It seems as though CI has bought the rights to these cigars from CAO. I was curious if anyone has tried either of these cigars and share a little on how they were taste and construction-wise. Creamy yet spicy sticks? LMK, Thanks.

:-)
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I like the Black alot. Much better than the VR. However the smaller ring guages have a tendency to be plugged. The Larger R.G's (50 and above) draw great. They do need to dry out a bit when you get them. Let em rest a while.
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I didn't know this.

I wouldn't call them very spicy. The VR has more pepper, but they both have a creamy flavor. These two and the Brazilia are my favorites of the CAO blends.

I think anything from CI/cbid is pretty wet. I noticed the RH in my humi would jump up a few points after adding new CI sticks, then settle back down after a few days.
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I'm with Brent, the Black is a good smoke. Fairly complex with nice wood and cocoa notes. The Frontier ( Churchill size ) is great way to kill an hour and a half or so. The Black was CAO's first blend entering the cigar market from making Humidors.
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I asked my local B&M about ordering them and she called the CAO rep. He is the one that said CI had bought the rights to the CAO Black cigar, I think the VR's also seeing as how that was the only place I saw those. The rep couldn't get them and said I would have to order from CI. I was going to get a 5er of the VR but from some reviews I think I may try the Blacks first. Thanks guys.
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Here's my understanding:

CAO introduced the Black 11 years ago, but then it was discontinued. They re-introduced it as a CI exclusive a few years back (supposedly the same blend). Although CI (actually, Swedish Match and all their companies -- CI, cbid, cigar.com, etc.) has had the exclusive distribution in the US since this cigar was re-introduced, I'm not sure if that holds true for other markets such as Europe. Note this is different than the CX2, which was introduced as a general-market cigar and then purchased by Famous Smoke as an exclusive.

If you ask most CAO reps about they Black, they will either look at you like you're crazy or tell you it was discontinued years ago, lol.

The VR was introduced as another CI exclusive cigar more recently. It was originally promoed as a Black with a maduro wrapper, but I don't think that's actually true.

I love, love, love the CAO Black. Definitely one of my 2-3 favorite CAOs and one of my 4 favorite Connecticut-wrapped sticks (Cabaiguan, 601 Black, and Perdomo ESV being the others). It's an awesome stick.

The VR is also good, but for CAO maduros I prefer the Brazilia and Italia above the VR.
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Thanks stone
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The Black is one of my favorite smokes. Cbid quick buy is your friend for these. :-) Anyway, it's very smooth with a hint of pepper. I'm a fan of robustos for most cigars, and the Storm hasn't been plugged for me yet. Can't go wrong on this smoke, especially for $3 and change a stick.
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