What do you think about C.A.O. ? (From a french aficionado)

[Benoît Wagner]

Hello everybody,

French journalist for a cigar aficionado mgazine called L'Amateur de Cigare, I'm looking forward your opinion on the C.A.O. brand, which is about to be launched here in France.

I may smoke a few of them in the next weeks, but before it I wanted to tell consumers's opinions to the french audience on my weblog, "Churchill Attack".

Could you tell me what you like or not in C.A.O ? I've got a préjugé (a priori) : isn't that brand too strong in marketing and too weak in taste ?

Thanks a lot for your precious comments,

Benoît, from Paris

http://benoitwagner.typepad.fr/churchill_attack/

[email protected]

[habanablue]

Benoit, welcome to the board! A great place to hang and talk about Cuban cigars.

CAO - I have not smoked too many of them however from my limited experience:

Their marketing is first rate. Sopranos, CAO Vision, great packaging which is very alluring.

Their cigars are obviously catering to a predominantly American market. Thick ring gauges, huge cigars etc. At this year's RTDA the CAO America which was launched was HUGE! about a 54 or 56 ring gauge. Far too big.

At CAO's RTDA party I was talking to a CAO marketing exec wth a fellow Aussie (a retailer) and we both agreed and mentioned to this guy that for CAO to truly crack the international market, CAO would have to tone down their cigars. Not so much flavour or taste wise, but from an 'American' perspective. ie Big is not always better and an emphasis on the 'American-ess' of their products

(eg CAO AMERICA stars and stripes) may put off some smokers.

I can easily see the French not being fans of cigars that are marketed in such a way. Then again, the imagery that the Sopranos play may target a younger audience which is not as discriminatory towards American popular culture etc.

Taste and flavour are of course very subjective and you can make your mind up about that.

just my two cents worth. will check out your blog. Welcome once again

[trumpetchris]

Bonjour!

I would say that CAO makes some cigars I enjoy. What bothers me most about them is a lack of complexity. It is why I choose robusto sized CAO almost exclusively in any format. The flavor off the light is the same flavor you have for the rest of the cigar. I would also agree that the sizes are very large, with only the Criollo line having anything smaller than robusto.

CAO makes attractive looking cigars which are marketed extremely well, and I think are aimed mostly at a younger market. I enjoy the flavor of the Brazilia and Italia lines most. Not one of my top 10 non-cuban cigar makers, but ok for on the golf course or in the car.

[Zaphod42]

I think CAO makes some excellent cigars. Along with Padrons, they're pretty much the only non-cuban cigars that I smoke. Not every one of their lines is a hit but there are certainly some good smokes in there. Avoid the Gold, Black, and Cameroon.

[Mel]

I have smoked and liked the Brazillia and one of them is actually a nice small size. The Amazon is just to big and feels odd in the mouth. They make a Criollo wrapped CE size but I can not recall the name of it but I like them and have three left that are aproaching four years old. I am looking fo the right time to spark one up. All in all they are Ok cigars but what kills me the most(dislike) about the company is they always have some new somthing to sell with the packaging getting more garish all the time. I would think three or four good blends would do and concenttrate on making time tested stuff without all the gimicks.

Come to think of it Habanos is doing some of the same things with all the EL' and RE.:-(

[broozer]

i don't think very much of CAO's cigars at all. TOO fat and TOO one dimensional.

bruce

[phxkev]

Doesn't Torano make most of their cigars?

[broozer]

» Doesn't Torano make most of their cigars?

i don't know, but i do know that CAO sold pretty much all of their company recently and only kept control over their flavored lines. not so much a family company anymore.

bruce

[mef]

Bonjour Benoit

Congrats to the French rugby team. It's painful for AB supporter to watch..but great for the sport and the world cup.

I've personally enjoyed and liked most of the CAO marque. Although some can be quite one dimensional. I find them reasonably priced for very well made cigar. I've yet to be disappointed with the draw, construction and wrapper.

