CAO OSA Lot 54 (6x54)


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Wrapper: Olancho San Agustin (proprietary 2008 crop)
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan

This is the first CAO cigar since General Cigar took over the CAO production. It was debuted at this year's IPCPR in Las Vegas. Rick Rodriguez, who is in charge of CAO new product development, got together with select in-house experts to blend the OSA. The started the process with the Olancho San Agustin (OSA) wrapper from the proprietary 2008 crop. This wrapper is cultivated in Honduras’ celebrated Olancho, San Agustin valley. Ideal climatic conditions in 2008 led to the expression of essential oils on the leaf. These cigars are available starting in September, 2011.


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The Lot 54 sells for $6.25 per cigar, or $156.25 per box. There are 2 other sizes of this cigar available; the Lot 50, which measures 5x50 and sells for $5.75 per cigar, or $143.75 per box, and the Lot 58, which measures 6 1/2x58, and sells for $6.75 per cigar, or $168.75 per box. All of the above are suggested retail prices.

Video review HERE.

The cigar is a nice medium brown color. The wrapper was not very oily. The cigar appeared to be nicely packed.


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The test draw was effortless. Initially there were sweet citrus notes and pepper along with some richness. There were also almonds noted.

After about 1/2 inch the cigar settled down into sweet grapefruit citrus that tastes very much like a fresh cut grapefruit with sugar sprinkled on it. The cigar even has the slight bitterness of a real grapefruit. There are also semi-rich roasted almonds on the back end of the citrus. The finish at this point is rather mediocre with light raw almonds. The pepper is nice on both ends; the draw and the finish and it lingers. The burn was very even.

About an inch in and I have confirmation of my initial flavor profile. The ash was very tight. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. The grapefruit notes are unmistakable on the draw. The are quite nice.


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At the midpoint the almonds are richer. The grapefruit remains the same. The almonds are close to even with the grapefruit. There is some richness on the finish also. The cigar is very good at this point.


At the point I had to remove the band the cigar was fuller bodied. You could feel it as you smoke. The grapefruit and almond notes are now even in taste. The pepper is still quite good. The finish is about the same as before.


At the end of the cigar the almond notes have become secondary again. The grapefruit is once again king. The pepper has not changed much at all. General Cigar and CAO can be very happy with this cigar. It somewhat reminds me of the LX2 but not quite as good. I enjoyed this cigar very much and will buy them when they are in the shops.

Score: 91


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I didn't care for this one near as much as you, Tim. Something keeps telling me that General had a bunch of Hondo baccy they needed to move and decided to pawn it off on the CAO brand without too much thought of the blend. Much like General's entire line-up.
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Sorry you didn't care much for it. I personally liked the cigar a lot.

(Before I start my rant, NCRadioman, I'm not singling you out... just making a broad statement)

There seems to me, to be a broad general opinion that General Cigar product isn't quality and that it all tastes the same. I think it's a misconception that many consumers have.

I may personally agree with you that some of the product is similar in flavor profile... and for good reason... blended by the same blender, from the same factories, from tobacco that may be from the same crops, batches, etc. Daniel Nunez created a lot of blends that have been mainstays in the US Premium cigar market that some may say have a similar taste. Other blenders like Benji Menendez, Frank Llaneza, Ricky Rodriguez etc... blend cigars to their taste. The same way that the Pepins, the Carrillos, Fuentes, Padrons do.

Does that mean that product isn't quality? Of course not. It just means it's similar. And to each his own, right?

In the case of the OSA... it's a brand new blend. Started from scratch and completed wholly by a new team, completely independent of the CAO that we all knew from years past. So, yes, the flavor profile is definitely different from what you'd expect a CAO to be... and moreover... it's completely different from what I personally would expect a General Cigar Company cigar to be.

