I've started a list of cigars I've tried before but want to revisit as my palate has developed over the last couple years. This week...
CAO MX2, Toro size (6"x54). Nice looking wrapper with a little bit of splotchiness and some veins. Used V cut and draw seemed a little tight. Nice flavor in pre-light puff. Lit up and draw was a little tight, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Flavor was nice at first with a smooth maduro flavor. Burn stayed very even the entire smoke. Flavor didn't change much. Got tired of tight draw at halfway point so used full guillotine, this helped a little, but still required two puffs to get smoke. The cigar is actually much milder than most would assume considering its dark wrapper.
Summary: This cigar is a two-puffer to get a decent amount of smoke. Flavor was nice but became boring after smoking about 2/3 of the cigar. Tossed with 1.5 – 2 inches remaining. For the price, one can do better, but if you must, I would stick to shorter lengths (like the robusto) due to lack of complexity.
The only CAO in my current rotation is the Italia box pressed. The other lines are just average to me.