I enjoy the stronger maduro wrapper range with hint of dark cocoa, coffee and liquorice undertones.

My favs are MX2, Brazilia, Italia. I'm aging some Sopranos and keen to try the CX2.

All the best.

mef.

[Tampa1257]

Since many are tossing in their opinions, so shall I. Several years ago, I tried to like the Brazilian Piranha as well as other CAO cigars. CAO is a wonderful marketing company, their cigars are in my opinion way over hyped and lack as others have said, flavor and complexity. Each CAO cigar that I have sampled has been one dimensional in flavor. It did not matter which size you sampled, every cigar tasted the exact same. I have experienced a lot of cigars, but if I smoke a 40 ring gauge or a 50 ring gauge, the CAO's taste the same, and now their big pitch is even larger ring gauge cigars???? Why oh why would that make a difference??? The mentality that Americans enjoy BIG THICK cigars is a false interpretation of the Marketing that cigar manufacturers have filled their Marketing Departments with and have filled the RTDA's with as well as the trend that the Industry is taking. Thick ring gauge cigars do NOT provide any better taste. They may provide more volume of smoke because the consumer is burning more tobacco leaf, yet why? One dimensional flavor? No Complexity? The thicker ring gauge cigars are a hoax in my opinion created by the Marketing (FMP's) to use more raw product, build a product that takes little skill to produce, blend and roll. The Marketing people that have created the thicker Hyped cigar is in my opinion ruining the aged old methods of producing a fine, complex tasting cigar because any fool can roll a bunch of leaves together into a fat wad and call it a cigar, while it takes skill, effort, a Master Blender, and a Master roller to produce a complex tasting, excellent constructed and drawing thin gauged cigar, where the blending and the "Art" of the blender and roller combine together and produce the magic of a fine rolled cigar. A thick ring gauge cigar can mask away any problems of the tobacco not being the finest quality because of the bulk of the leaf, where a thin ring cigar uses the craftsmanship and stands alone on the complexity and flavor to present itself to the consumer. So it is the Art vs the Marketing of the thick cigar? Flavor vs Marketing? Skill vs Marketing? The Marketing companies are killing out the "Art" of making a fine tasting cigar. It is a sad situation. CAO does not produce their cigars, it is my understanding that they only Market them. CAO is an excellent Marketing Company, yet they are killing the Cigar Industry in their efforts to sell their product to the consumer. There are other companies that manufacturer and sell much better cigars in my opinion. Luckily, they have not gone the Marketing way that CAO has gone. Let me characterize CAO another way. They are attempting to become the "Proctor-Gamble" company of the cigar industry. Pricing their product in just about the medium to premium price range for a product that is at best a mediocre product that rarely delivers an experience worth the retail price. Their Marketing people are telling the consumer that they are buying into the premium market. As I said, CAO is a Marketing company that does not and has not delivered on taste, flavor, complexity in any of the cigars under the CAO Label and continue to do so.

[Colt45]

» The mentality that Americans enjoy BIG THICK cigars is a false interpretation

»

Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. I will comment no further.

[stever]

Tampa: Here's hoping that Habanos et al. don't become too impressed with the CAO "marketing geniuses." Getting a bit nervous though, what with 17 regional releases slated for next year.

[Benoît Wagner]

Thank you so much, guys !

That's far more than I was expecting... It's really nice to realize you can lean on other aficionados all over the world. Your precious comments help me to understand this brand a little bit more, before I can taste it by myself - soon.

I'll be back on this forum, I promise.

Best regards,

Benoît Wagner, live from Paris

http://benoitwagner.typepad.fr/churchill_attack/

P.S. : whenever you want for a Punch doble coronas in Paris the day you're in France, no joke !

:-)

[broozer]

» Tampa: Here's hoping that Habanos et al. don't become too impressed with

» the CAO "marketing geniuses." Getting a bit nervous though, what with 17

» regional releases slated for next year.

yeah, i'm afraid that's gonna lead to more standard production cuts. they've cut way too much as it is.

bruce