CAO Italia

A cigar with with a full body and heavy toasted earthy taste. I did not detect any sweetness or cedar taste in mine at all. Not exactly super peppery, but it is definately a strong tasting cigar. It reminds me of many other Eucuadorian sun-grown wrapper cigar varieties I've had, only stronger. I'd even descibe this smoke as a bit bitter.

I was not crazy about this cigar, but then again the blend isn't my favorite style. I had to put it out halfway through because I found the taste a bit overpowering. I had a small ring gauge, so a larger 52 ring cigar might be a bit mellower. If you're smoking a lot lately and you find your taste buds are a bit numb to the usual fare, this cigar will kick it up a notch for you. If you're a fan of mild to medium smokes with a bit of sweetness, this cigar probably isn't for you.

The CAO Italia are one of my goto smokes.

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Originally Posted by Lopaka

The CAO Italia are one of my goto smokes.

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Are you a fan of full bodied strong tasting cigars? What did you think of them?

I tried one of these in a bigger ring gauge the other day. I picked up that bitter taste you spoke of in the beginning, but by about a 1/3 of the way through the bitter taste was not as strong or I was use to it. I had to put it out half way through because I had to go to school. I'm not sure if I would have put it out anyway or not though. I definately need to revisit these in the future.

One thing you might want to keep in mind about CAOs.

I've smoked a LOT of them, and I've found that they are a much more enjoyable cigar, if you keep them a bit dryer than the norm. I keep mine at about 60-63%. This seems to keep that bitter taste away, and also mahes them burn a lot better.

I keep mine in a seperate humi, but if you don't, try clipping a few, and putting them in a drybox for a few days. IDK why this works, but it does.