Cigar part of “gift with purchase” at event
Background
A few weeks back I started this series looking at the 3 blends that come in the 2020 version of Ricky Rodriguez’s CAO Tour Pack. Today I’m finishing up with one called CAOMA0316. As a reminder, these cigars are available only at an official CAO Tour event…which for me turned out to be the last event I would attend before the COVID shutdowns began. As I write, cigar reps are starting to finally get on the road again and I would expect events to start happening soon. Virtual events are going on these days, but I still haven’t seen “live” stuff planned. As for Ricky’s tour…it’s probably over for this year, but I’m hopeful next year will see another one…probably with a new group of cigars.
There were two of each blend in the box. I saved the smaller ring gauge of each for these short articles.
Notes
The wrapper on the CAOMA0316 was a dark chocolate brown with a mixture of being oily to the touch and having enough toothiness that it was slightly rough feeling. The aroma from it was straight up coffee beans with a touch of sweetness. From the foot I got an earthy vegetal aroma with a little cedar mixed in.
I’ve been pairing these cigars with Bourbons that I’ve reviewed in the past. Today I chose Burning Chair, a product out of California that is finished in wine barrels.
Firing up the cigar, I got a good amount of semisweet chocolate right off the bat, making me think this is probably a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. There was espresso bean and earth in the mix, too, along with a good amount of red pepper on the nose. The whiskey was smooth and a little fiery when I sipped it after taking a puff. A good amount of vanilla and honey, followed by a richer note I’m assuming is the wine barrel influence. Sweet and spicy, just like the cigar.
That mix continued on with the sweetness building a little bit and the the pepper spice being a constantly burning presence. It was a wonderful experience that ranks up there with the best of CAO’s production, both the original company and the modern. The Burning Chair Bourbon added less spice and more sweetness as time went on, but was a great accompaniment the entire way.
