I have never been to Columbia, but if I do, I certainly want to experience cigars made from Ica Mazinga tobacco. CAO has released to the general public the CAO Columbia, the next stop on the CAO world adventure Originally produced exclusively for Serious Cigars several years ago, the CAO Columbia is now more widely available. CAO describes the Columbia as
..an adventure into the unexpected. It’s the first cigar to prominently feature Colombian tobacco and is a mild-to-medium bodied world blend boasting notes of toasted nuts sprinkled with briny nuances.
The CAO Columbia is a product of a cuban seed tobacco, first grown in an isolated mountain region of Columbia in 1820. The Colombians call the leaf Ica Mazinga.
The CAO Columbia is constructed with Columbian and Brazilian Filler, a Cameroon Binder and wrapped in a Honduran Jamastran wrapper. The wrapper is silky smooth, reddish-brown, almost clay like color, and has a sweet scent to it. The cigar is well constructed and tightly packed from head to foot. The band is bold yellow with a red sunburst coming out of the CAO logo. the word Columbia is emblazoned in gold on a blue background at the band bottom. The orignal Serious Cigars Columbia had an extra band that had the words “Serious Cigars” in gold on a red background. You can see the original here at – acigarsmoker.com
CAO Produces the Columbia in 4 Vtiolas:
- Bogata 6 x 60
- Magdalena 6.25 x 54
- Vallenato 5 x56
- Tinto 5 x 50
Today I sampled the Vallenato. I have had my fair share of CAO cigars over the years with the Brazilian still one of my favorites and I learned that you never know what to expect from a CAO until you try it. I fired it up and my palate was energized with an early flavor and scent of peanuts. It was unlike any other stogie I have smoked. Delicious and mouth-watering from the start. The burn was decent and the ash held on for a good inch or so and repeated that throughout the burn.
As it burned through the early phase there were notes of cedar coming through, with no heavy spice or pepper. The cedar lasted for about the first inch or so. The flavor profile kept offering up the peanut flavor and scent. I just wanted to smoke this slowly and enjoy every inch of the burn. The draw was perfect, always offering up mouthfuls of creamy nutty smoke.
Nearing the start of the 2nd third there were some floral scents on the foot that blended nicely with the now evolving sweet tobacco flavor. The floral did not last long eventually giving up to a delightful toasted bread flavor towards the end of the 2nd third .
Ever have peanut butter on toast? That flavor of the melting peanut butter blending in with the toasted bread? That was the flavor I got from the Columbia!
The toast was an amazing flavor mix with the nut, it made me want to just chew this stick – but I refrained and continued the journey through Columbia. This is a solid Mild to Medium smoke and would be a great cigar for a newcomer or with your morning cup of joe.
