The Tim Ozgener may be new to some cigar smokers out there, but those of us that have been indulging in cigars for a while know the name and pedigree of the Ozgener family. Spoiler alert… the Ozgener family brought you the original CAO cigars before it was sold to European cigarmaker Henri Wintermans in 2007 and eventually acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group back in 2010. The CAO name started as a small pipe company founded in 1968 by Turkish born engineer, Cano Ozgener, in Nashville, TN. The name itself represented the initials of Cano Aret Ozgener. It wasn’t until 1995 that Cano decided to move into the cigar business and the rest is history, as the company grew quickly in size and was producing over 8 Million cigars by 2005 and was an international brand. Cano retired in 2007 but left the reigns to his son Tim and Daughter Aylin.
Now, the fun part of the story is that Cano’s love of tobacco started on the banks of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey but it was Nashville, TN that brought him, his family, and the CAO company to greater fame. It was there in Nashville that Tim Ozgener, Mike Condor, and Jon Huber founded Crowned heads, Tim was a silent partner and Jon and Mike were previous executives at CAO. Though part of the Crowned Heads company Tim has not blended cigars for over a decade and now it was time to launch back into the industry with a new company and a new blend, the Ozgener Family Cigars Bosphorus, to pay tribute to his father Cano who passed away in 2018 and the family roots back in Turkey.
The new company debuted at the 2022 PCA Trade show this past July along with the Bosphorus blend that Tim had worked on for two years.
The Bosphorus blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Dark Ecuador Sumatra
- Binder – Ecuadoran Connecticut/Nicaraguan Jalapa;
- Filler – Nicaraguan ( Estelí, Jalapa, and Ometepe)
They are expressed in four vitolas and come packaged in 20-count boxes:
- B-50 (4 x 50) – MSRP $12.00
- B-52 (5 x 52) – MSRP $12.75
- B-54 (6 1/2 x 54) – MSRP $14.25
- B-55 (5 1/2 x 55) – MSRP $13.50
The Bosphorus is hand crafted at Luciano Cigars (formerly Tabacalera Pichardo) in Nicaragua.
For this review I sampled two of the Bosphorus B55 robusto extras that I purchased at the Underground Cigar Shop in Fort Worth, TX during a recent business trip.
Pre-Light Examination
The Bosphorus B55 is sports a reddish brown wrapper that exhibits a decent amount of marbling and is smooth box pressed vitola. The cigar is solid to the touch with tight seams and finished with a simple cap. The cigar feels solid to the touch with no noticeable soft spots.
Two colorful bands adorn the cigar. The primary band proudly displays the letters “O” and “Z” overlayed on each other. It is a nod to Ozgener’s OZ Arts in his hometown of Nashville, TN. The band also declares it as an Ozgener Family Cigars product on the bottom. The Secondary band is placed just below the primary and identifies it as the Bosphorus blend.
As I ran the barrel along the nose, I picked up little aroma off the wrapper but the foot exuded notes of mild earthiness.
Using my CigarMedics Baller cutter, I opened the cap perfectly and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to be decent in restriction albeit a little looser than I normally prefer. The draw offered notes of earth and a touch of natural tobacco sweetness.
My double flame torch was just fine to warm the foot including that double binder and I brought it to an even orange glow as I drew in the first puffs of peppery and earthy smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Pepper and earth start the journey
- Medium grey ash forms on top medium thick char line
- Fruity citrus notes quickly join the mix
- Burn is just a tad wavy to start
- Ash fell in decent chunk revealing an off centered burn cone
- Slight off burn build on top of the early wave
- Cedar notes join the mix and further brightens the profile
- Cocoa nuances build some tasty dimension
- Strength ratchets up midway
- Earthy notes reenter deep in the second third
- Major touch up required as the off burn did not correct
- Spice enters and increases through the final third
- Medium Plus In Strength
- Total Smoking Time Was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
I found the Ozgener Family Cigars Bosphorus B55 to be a decent cigar with a moderately complex array of flavors that were fairly well balanced. I especially enjoyed the early citrus notes and the later cocoa nuances. The burn started off decent but slowly develops a wave and eventually an off burn that required a major touch-up and then it behaved fine down to the finish. This was the same in both samples I tried. I have to think this has to do with the double binder, which in principle sounds like a good idea but it adds twice the leaf thickness to combust and that is where this lost points. I still feel this is worth grabbing a sampler of, maybe all 4 vitolas based purely on the flavor profile. I rate this an 88.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Wave early; (-1) Off Burn; (- 2) Major Touch-up; (-1) Medium Grey Ash: (-1) Off Centered Burn Cone
