Cigars in a Box

A box of 20 CAO Piazzas (6x60) came in the mail today. I'd smoked the CAO Cameroon before a few months ago at The Rogue Manor, a cozy, atmospheric fine dining establishment in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Officially there's no smoking in Eureka Springs but the Irish expatriate proprietor was kind enough to give me a pass in the bar area which, by the way, is an excellent place to converse and relax.

The old Victorian that is The Rogue butts up against the side of the hill Eureka Springs is built on. The back wall is essentially one large glass window spanning the length of the room. Lights on the ground beyond the window illuminate the spring water trickling down the rocky hill - a peaceful enhancement to a single malt and a cigar.

Oddly, even though I was impressed with the Cameroon, it was the only CAO I'd ever smoked until two weeks ago at Silvio's midsummer backyard cookout. I guess I'd chalked up my experience with my first CAO to the fact that I'm a sucker for anything in a Cameroon wrapper, so it didn't dawn on me that the CAO brand was something I needed to explore. Also, I guess I'm inclined to stay away from cigars that Tommy Lee is purported to smoke and, even though I'm a huge Sopranos fan, I'm inclined to stay away from a brand that would have a line dedicated to the show. Apparently my loss because I was so impressed with the CAO Italia at Silvio's cookout that I wasted little time ordering a box from Famous Smokes last week, which arrived today.

I just finished the first cigar out of the box. As far as taste goes, it's fairly unique. Even though I've not read any reviews that say this, I tasted something oddly resembling Latakia, a type of smoky/spicy/soapy Mediterranean tobacco used in some pipe tobacco mixes. I would never have noticed this except that a coworker last week gave me a tin of Squadron Leader, which has a healthy dose of Latakia, to try in my new pipe.

While the appearance is impeccable, and I love the taste of the Italia, the first cigar out of the box wasn't quite as enjoyable as the one I had at the party. There were some burning problems and toward the last third of the cigar the ash began to flake pretty badly. Hopefully, all this was the result of being on the road for six days in the back of a mail truck. I'll give them some time in the humidor before I make my final judgment.