CAO's Latest...

It's a box-set for cigar lovers...a veritable CAO greatest-hits package, complete with re-mixed versions of your favorites. I am talking, of course, of the CAO Cuban Press box that hit stores this week.

To start off...the packaging is something remarkable. I'm posting still pictures, but that doesn't really do it justice. Just watch the YouTube video.

This box comes with 12 cigars: 4 each of some of CAO's most popular lines, in a brand-new, special edition size: the Cuban Press. Their regular Box-Press shape is 5 x 50. These run 4.875 x 50, so just slightly shorter.

My obvious question was "what is a Cuban Press?" Smart guy at the cigar store last night said "They replace 'Box' with 'Cuban' and put it in a fancy package." If that were all it was, it honestly wouldn't bother me much because I love the CAO Box-Presses (Brazilia and MX2, especially). The reality is spelled out on the packaging.

"A trunk press is constructed of wood and consists of a series of 10 selves, each holding 20-25 cigars. The press is closed once the cigars are in place, and clamps distribute pressure. This is a very delicate process. Great care must be taken to avoid damaging the wrappers. The clamps are released after 10-12 hours, and each cigar is turned. Pressure is then applied to the other side for an equal amount of time. The end result is a highly pronounced boxy-square shape to the cigar.

In standard box-pressing, round cigars are packed tightly into boxes to conform the cigar's shape to that of the box, resulting in a "pressed" shape somewhere between a cigar and a square. The old world trunk press is a far more elaborate and time-consuming method, and results in a more pronounced square shape to the cigar."

So, it's not exactly a box-press, but it kind of is the same idea.

One thing to steel yourself for here is the price. I paid $72 here in East Tennessee. That works out to about $6 per stick, which is how I justified it (CAO Box-Press Brazilias run about $7.50 here). The price you pay is actually quite good, but you are buying a lot at one time, so it hits the pocketbook.

What do they taste like? That will be part of the fun...I'll start smoking them soon here and I'll review each one in its turn. Brazilia. Italia. MX2. LX2. Sounds like a great weekend activity!