So If this seperation in flavor from the old really exists, and somehow we established that it's not your typical old CAO, and it's not your typical General Cigar... then the guys who made this cigar should be pretty proud of themselves that they have created something completely new that stands out on it's own, without being overshadowed by either of the two cigar companies particular profiles.

Just my 2 cents, but I found that what I liked about the cigar the most is that it was different.
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thank you for the review :-)
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Nice review Tim...thanks for sharing. :-)

Never had a stick that tasted like grapefruit with sugar...I bet the FCC will be all over these. :-) :-) :-)
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Sounds great. I've always liked CAO's stuff.
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Never heard of these but that foot .....looks :-)
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May have to give it a try. Thanks for the review Tim.
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I took about 5 puffs, and tossed it.
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:-)

Don't shoot the messenger! :-)

In Tiny Tim scoring this cigar is not that bad. As I stated in my video review, it sort of reminds me of the LX2 but it's not nearly as good. To me it was a decent cigar with all the flavor profiles I described. And yes, (to me) it really does taste like grapefruit with sugar on it with the same slight bitterness of real grapefruit. Call me crazy! :-)
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Very nice review!!! :-)

I have to admit that not only did the cigar sound awful, it looked awful. Just the mention of General Cigar made it distasteful first, then the tobacco they used, gah.
There's something for everyone and I hope some folks really enjoy this, but the odds of me trying it are somewhere around nil. :-)
I took another look just to see if I was still repelled by the looks of the cigar, and I still am. It made me make an awful face right from first glance. Weird. :-)
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To the cigars defense, I smoked a 90s RyJ Beli right before, so I don't think the OSA could really compete with that. Hahaha
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I smoked the OSA Lot 50 (50 x 5") last night, thought it was a rather good cigar. Very unique flavors and profile. I think that Mr. Rodriguez did a really nice job with this cigar. I also think that it's not a cigar for everyone, as is normal for cigars with such unique profiles.
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:-)

on a side note: I hope my local B&M has some of the Lot 50 in stock when I go there end of the month...:-)
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This is how I felt about the La Taviata I smoked
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Smoking one of these in the in the robusto right now. A bit mild compared to what I usually smoke but I must say I'm enjoying the hell out of this things. Really nice flavors and perfect way to start the day.
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I still havent gotten around to trying this cigar yet. It's quite sad, since I actually enjoy CAO's. The soprano's edition is not covered by that statement.
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Not a CAO fan but this one is one I'd like to try.
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Well, I picked up two of the Lot 50 to try about a week ago ROTT at my B&M. Got around to smoking one last night, and the first thing I noticed is that, despite spending almost a week in a box on my counter top, these things are still wet. I mean spongy-picked-last-night-rolled-this-morning-in-a-tropical storm-WET! Hopefully the second one will dry out a bit more in a few weeks.

For a pre-light, it reminds me of wet tobacco...similar to tea leaves almost. Surprisingly, it had a razor straight burn that required no touch-up work, but it burned slow. A 5x50 managed to take me two hours to smoke, which is about30-45min longer than I would have expected a longer smoke to take.

Overall, there wasn't much flavor in the mouth, just burning tobacco with occasional citrus hints. Through the nose the citrus and a certain sweetness I would associate with dried fruit (figs, raisins, etc) were predominant, although sparse overall. It was around a medium body, very light on flavor. The smoke had a slightly rough quality to it, something I normally associate more with a drier Nicaraguan tobacco than an oily and wet Honduran. The whole smoke stayed pleasantly cool down to the last inch, where it started to get warn and I tossed it.

Also at this point I should note that, the wrapper and cap were flawlessly constructed, because I ended up chewing on the last two inches absentmindedly while I was reading a book and it still held together.


Overall, I'd say the presentation and quality of construction were top notch, but the flavor was just too faint (or perhaps subtle to my palate) for me. I'd buy another handful to sit on them for a few years just to see if they get any better, but I wouldn't buy a box or any more to smoke right now.
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I can't find these locally......still searching.
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