CAO Arcana Firewalker Coming Next Week
Going into its second installment, the CAO Arcana series, which emphasizes unusual tobacco, is getting a new release next week and it contains a tobacco that’s been fermented through a rather obscure method—being buried in the ground.
The new blend is called Firewalker and the defining, earth-fermented leaf is found in its Nicaraguan filler. According parent company Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the filler, which is grown in Nicaragua’s Mastepe region, is assembled into a pilón and then buried in the volcanic soil for two months. After that, the tobacco goes to the factory for nine months of secondary fermentation.
This unusual method is called chincagre, and STG says it’s a process used by the local tobacco farmers of western Nicaragua. The subterranean conditions are supposed to “allow the tobacco to ferment naturally, locking in an inherently sweet and aromatic quality.”
With a Nicaraguan binder and Ecuador Havana wrapper, the limited-edition CAO Arcana Firewalker comes in one size, a thick toro that measures 6 1/2 inches by 56 ring gauge. It’s set to retail for $11.99 per cigar and will come in 20-count boxes. Only 5,000 boxes are being produced.
Unorthodox and unusual tobaccos are the hallmark of the CAO Arcana series. Last year’s CAO Arcana Mortal Coil highlighted andullo, a rustic tobacco that’s wrapped in long, log-like cylinders and hung like sausages for fermentation.
“The Arcana series is an opportunity for us to unite fans with rare tobacco methods they might not otherwise learn about on their own,” said Rick Rodriguez, blender and brand ambassador for CAO. He added that the lack of air flow and oxygen combined with the warmer temperatures underground accelerate fermentation during the chincagre process.
Unlike last year’s Arcana, which was made at the STG Estelí factory in Nicaragua, Firewalkers are produced at the American Caribbean Cigars factory, also in Nicaragua.
The CAO Arcana Firewalkers should start shipping to retailers next week.
