The below was taken directly from my blog site, in my signature below. For more information on this cigar, be sure to check out my blog.
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Pre- Light: As I took this cigar out of the cellophane, I ran it through my fingers, and noticed it was fairly well packed, but not overly filled with tobacco. I then held the cigar under my nose, and got smells of light cocoa, some coffee, and a nice pure tobacco smell. I clipped the end of the cigar with my Xikar cutter, and lit up with my Xikar Inpress lighter.
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1/3: As I started on the cigar, the first few puffs produced huge volumes of smoke. The draw was just about perfect. The first flavors I got were solid coffee and cocoa flavors, with a slight hint of spice and a very light floral note. The ash is semi flaky, falling off the cigar every 1/2" or so. The first portion of this cigar is very tasty, let's hope the rest of this smoke continues to be as good.
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2/3: As I continued onto the second portion of this cigar, I noticed a few slight changes. The coffee and cocoa flavors faded into the background, and the spice flavor, and floral note came to the forefront of the cigar. The smoke is still billowing nicely, and the ash is continuing to drop off at about the 1/2" mark. As I got done with this portion of the cigar, the floral note faded away, and all I was tasting was a strong coffee note. No complaints so far!
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3/3: As I finished up this cigar, I was still getting tons of billowing smoke, and the ash was still dropping off the cigar at the 1/2" mark. The flavors were still mostly coffee, with a slight spice on the retrohale. The flavors continued to be the strong coffee note, right up until the end of the stick.
Overall Impression: As I look back on this stick, I must say, I haven't had the best of luck with CAO since they have been under the General Cigar umbrella of brands. That being said, this cigar was one of the best CAO cigars I've EVER had. It was very well constructed, had a perfect draw, and lots of billowing smoke. The flavors were fairly complex and enough to keep my interest in the cigar. I will say, the CAO concert is one cigar I'll likely be buying a box of once they are released, as long as the blend doesn't change.
Smoke Em If You Got Em, Buy Em If You Don't!
Scott
[Reply]
Originally Posted by TJtorpedo:
Thanks for the review! Sounds like a nice smoke. I too haven't had the best of luck with CAO the past few years, but this one sounds pretty good.
I feel your pain man.. I haven't had the greatest luck either, but I really enjoyed this one.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by TJtorpedo:
Thanks for the review! Sounds like a nice smoke. I too haven't had the best of luck with CAO the past few years, but this one sounds pretty good.
In the same boat here, CAO seems like one of those lines where they release 20 special editions but all taste the same. CAO Black was supposed to be an awesome cigar, and turned out being basically passable, although not anything great or remarkable.
Thanks for the review, Ill pick one of these up at the B&M and post my thoughts. I had just seen the CAO Concert last time I was there, but passed it up...
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