Today while my wife was having lunch with one of her best friends in Glastonbury, Connecticut, I stopped in the Fine Cigar and Tobacco shop to kill a little time and enjoy a smoke.
The Fine Cigar Shop is a fabulous retailer, with a well stocked walk in humidor and a nice selection of humidors, torches, cutters and other supplies. It is also one of the few local tobacco shops where you will find today’s stick, The CAO America, available. It was at Fine Cigar where I discovered this less popular stick in the CAO World cigar line. I had previously smoked and enjoyed several of the other cigars in the series including the Brazilla, the Colombia, and the Italia.
The America is absolutely beautiful to behold with its distinctive pinstripe barber pole wrapper and its red, white and blue band and foot band. The double wrappers are a Connecticut broad leaf Maduro and a Connecticut Shade Capa which have a nice oily dark brown appearance with some small veins. The cigar is firm from foot to cap and well packed with fillers from Nicaragua, Italy, the Dominican Republic and the United States, bound with a Brazilian binder and capped with a somewhat sloppy looking double cap.
The Landmark is a 6 x 60 Gordo and the America is also available as a 6.2 x 54 Torpedo (The Monument) and a 5.0 x 56 Robusto (The Potomac).
The cold draw was flavorful with predominant notes of dried fruit and some spice. I enjoyed the flavor of the cold draw very much, but did feel it wasn’t as potent as it could have been.
Upon lighting the America, the initial flavor noted was mild pepper, cedar and some slight nuttiness as I worked my way through the first third. The one word that I would use to describe the experience of the first third overall would be “dry.”
It was not unpleasant at all, but the flavor, though good, did not seem to be as intense as it could have been. I also noted a very slight bitterness and that the draw was somewhat loose and the burn uneven initially, needing occasional touching up with my torch to prevent canoeing.
Into the second third and the predominant flavor continued to be a mild pepper and some wood. There was a very slight creaminess noted and some nuttiness in the second third.
In researching the CAO America, I had found another review online where the reviewer described the cigar as having a ‘cardboard’ taste – definitely not a word you often see in cigar reviews, and not a word that is complimentary.
I would have to say that while I would probably not have identified this flavor on my own, once I had read this, I definitely agree that there was a certain cardboard flavor particularly in the second third. The burn evened out in the second third and the draw seemed to have tightened up a bit and was good from here on out.
The final third was not significantly different than the second third. The flavor notes remained spice, wood some nuttiness and some cream – again the taste of the cigar was overall pleasant, but milder than I’d have liked or expected. Also worth noting, the CAO America produced a beautiful firm salt and pepper ash that got to nearly 2 inches before it broke off.
Overall I’d rate this cigar about a 7 out of 10 – definitely pleasant, very mild – perhaps too mild – and definitely worth smoking again. The gorgeous red white and blue labeling and pin-striping would make this a fine choice for a Fourth of July cookout.
I had a great visit to the Fine Cigar and Tobacco shop in Glastonbury today where I enjoyed my CAO America Landmark in their lounge watching the first Spring Training game (Mets beat the Braves, 4-3 – yay!) with two locals, Art and Rick. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
©2019 JMSurprenant
AB1DQ 