CAO Colombia

There are a lot of great exports from Colombia: coffee, tea, emeralds, oil, and even gold! And with its proximity to Ecuador and other tobacco producing countries, it would seem like a great place to grow premium tobacco. Well, you won’t find dozens of Colombian-filled premium cigars at your your local B&M, but CAO Cigars is testing the waters with it’s “Colombia” Cigar. The CAO Colombia is not a puro (not even close) but it does feature Colombian filler along with its Cameroon binder and Honduran wrapper from the Jamastran Valley.

The question is… does the Colombian filler add a uniqueness to the flavor of the cigar or is it merely an interesting marketing ploy?

CAO Colombia Breakdown

Cigar Smoking Experience

The Colombia is a nice looking stick with a creamy, light tan colored wrapper. I chose to smoke the Vallenato, which is a stocky, 5 x 56 robusto gordo (they also have a “Tinto” size, which is a regular 5 x 50 robusto). Upon cutting, toasting, and lighting, I found the draw to be near perfect with just the right amount of resistance. My initial impression of the flavor was green tea, honey, hay, and grass, very reminiscent of many Ecuadorian Connecticut-wrapped cigars, which is kinda strange since there isn’t any of that variety of tobacco in this stick. I’m really interested to see if I can detect the Colombian filler and what that might add to the flavor of the cigar.

There is a slight tingle on my tongue from the tobacco, which is odd because this isn’t a strong cigar. In fact, this is medium bodied (at most) and would most likely fit into the mild category for many cigar smokers. Early on, there are plenty of notes of hay and grass, with a subtle sweetness that I am enjoying a great deal. But still, the overriding flavor is sweet tea and honey. As I work my way into the cigar, I begin to pick up what I believe to be the flavor of the Colombian tobacco, and it has a bit of muskiness to it, similar to what you might find in some Cuban cigars. There’s also a hint of peatiness on the retrohale, like a scotch whisky.

The best way to describe the flavor of the Colombian is that it’s very much like a combination of an Ecuadorian Connecticut mixed with a Cuban Bolivar, i.e., sweet tea and honey with a subtle muskiness. The muskiness is like an earthy soil flavor mixed with a type of sweaty body order (that sounds awful as a description but it’s a very welcome flavor in a good cigar). There are no other major changes in the flavor profile and the cigar performed admirably from the start to finish.

Would I smoke this cigar again?

Indeed. Mild to medium cigars get a bad rap, yet there is always good reason to keep them on hand. Most notably when pairing with coffee in the morning or starting out a long evening of smoking, when you don’t want to burn out your palate too quickly. Not to mention, the CAO Colombia is under 7 bucks, so that gives it even more reason to get a nod of approval.

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