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CAO America?

Just wondering if anyone out there has had one of these. I bought the America Anthem edition, and I was wondering how the smoke is. I have had other CAO sticks before, the Brazilia and the Italia, and I've enjoyed both of those, imo they are a decent bang for the buck.

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Comments

  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    well i havnt had the american ones i did try the italia actually just the other night after reading about it here and i enjoyed it a lot. i tend to stay away from the american blends though i just figure that america always tries to knock-off everything and it wouldnt be as good or legit as a cigar from D.R or something. im sure they are good though C.A.O has a great reputation ive noticed a lot of there cigars are a hit or miss for most people there isnt much in between which can be frustrating google reviews if u r really curious i usually do that before trying or buying a new smoke as well as gathering the information i get from ccom.

    enjoy!
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    btw im curious about wat the price range was for those? and when u smoke em leave a little review please because im interested in hearing about american cigar reviews and such
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    Do a forum search, LCar. You'll find some discussion from people who've had these.
  • LCarLCar Posts: 57

    BigDan.:
    btw im curious about wat the price range was for those? and when u smoke em leave a little review please because im interested in hearing about american cigar reviews and such

     

    The price range for most of the standard CAO sticks I think is around $7...which isn't too bad. I got the America Anthem Limited Edition, so that was around $16 for the stick...it comes in its own little coffin, its quite nice, and like I said, I enjoyed the other CAO sticks I had, so I figure I'll let this one rest awhile and maybe smoke it when my friend comes in to visit. After I smoke it, I'll be sure to leave a review. I've seen mixed reviews on here about them, so I guess the only way to see how it is will be to try it.

  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    i would definiatly say to age that smoke for a little while at least thats what i would do. bcuz if ur gna pay that much for one stick ur gna want to have the full effect of the smoke. i like how it comes in its own little thing its a nice perk. there will usually be mixed reviews because everybody has different pallets and different taste preferences. what you should do is jot down the flavors and aromas that you not only enjoy but also the ones that arent so appealing to you. and then when you have the idea of a perfect cigar for you look it up by ur characteristics and see what you come up with. but dont just stick with one thing make sure you venture out a try new things because it is very possible that your palette can change
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    from what i hear they are quite good. smoke it now and pick up another to age.
    cant miss
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    LCar:

    Just wondering if anyone out there has had one of these. I bought the America Anthem edition, and I was wondering how the smoke is. I have had other CAO sticks before, the Brazilia and the Italia, and I've enjoyed both of those, imo they are a decent bang for the buck.

    I just had a Landmark (6x60) the other night... Personally it wasn't my cup of tea... Lots! of barnyard in there... I dunno, it was my first and only america though, so maybe it was just a bum stick...
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    I wonder if the CAO America tastes of Ventura Highway in the sunshine, and barnyard (because of the horse with no name).
  • j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    urbino:
    I wonder if the CAO America tastes of Ventura Highway in the sunshine, and barnyard (because of the horse with no name).
    I'm a bit surprised you didn't throw in a lewd blonde reference for Sister Golden Hair.
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    Heh. I like a lewd blonde reference as much as the next guy, but I never cared much for that song. I guess I could've added Muskrat Love to the barnyard, but muskrats don't actually live in barnyards, so...
  • j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    lmao
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    haha thts just messed up... barnyard taste? no thanks.... idk american tobacco just doesnt sound appealing
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    That was my reaction the first time I heard "barnyard" in a description, too. But the barnyard taste/smell we're talking about is actually quite pleasant. It's a fresh, damp hay kinda thing; not a musty manure thing.
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    ooh i see... still sounds nasty though i guess i gotta try it idk barnyard just doesnt seem appealing. i like nutty toasty and sweet :)
  • I thought this stick was fine. Certainly an interesting flavor but, to be honest, it didn't impress me more than any of the other CAO cigars I've smoked, so I'm not sure why I had to pay more for it. Yes, the wrapper looked sexy and all, but I guess that I went in with unrealistically high expectations because of all the fuss that had been made about them at our B&M.
  • It does have a double wrapper of American Connecticut, the binder is from Brazil, and the filler is Nicaraguan, Dominican, Italian, and American. I have smoked this two or three times and actually did enjoy it. I had this in cigar bars in New York and New Orleans so I was having adult beverages and don't remember the nuances enough to really review but I do remember that I liked it.
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    wow i feel like a totally newbie asking this but wats B&M stand for?
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    BigDan.:
    wow i feel like a totally newbie asking this but wats B&M stand for?
    Bowels and Movement... No wait....

    Brick and Morter... As in a "real" store rather than an online one...
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    haha ooh ya ok got it thnx. all the shops i go to suck they either try and sell me **** cigars or give me fakes. i would think there would b a lot of decent shops in LA
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    BigDan.:
    haha ooh ya ok got it thnx. all the shops i go to suck they either try and sell me **** cigars or give me fakes. i would think there would b a lot of decent shops in LA
    Don't take this the wrong way Dan, but I have a couple of questions that might make you think... ;)

    1: How do you know a cigar is ****? Just because it's a brand that you or others on this board haven't heard of doesn't neccesarily mean it's a **** cigar... I just smoked a cigar last night that was hand rolled by a guy local to J0z3r... It had no band, no real name, etc... If I'd have assumed just because of those factors that it was a "****" smoke, I would have missed out on one fantastic burn!

