CAO L'Anniversaire Review

[Redman]

I had one of these last night. it awas a torpedo Belicoso I believe. Anyway after a long day at work yesterday(which included a structure fire and a number of medical calls) I sat down at about 8:00 at the station with my Lt and smoked this one. i clipped the tip off with a double blade cutter and this one had a great prelight draw to it. It had a nice dark wrapper wit a nice oily sheen to it and some noticeable bloom on it so I thought to myself this is going to be a good one. Well I lit it up and it was a good one indeed , to me it had a good leathery taste to it the was what I was looking for after the day. It started out burning very well but with not a lot of smoke but about a third of the way down it began to cannoe on me and then it was downhill from there. The taste was good but trying to keep it lit and fighting the burn issues in general I finally gave up on it with about 2" left. I hate to leave somewhat of a bad review on this one but it ismostly the burn issues that bothred me and it may have very well been me and the day that I was having contributing to the issues. So all in all I think I will try another as I have another in the humi. A bit disappointed but hey I got a chance to smoke so all is good.

[glovepuppy]

Maduro or Xtreme? The Anny Maduro is one of my favorites. They are yummy!

[Scott M]

Had a similar experience yesterday with one the L'Anniversaire Maduros...kind of a lonsdale shape but I don't have my notes in front of me. Wrapper wouldn't burn, but it would split left and right, wouldn't stay lit, and a honking tunnel down the center. Really uneven amounts of smoke. Finally terminated it at 2/3. Tasted good once in a while.

Pity.

Scott"what'snextonthelist"M

[LeafHog]

Good review! I too have had construction/burn problems with the CAO anniversery lines. It's a shame, years ago the CAO maduro was a much, much better cigar (IMHO) than it is today. I have had better luck with the Brazilia and Italia lines, but I understand that they are rolled at different facotories (Torano) than the other CAO lines.

[Da Klugs]

DOes Perdomo make the rest of the CAO line?

[Scott M]

Ah, yes...Here it is... the offending object:



It looked so promising... kinda like that sorority cheerleader my junior year.

Scott"live-n-learn..ornot"M

[Redman]

It looks like the one Scott has the picture of but in the torp shape and size. I am not really sure if it was a Extreme or Maduro either, I am thinking the Maduro though.

[kjpman]

the extreme is one of my favs, love how it just builds in character till the bitter end the maduro on the other hand, its a great cigar, just cant get past the shit smell of the wrapper. Reminds me of stepping in a surprise from my hound


...kjpman

[Andyman]

The CAO L'Anniversaire line is made at the Perdomo factory.. the Brazilia, Italia and I beleive the Criollo lines are made at the Torano Factory.. from what I hear the Torano lines are constructed much better than the Others.. I do however like the L'Anniversaire Extreme's

[The Rev]

Thought about writing this one up on my own, but I found this thread and enjoyed the different views.

I bought 2 boxes of the belicoso (natural) about fourteen months ago. I had tried the Cuban/Schoobam sampler form Cigar King and loved it. I have never had any burn probs. with the belicoso, though I had terrible luck with the robusto which got the rave reviews last summer.

I just smoked one. The caramel and nuts that were really springy and fresh in this cigar a year ago have really mellowed. The wrapper has gotten more oily and I predict plume in a another year. The first half was really Cuban/Schoobam. It has aged great in 14 months and the first half was remarkably Cubanesque. It had twang and a the caramel had blended with the nutty tones to produce a wonderfully balanced well rounded sweetness with depth. That heavy Cameroon sweetness in the wrapper that some love, but I find just a little too dominating in some smokes---VdFonsecas Sobrino and younger Fuente DC and Hem, though both good smokes.

Tonight, I feel comepletely justified in the price I paid for this smoke and fully give it the thumbs up. Gosh, I gotta smoke another. It was that good.

[Dr_Wogz]

I had one this week-end, the one pictured above. I was lookgni forward to it, as most have. (It was to be my 1st C.A.O!) But the burn! I musta re-lit that sucker about 4 or 5 times! then puff, puff, puff!! And it burnt unevenly..

Pitty. It had good smoke and good taste when you got a good haul from it. But what a work-out!

[stogie_kanobie_one]

Originally Posted by kjpman

the extreme is one of my favs, love how it just builds in character till the bitter end the maduro on the other hand, its a great cigar, just cant get past the shit smell of the wrapper. Reminds me of stepping in a surprise from my hound


...kjpman

LOL I thought it was just me but I have a box of them as well and that smell is very present....

As to the review that sucks about the burn problem as the L'annis are one of my favorites as well. I'm a bigger fan of the Cameroon over the maduro... Very much so sweeter ubt still smoothe. Not too sweet. Better luck with the next one you have sitting as I rarely have any burn problems with either Cameroons or maduros..