CAO Maduro

Originally introduced in 1998, the CAO Maduro quickly became popular and won "Best Maduro Cigar of 1999."

The 1999 yield of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper has been claimed as the finest harvest of this leaf in the last decade. The Connecticut Broadleaf selected for the CAO Maduro was picked an additional 30 to 40 days beyond the 1999 harvest dates. The longer "hang time" in the curing barns allowed the leaves to mature even further before being processed. The end result is a wrapper leaf that is rich, dark and oily.

I bought a CAO Maduro Churchill (7 inches, 48 ring) for $8.00 at Watch City Cigar and sat down to enjoy my last cigar in a quiet house. (My girlfriend hadn't come back from California yet.)

The cigar is a dark brown color, typical for a maduro. However, these sticks come in those annoying square shapes. Just seeing this lowers my expectations a little. However, after an easy light, I am please to find the draw and fullness both excellent. I guess I'll overlook the squared edges for now.

As expected, the tastes are bold from the start with rich charred coffee notes like a dark bitter espresso. I complained a lot about bitter flavors in my last post but as I said then, bitter tastes definitely have a place in cigars. They just need to be used properly and along with some good complementing notes.

The smoke is pretty interesting because it's bold yet smooth. It's a little unusual for a bold cigar but I like it because the delicate texture actually makes it an easy smoke for something so strong.

After the stick burns for a while, it develops some distinct rich tastes and smells of tobacco leaves. It's a smooth transition and the stick continues to smoke great with that perfect draw. The cigar is also burning evenly. The ash is a dark gray and stays on a couple inches before cleanly falling off.

I'm almost to the halfway point when the smoke develops a slightly creamy texture with some dark chocolate tastes. Things get a tad milder as the coffee notes take a step back but to be clear this is still definitely a full bodied smoke.

The milder chocolate is short lived and strong rich tobacco comes back. Once again, the transitions are practically flawless and that smoothness to the smoke never fades.

The milder creaminess continues to fade in and out as I work my down the cigar. This turning out to be more complex than I had anticipated. Usually with something so bold, its hard to have flavor transitions. However, the smoothness to the smoke (which I really cant emphasis enough) helps me experience a variety of rich, bold, and roasted notes along with some more mild and chocolate tastes.

We're into the final part and the draw and fullness are just as good as when we started. also the ash has stayed on once again for another few inches. This stick has burned near perfectly throughout.

The cigar finishes on a strong bitter note (once again, bitter in a good way....yes I'm still a little upset about San Christobal ruining my breakfast a few days ago.) This is definitely a stick that needs to be smoked slowly and enjoyed quietly. The tastes are too bold to pick up on nicotine tastes but after smoking this one, I'm feeling it a little.

This was a very enjoyable smoke. Not to mention a pretty decent price. The draw was great, the transitions were smooth, and the tastes were exactly what I'm looking for when I pick up a maduro cigar. This one was also an excellent example of why you should try everything a brand has to offer. I'm not the biggest fan of the CAO Gold (I rated it an 81) but the Maduro is going to wind up pretty high on my list. Square shape and all.

Overall Rating: 96

San Cristobal

With my girlfriend off on vacation for a week with her friend, I had the chance to do another Humidor first. So even though I took the day off on Friday, I still woke up bright and early so I could have my first breakfast cigar. That's right folks, they aren't just for after dinner anymore.

So this morning I pulled a San Cristobal out of my humidor, poured myself a Breakfast Stout (Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, made with real Colombian Coffee.) and headed out to the porch.

San Cristobal is a line from Ashton cigars (I know I rated an Ashton stick pretty low on this blog but let's see what else the brand has to offer). The wrapper, binder, and fillers are all made in Nicaragua. The cigar is a very deep brown with a dry but smooth wrapper. The size I have is called a Fabulosa. It's a pyramid shaped cigar 6 1/2 inches in length with a 52 ring. Cost was $11.

The cut is smooth but right after, I notice that the tip seems to be packed a little too tight. This could be bad news for the draw. Also, it take a while to get the cigar fully lit. This obviously has a little to do with the large foot but it's still somewhat annoying.

First taste is immediately some spice and coffee. I think I might have gotten lucky and picked something that goes great with this stout. The first few puffs release some rather intense flavors and are certainly bolder than one would typically smoke for a morning cigar but I guess it will wake me up quicker.

Unfortunately, the draw to start is disappointingly tight. it affects the fullness so I don't get nearly as much smoke as I would like. I read somewhere that pinching the cigar a few times can help to loosen up a tight pack. I try this and it actually works a little as I get a more full mouth of smoke. I pick up on some really spicy tobacco notes as well some harsh bitter flavors.

While the ash is a beautiful light gray, almost white color, the stick itself could stand to burn a little better. I haven't needed to relight it yet but it's burning very unevenly.

As I work my way down, the bitter tastes seem to pick up in intensity. The roasted coffee flavors I had picked up on to start are gone. In fact, I'm having a hard time picking up on any other flavors right now. Definitely not what I expected up to this point.

After a while, the bitter notes finally start to fade but are only replaced by more harsh biting tastes. This time a burnt tobacco flavor rushes in. At this point, I suspect that the sub par burn may be contributing to the harshness of the taste. I put a match to it again to try to even things out.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes here. I just feel like it's a good time to point out that Josh should start sampling a lot more of Lagunitas Brewery. The cigar may not be pulling it's weight right now. But this stout is delicious. Yes, it's 9am....

The burn is doing a little better and the ash is still on the stick almost at the halfway mark. However, the harshness of the flavors have not improved. Some might argue that I'm just not in the mood for a bold cigar right now (you know, considering it's 9:00 am) but I'd disagree. There is no spiciness to this smoke at all which is usually a primary characteristic of a full bodied cigar. The flavors here aren't overpowering, they are just harsh. Think cutting into a ribeye, but getting a charred flavor. Not really what you were hoping for.

The ash finally falls of at almost 3 inches, but it doesn't happen cleanly. It leaves behind a poorly lit, poorly burning, bitter, charred cigar. I am not pleased right now. Where's my delicious stout?

The cigar calms down a little toward the end developing some slightly mild earthy tones. They are nothing to write home about and since the draw has been getting progressively worse throughout the stick, I'm not really able to enjoy anything anyway. Sure, the draw improves slightly when I try that pinching technique but quite frankly I shouldn't have to do that. You don't expect to have to remix your drink before every sip do you?

The cigar finishes off with a horrible draw as I manage to get a few last puffs of boring earthy flavors. I even put this one down with another 2 inches still to go. I don't anticipate anything worthwhile developing.

This definitely was not a breakfast of Champions. Maybe if the flavors from the first couple of puffs had stuck around a little longer, I could have at least rated this as smokeable. But this one was just plan bad. Uneven burn, tight draw, biting flavors, high price, it all adds up to a lousy cigar. Stupid Parrot.

Overall Rating: 59