C.A.O. America
The C.A.O. America cigar line debuted at this year's Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (now called International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers association) trade show in Houston.
These pinstriped cigars produced by the C.A.O. Fabrica de Tabacos in Honduras are made with two wrapper leaves, a golden-brown Connecticut-shade leaf and a chocolate-brown broadleaf, both grown in the United States. The filler also has tobacco from the U.S.A., which is blended with leaf from Nicaragua, Italy and the Dominican Republic, and is housed in a Brazilian binder.
In addition to this being an unusual configuration for a cigar line, a cigar made with two wrappers is rare, and premium cigars seldom have American tobacco as part of a filler blend. You see more broadleaf than shade, giving the cigars a dark brown color with light tan pinstripes. The cigars come in three sizes: Potomac, which measures 5 by 56; Landmark, 6 by 60; and the torpedo-shaped Monument, 6 1/4 by 50. The cigars hit retail selves earlier this month with a suggested retail price range of $6.75 to $8.50.
For more from the trade show, see Cigar Insider's in-depth coverage.