    2: How do you know a cigar is fake? To begin with, unless a cigar is cuban, it's almost certainly not worth faking... Even if a shop does happen to sell cubans, you WON'T find them out on the counter, and you WON'T find them by asking... Besides which, a lot of the fake cubans are still pretty fantastic smokes!

    3: Assuming you are being mislead and steered toward bad cigars or getting ripped off, then I'd question your attitude going into the shop... I used to run a business... I treated almost all my customers with total respect and tried to do really good by them... If someone had a huge attitude, rather it be they tried to act like a know-it-all and like they knew more than me about my products, or if they were just an ass in general, you can rest well assured that I'd at MINIMUM overcharge them... Why? Because if they ARE happy with the purchase, then so be it, the extra was my bonus for having to put up with their dumb ass... If they WEREN'T happy with the purchase, then they most likely would never come back, which was fine by me as I didn't want that type of customer! What else would they do? Tell their friends not to come? Chances are their friends were **** too since they seem to stick together... ;)
    Contrary to popular belief, small business often work both ways... The customer is NOT always right, and some small businesses just won't put up with the hassle... Think "soup ****" from Seinfeld here... ;)

    Now again, don't take this the wrong way... I have no idea what the interactions were between you and these shopkeepers, etc... HOWEVER, I can't help but question the fact that you're finding these same qualities in all the different shops you visit... I liken it to something along the lines of the inverted house...

    A guy once built a house that was completely inverted... On the inside 4 walls he put up siding, and on the inside roof he used shingles... On the outside he put wallpaper, a couch along one wall, a fridge, a stove, TV, etc... His yard was covered in carpeting, and the outside of his roof was done in spackle...

    On the inside of the house, the side with the shingles and siding, just above the door he hung a large sign that read, "To The Asylum"...

    You see, the guy that thinks everyone else in the world is insane, the one who feels the entire world is a nut house... He's the guy living in an inverted house and is... well... most likely insane... When EVERYONE else is perceived in a certain way, chances are it's truely a reflection of ourselves...
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    haha well the funny thing is i was wrong about the cigars i searched and searched and searched for these cigars everywhere to try and find out things about them i searched for about a week and i pretty much gave up but then i found a new site that had all these cigars with pics and a little review and i was pleasantly impressed.

    however the cohiba i bought still doesnt seem ligit to me. i cant find any make of the cohibas that have the band that mine does. it has the cuban style band on it but it doesnt say anything other than cohiba which makes me question it.

    my attitude in these shops were as follows. i walked in and i looked around trying to sort through everything and looking for two things. one being cigars that i kno and that im interested in and cigars that are on discount.

    then the owner or clerk or whover would come up and ask me if i needed any help. i would explain to him that im just getting in to cigars im trying to find a few that are no more than 7 or 8 dollars that are mild - medium flavored. he would then help me pick some out. i really dont know enough to question his judgement so i inspect them the best i can and i move on. then i have him help me pick out sum discounts. the first place was a liquor/tobacco house and the guy just wanted me to buy everything haha but i actually got sum good stuff there it was pricey tho. the second place i went to the guy said he had these new 92 rated cigars that were originally 18 dollars that he would give me for 6 so i got one i forget which one it is tho i think it was the cohiba but i dont kno. this guy also gave me 20 percent off my entire order and a free cutter and we talked a little about cigars and he gave me great advice.

    however i find it hard to trust somebody who is saying he is giving me these amazing cigars and nobody has heard of them i cnt find it in the CA book or mag and its nearly impossible to find online
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    BigDan.:
    however the cohiba i bought still doesnt seem ligit to me. i cant find any make of the cohibas that have the band that mine does. it has the cuban style band on it but it doesnt say anything other than cohiba which makes me question it.
    A cuban (or fake) cohiba will look like this:
    image

    A "Red Dot" (i.e. General Cigar's cohibas made in the DR) will look like one of these:
    image

    BigDan.:
    my attitude in these shops were as follows. i walked in and i looked around trying to sort through everything ........... the second place i went to the guy said he had these new 92 rated cigars that were originally 18 dollars that he would give me for 6 so i got one i forget which one it is tho i think it was the cohiba but i dont kno. this guy also gave me 20 percent off my entire order and a free cutter and we talked a little about cigars and he gave me great advice.
    Honestly it doesn't sound like there was anything wrong with your approach, or that you had any sort of attitude, but it also doesn't sound like you were really treated badly in any way... I know what you're saying about the fact that you can't find these cigars, but again there's so varieties out there it's just really hard to say... The other thing is to always consider the source... I can "rate" a cigar a 98... That doesn't neccesarily mean everyone will find it a fantastic cigar... There is no "fixed" definition for cigar ratings, so take them for what they're worth...

