C.A.O. Maduro L'Anniversaire Belicoso

[Thecatch83]

Received this stick from a Brother in my NST few weeks ago. Very nice looking 6x54 box press, smooth wrapper, minimal veins, tight seems. Great smelling cigar, nice sweet earthy barnyard aroma.

First third, very smooth with nice semi-sweet cocoa, coffee, hint of pepper with a long finish. Burn was perfect as was the draw, and the ash held on for a good 2 inches. Good amount of smoke output. So far, the best C.A.O I have smoked!

Midway point, perfect burn, same tasty flavors as the first third. First ash finally fell off, nice long/smooth finish. What a great tasting Maduro!

Last third, and spice and strength kicked up a bit, but nothing too strong. Still great tasting coffee, dark chocolate, and rich earthy tobacco. Burn is excellent, only had to ash it twice, and copious amounts of thick white smoke.

By far the best C.A.O I have ever smoked. I have had several burn issues with previous C.A.O's, have all but given up on this brand, but all in all this was a pleasant surprise. By far one of the tastiest Maduro's I have smoked this year, with a total smoke time of over an hour and a half. Easily a 91-92 pointer for you score keepers....and I would definitely smoke one of these again.

 

[bdc30]

lol nice ripoff of the psd4 label there by CAO.

 

[Thecatch83]

Very surprised by this smoke........I doubt I will smoke another C.A.O again, unless gifted. Their QC is borderline pathetic, and there are so many better options out today.

 

[bdc30]

surprised to hear you say that about QC. I've smoked through 4 boxes of the regular la traviatas and only had one stick that was plugged.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

The CAO Maduro was a much better cigar when it was being made in Costa Rica.

 

[Thecatch83]

Are you aware of how many different lines and vitola's C.A.O produces? Smoking a few boxes of their top shelf LT's is hardly enough to formulate an opinion one way or the other. I've easily smoked several different varieties from Brazilia's, Italias, to LX/MX2's and have had burn issues with too many to count.

 

[JNT]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Sin]

Thanks for the review; I haven't had many draw or burn issues with cao from my experience.

 

[Gokian]

Thank you for the review. I am still wondering what is happening with CAO and the buy out.

 

[Thecatch83]

Thank you for the review. I am still wondering what is happening with CAO and the buy out.

Not sure!

 

[Alwayslit]

The CAO Maduro was a much better cigar when it was being made in Costa Rica.

......Don Douglas, since then it hasn't come close.

 

[StocktonJohn]

I smoked one of the two years ago and it was great. So the new ones have changed? Gone down in quality? I was about ready to buy a box of the toros.