Cigar Review: CAO Earthquake

Vitola: Toro
Size: 6” x 54 ring gauge
Price: approx $7/each in a box of 10
Purchased at Islands Cigar Lounge

Background

One of the more unique projects by General Cigar in the past few years was the CAO “Natural Disasters” line. They produced 4 different blends, each for sale in one region of the country: Hurricane for the Southeast, Heatwave for the East, Cyclone for the Central U.S., and Earthquake for the West (info from halfwheel.com). Each blend was limited to 1,500 boxes of 10. I don’t shop at many stores that carry CAO products on a regular basis, so I had to get to California before I saw any of these…and it was the Earthquake. I picked it up because I didn’t know if I’d have another chance.

Earthquake has Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and a Nicaraguan wrapper leaf. MSRP on all the Natural Disasters was about $8 each, but our sponsor, Small Batch Cigars, has a box of Earthquake on the site for $70 (at the time of this writing). I bought one stick for this review.

Prelight

The bands for the Natural Disasters have simplified representations of the disaster represented. In this case, Earthquake has concentric black rings on an orange background, representing the target pinpointing of the earthquake epicenter, along with a seismograph readout (squiggly line). A bit of gold foil frames it all subtly and a secondary orange band with a black CAO logo is the only writing of any kind.

The wrapper was a light brown with a bit of darker mottling, a decent amount of oils visible to the eye, and no veins larger than medium in size. Giving the leaf a sniff, I picked up notes of earth and a touch of cinnamon. The foot had a more pungent earthiness with some woody notes. The cold draw was good and had a slightly fruity sweetness, some cedar, and a peppery burn remained on the lips.

Flavor

The Earthquake lit up fairly easily for a 54 ring gauge stick. I got a strong earthiness at first, along with a bread note and some cedar. Sweet notes were subtle but definitely there. Peppery notes were subdued on the palate, but pretty prevalent on the nose. I found the smoke to be thick and oily, on the bottom of the full-bodied range right from the start.

As I got into the second third, I picked up a stronger cedar flavor while the earthiness took a back seat and the pepper spice continued a steady burn.

The last third served up plenty of cedar again along with earth and pepper, but really not much different from the second third.

Construction

I found the construction of the Earthquake to be pretty near perfect, with a great draw, very even burn line and ash that never flaked into my lap.

Value

The price on these is excellent, especially for a limited edition.

Conclusions

All in all, the CAO Earthquake didn’t leave me shaken and wanting more. It was a good cigar, but not a great one for my palate. I do want to make sure to give credit for them putting forth a good and original concept for an regional limited release, though, and I would like to try some of the other releases if I ever get a chance to see if any of them suit me better. It was full bodied but about medium in strength, so a good fit for those who like a woody tasty smoke.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10