STG Estelí factory Archives

87%Spicy Night

CAO FASA Noche Toro

September 18, 2024

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2024

This year, under Scandinavian Tobacco Group, CAO launched a new project featuring two cigars that share the same filler and binder. However, the project—dubbed FASA—has two tricks up the sleeve, differentiating... Read More...

87%Spicy Serpent

Punch Dragon Fire

Scott Braband

April 5, 2024

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2024

I can get into cigars with a theme—be it cooking, food, Hollywood, or horror. I appreciate a well-crafted cigar that has a fun or unique storyline to go along with it. One of the most prevalent themes in recent... Read More...

86%Not so Fina

CAO BX3 Robusto

Chad Tchad

December 16, 2022

Cigar Reviews, $8 to $10 Range, 2022

CAO added a new full-time line to their extensive portfolio earlier this summer called BX3. This new line claims to have three times (hence the "X" in the title) the usage of Brazilian tobacco, appearing throug... Read More...

86%Laying Wood

CAO Flathead Carb V21

Scott Braband

November 23, 2021

Cigar Reviews, $10 to $15 Range, 2021

I’ve talked in previous reviews about how a cigar's styling can create a narrative in your mind before you even light it, and CAO Cigars has fully embraced this idea. One could start with the brand's Classic se... Read More...

84%Saccharine

CAO Arcana Mortal Coil

Chad Tchad

August 4, 2021

Cigar Reviews, $10 to $15 Range, 2021

Earlier this year, CAO launched a new series to take us back in time, highlighting the old traditions of tobacco processing with a series called Arcana. The first of the series is the Mortal Coil, which looks a... Read More...

85%Middle of the Road

CAO Vision (2020)

Rob Rasmussen

July 2, 2021

Cigar Reviews, $15 & Over, 2021

Raise your hand if you were smoking cigars back in 2007. That was right around the time I started, so I’ll raise my hand halfway. That was back when the CAO Vision first hit the market. This was also right arou... Read More...

85%Straight Forward

CAO Bones Chicken Foot

EL Oso Fumar

June 3, 2021

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2021

“…So when they win, Mr. Bank, we win. 'Nuff said.” —Bernie Mac as Frank Catton, Ocean’s 13 I’ve played dominoes all my life. My grandmother would play with me for hours. It started with my Mickey Mouse dom... Read More...

83%Box Office Flop

CAO Orellana

velorok

November 14, 2019

Cigar Reviews, $10 to $15 Range, 2019

I had the pleasure of reviewing the CAO Amazon Anaconda a while back. In said review I really enjoyed the whole wordplay involving the CAO promotional copy, in which they dubbed Ernest Gocaj the “Indiana Jones”... Read More...

87%Textbook Draw

CAO Nicaragua Granada

EL Oso Fumar

October 3, 2018

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2018

The storied history of CAO is one froth with peaks, valleys, and everything in between. Once known for making pipes and building humidors, the company started the bold move into premium cigars during the infamo... Read More...

86%Roosevelt’s Big Stick

CAO Zócalo

velorok

June 27, 2018

Cigar Reviews, $8 to $10 Range, 2018

CAO has a unique foothold in the premium cigar industry. Started as an independent, boutique cigar company that was eventually purchased by a tobacco behemoth, many had decried the brand to be dead sell-outs. T... Read More...

84%Nicaraguan for Dummies

Macanudo Inspirado Red Robusto

velorok

May 23, 2018

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2018

Like many cigar smokers today, I can fondly remember my first cigar—a Macanudo that my father gave me on our first road trip together. Somewhere between Chicago and the Smoky Mountains (befitting), a gas statio... Read More...

89%Earthy

Toraño Exodus

Steve Stevens

February 8, 2017

Cigar Reviews, $5 to $8 Range, 2017

For over a century, the Toraño family made their living in the tobacco fields of various countries. It began in Cuba in 1916 when Santiago Toraño, a young immigrant from Spain, established Toraño & Company—... Read More...

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