bigwhiteash / mrtr33 Reviews

[bigwhiteash]

Taking our cue from the DW/KC review series, mrtr33 and I are proud to present the first in a series of slightly less formal reviews.

First up for me:

CAO Brazillia 6 X 96 "Trumpet" from the Artistry of Champions collection.

Please excuse the cell-phone pictures.


This monster cigar was quite intimidating, and I spent quite some time contemplating just how I would light this beast. Very solid, heavy, and overall well built. I gathered my courage, and dove in!
Clippsd the cap with my trusty cheapo cutter, (cap is about 50rg). prelight draw is just right. I really didn't think it would be a tight draw, given the sheer size of the foot. Now comes the fun part. Making sure my Colibri torch is fully fueled, I began toasting.. and toasting.. and toasting.. eventually I got an even sprinkling of white ash forming, and put it to my mouth to finish the light. A good 4 minutes spent!

Surprisingly, there was not the volume of smoke I expected. as for flavor, if you've ever smoked a brazilia, you know where this is going. roasted dark coffee, some cocoa, but predominantly "dark" tobacco flavors.
I was really expecting to have severe burn issues with this thing, but again surprised, it burned razor- straight until the end.


Once I had smoked this monster down to about 60rg, the smoke output increased to the expected levels, by that time, you probably could have swapped it out got a "GOL", and I wouldn't have noticed.




As you can see, the ash held on strong for about half of the smoke, when it finally fell, it revealed the sharpest cone ember I have ever seen!



After a few more puffs, I had had enough of this one, the flavor started getting a bit harsh, even after a purge. I wanted to end on a semi-positive note, so after 1 hour and 40 minutes, I put this one down. I can say it was in interesting experience. Nothing new flavor-wise, but the shape was quite fun to smoke.

[DeeDubya]

Good review. That thing is scarey looking.

[King Catfish]

Nice review. That cigar is aptly named.

[ashauler]

Nice review Dennis!! I won this set in SLCRaiders contest at X-mas........don't have the 'nads to actually smoke them though.

[bigwhiteash]

Nice review Dennis!! I won this set in SLCRaiders contest at X-mas........don't have the 'nads to actually smoke them though.

That monster box they came in was taking up too much valuable real estate

mrtr has the other half (Italia), should be up soon

[mrtr33]

I did a little research before smoking this cigar. That is my occupation, I can't help it. According to the CAO website, the filler contains a leaf grown in the Benevento region of Italy, coincidentally, where my ancestors hail from.

I also read another passage where the veep of CAO International that stated the original ring gauge was slated to be a 137 - but was impossible to light.

Enough banter. On to smoking.



The construction was pretty good. Lighter than the Brazilia, with a light oily sheen on the outside, this cigar is firm to the touch, but not rock hard. The cap was really big, and the draw was a nice medium in pull. The cigar is a nice weight in hand, about what you would expect.



It's about right here where the flavor starts. I, too, was expecting burn issues, yet this cigar burned very evenly for me. Not a whole lot of smoke, and I am not the best to comment on flavors I experience, but it had a very good, unique tobacco taste. A slight amount of spice, but nothing overwhelming. Very nice earthy tobacco flavors, however.



The volume of smoke begins to increase about here. Something else I thought was a bit odd was the color of the ash. It almost looks like the foot was dipped in something, noting it's color. The rest of the ash was relatively white, the ash firm enough to survive my juvenile "bouncing up and down" and "swaying side to side" tests.



Honestly, I didn't even know ash this long was possible. It broke off a few puffs after this. Smoke volume continuing to increase, as with the flavor. I didn't detect bitterness, the flavors seemed to intensify. I did not notice the cigar getting hotter as it approached the end.



The ash broke, and I actually had to set it down, rather than tapping it off. From here, the burn on the cigar went a little off, and some of the wrapper was even coming apart. Honestly, by the time I got to this point, at almost 2 hours, I was done.

The aftertaste was nice. No harshness experienced at all, although I had quite the nicotine rush. Quite a pleasant cigar.

Much thanks to bigwhiteash for the experience.