STG, parent company of General Cigar and Cigars International, has announced a slew of holiday items for the 2022 season. Releases include a CAO advent calendars, Diesel Sideshow, and special 4 packs from Punch and El Rey del Mundo.
"I really enjoyed the first third and was hoping the coffee would develop a little more, or at least remain in the mix. While it left during the end of the second third, the transition gave me a chance to smoke a cigar with another profile. Both were very good." -Gregg (McGreggor57)
It started with Amazon Basin and the journey contines with CAO Fuma Em Corda, a new limited edition release made with the world’s most rare Brazilian tobacco.
The CAO Amazon series began in 2014 with the release of the Amazon Basin, a blend containing a rare filler tobacco called Bragança from the Amazon rainforest. Next came the Fuma em Corda and Anaconda both using other exotic Amazonian tobaccos. Now, CAO is shipping its latest in the series CAO Orellana.
The long-popular “CAO Gold” blend of cigars has now joined the other benchmark premium cigars in Arango Cigar Co.’s Clasico series of private label brands. All Clasico brands are exclusive to Arango. They are sold only at brick and mortar shops, not through mail order or Internet sales.
STG has announced the return of one of their more popular releases in recent years, the CAO Arcana Mortal Coil. That cigar got a 95 in our blind tasting during it's first release. The blend is a limited-edition cigar that features "Andullo" tobacco, which uses one of the oldest tobacco fermentation methods of the Dominican Republic.
CAO has announced a new cigar in their Arcana Series: Firewalker. The Arcana Firewalker follows the Arcana Mortal Coil released last year. The series focuses on old-world processing methods and a limited run. Firewalker was inspired by the Chincagre method of aging and will come in one vitola a 6.5 x 56 toro.
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·"This a wonderful cigar with just the right amount of strength. I was enticed by traditional Maduro and an overall earthiness. This is box worthy to say the least and it will not be the last time I smoke this slow burning beauty." -Jack (Jack_H)
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·Voting Process
Each of our 16 panelists were given 10 votes to cast. Our list is made up of cigars that were RELEASED in 2015. The cigars that are eligible do not have to have been reviewed on Blind Man's Puff, but the panelist must have smoke it at some point themselves.
So, I'll start by saying I don't recall ever having any of the other Amazon blends from CAO. I have, though, seen people rave about these blends for several years now. What I can say is this cigar had a great beginning, that first third was great. Unfortunately the cigar seemed to fall down on itself. The flavors dwindled until the bitterness formed at the end. The body and the strength of the cigar seemed to dwindle the same. The cigar loved to burn, even it was wavy at all times. The draw was excellent with my v-cut. If you're a fan of this line of CAO Amazon limited releases you definitely have to add it to your list; you've already got so much invested into it. For me, though, that first third was the highlight of the cigar. After that the cigar just started fading. Fortunately that first third burned almost as long as the last two combined, for a total of a two hour smoke.