    When you get right down to it, there's NOTHING that matters other than what YOU think of a particular smoke... If it's a 92 in your book, then nobody else matters!

    As for finding someone that knows about them, or finding them in your book, it really just depends... Being featured in a book or having a few internet shops sell your cigar isn't really an indication of how good a cigar it is... Consider this... Some would argue that the absolute best cigars you'll ever find are from little chinchales across the country... How many people know about Don Pablo unless they happen to take a trip to vegas? How many would think that a buck-fifty cigar from a literal hole in the wall called La Isla in Jersey would be about the closest cigar to a cuban you can get without swimming? El Canelo in Miami? etc...etc...etc...

    The point is, I've said it before and I'll say it again... It doesn't matter who knows the name, or what the cigar has been rated... All that matters is what you think of it when ya smoke it!!! ;)
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    good point. as long as i enjoy it it shouldnt matter however im on a budget so i try to watch my money carefully and i dont really have the wiggle room to just throw money out the window so i try to buy a reputable smoke.

    btw my cohiba looks like the one on top except there is no writing in the yellow. so it looks like it should be the cuban but its not
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    That'd be a fake cuban
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    so if the guy sells me one fake does tht mean i should trust him? idk.... like im very limited in the amount of shops i kno in my area there are four 2 of them the guys dnt have a clue about cigars and barely speak english and one i havnt been to. the place where i got my cohiba from seemed reputable i heard about them through a friend and they had a very good website. do you think its worth going back or should i stay away?
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    BigDan.:
    so if the guy sells me one fake does tht mean i should trust him? idk.... like im very limited in the amount of shops i kno in my area there are four 2 of them the guys dnt have a clue about cigars and barely speak english and one i havnt been to. the place where i got my cohiba from seemed reputable i heard about them through a friend and they had a very good website. do you think its worth going back or should i stay away?
    Well I guess it kinda depends... Did he sell it AS a real cuban? I can't imagine he did or his shop probably wouldn't be there very long! If he was dishonest and tried to sell you a fake cohiba as a real cohiba, then yeah, I'd stay away... On the other hand, remember what I said above... Many of the fake cohibas are EXTREMELY good smokes... If it was missing the Habana, Cuba writing alltogether it doesn't sound like it was a "fake" intended to look "real" per say... Wait... that just sounds odd... well anyway... The point is, whatever you paid for it, if it was a good smoke then why not trust the guy? he sold you a good smoke for a good price...
  • BigDan.BigDan. Posts: 211
    i havnt smoked it yet im letting it sit for a while.... i dnt think he intended to give me the fake one i might have pikd it out of the discount pile i dnt remember so it could be my fault i think im gna give that shop another try.... i paid 7 dollars for that cigar..... i believe he told me to get a cigar called the Adwani it got a 92 rating it came in two wrappers i got the maduro i havnt been able to find anything on this cigar...... i also have a nat. cicco which makes reject cigars or something ive heard they are a pretty good smoke for the price but i was wondering if anybody here has tried these?
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    Was this shop the Cigar Patio? Or perhaps Cigar House (Chatsworth) or Cigar Road (Woodland Hills)?
  • rusiriusrusirius Posts: 565 ✭✭
    BigDan.:
    i havnt smoked it yet im letting it sit for a while.... i dnt think he intended to give me the fake one i might have pikd it out of the discount pile i dnt remember so it could be my fault i think im gna give that shop another try.... i paid 7 dollars for that cigar..... i believe he told me to get a cigar called the Adwani it got a 92 rating it came in two wrappers i got the maduro i havnt been able to find anything on this cigar...... i also have a nat. cicco which makes reject cigars or something ive heard they are a pretty good smoke for the price but i was wondering if anybody here has tried these?
    Adwani? Ed Adwani owns three cigar shops out in cali... Cigar Patio in Westlake Villiage, Cigar House in Chatsworth, and Cigar Road in Woodland Hills... Are you possibily talking about one rolled at one of those?
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    rusirius:
    BigDan.:
    i havnt smoked it yet im letting it sit for a while.... i dnt think he intended to give me the fake one i might have pikd it out of the discount pile i dnt remember so it could be my fault i think im gna give that shop another try.... i paid 7 dollars for that cigar..... i believe he told me to get a cigar called the Adwani it got a 92 rating it came in two wrappers i got the maduro i havnt been able to find anything on this cigar...... i also have a nat. cicco which makes reject cigars or something ive heard they are a pretty good smoke for the price but i was wondering if anybody here has tried these?
    Adwani? Ed Adwani owns three cigar shops out in cali... Cigar Patio in Westlake Villiage, Cigar House in Chatsworth, and Cigar Road in Woodland Hills... Are you possibily talking about one rolled at one of those?
    yeah.. what he said

    I'm guessing it's a house blend from that guy. If it's anything like any other house blends or locally rolled cigars I've had, it's probably pretty good.
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