenwit

I like the Blacks but one thing I don't like is the wrapper. It's just plain ugly IMO. The color, the texture and the presence of a big vein that seems to be on every stick I pick up. A minor issue but the Black is not a stick I hold up to admire.

I wish I woulda taken a pic because I dindt notice any veins at all, it was pretty plain looking but smooth. It also was the first one I have ever seen..so...who knows.

[clampdown]

Great review, I know have one of this somewhere, I need to work my way to the bottom of the humidor before I see it. I always love these reviews, it give me that ah ha moment when I realize what I have.

[DriftyGypsy]

Originally Posted by Texan_To_The_End

Thank you for your support of my reviews... I actually do put some effort into them; from making sure I don't have unnecessary food or drink tastes on my palate to recording (if vaguely) current humidity & temperature. I also try to remain non-biased; although we'll see when reviewing the crap-load of Thompson's stuff people sent me...

It shows you take your time, and that is one reason I relly enjoy your reviews, when you smoke for a review you are comcentraing on the cigar.

[Tristan]

Great review! I smoked one of these over a year ago; I was on a maduro kick (still am) and thought this looked like a med-full smoke. You know the whole moto "unfulfilled expectations cause upset"; when this turned out to be a milder smoke I was a little disappointed. It was still a good smoke like you described!

[The Professor]

This review prompted me to smoke one that I got as part of a CI sampler. I was really looking forward to the smoke. Took the cigar out of its cello, took off the ribbon and cedar, clipped the head just right.... As I was standing with the cigar in my mouth, pouring a glass of scotch, I noticed a strange feeling on my lip. When I puled the cigar out of my mouth, I observed what appeared to be a flaw in the wrapper. On closer inspection, though, it's much more than just a cosmetic blemish: there is basically a deep dent/gash in the cigar.

Just to test it out before lighting it, I covered up the head with my hand and blew into the foot. It looked like my cigar was breathing at the site of the dent ... and air was clearly escaping from it. Upon lighting the cigar, I was very disappointed. The taste is fine ... and I imagine it would be pretty good if not for the flawed construction; but the smoking experience is ruined. I have to either stick the cigar *way* in my mouth to cover the hole or barely in my mouth so that I can cover the hole with my finger.

Anyway, there's a pic below for anyone interested. I hope the other one in my humi is better. I might have to try it out sooner rather than later. Too bad -- I was really looking forward to this one.

[The Professor]

I think I found the culprit: a bog ol' stem created a void and damaged some of the binder and wrapper (it may have been part of the binder). Here's a pic post-autopsey (actual size = about 2 inches long). I guess this means it was just a fluke.