Cigar Review: CAO America

Bottlerocket, 7" x 50 ring gauge
Although called the "America" this is truly an international cigar: filler from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Italy and the United States; binder from Brazil; and a double-wrapper made from American tobacco--one Connecticut Broadleaf and one Connecticut Shade, wrapped together in a beautiful barber pole/candy-cane/pinstripe effect. On second thought, this is a melting pot of a cigar that represents America very well.

The Bottlerocket is a relatively new size for the America, sold in a box of 3 sticks for about $30. The appearance of this cigar is fantastic. The double wrapper is beautiful, a dark maduro with a think line of the shade-grown. There was a oily sheen and a bit of plume on the wrapper(s). The body of the stick was pretty firm and smelled of classic humidor and a touch of barnyard. The foot smells more strongly of barnyard and compost, but not in a bad way--more like the smells of outdoor. The banding is very patriotic with a regular band near the head showing a red, white and blue design and a second blue band at the foot with a gold eagle and white stars. This is one you should feel proud to light up with family or friends on Memorial Day or the 4th of July. The prelight draw was smooth and sweet with alfalfa and hints of cocoa. There was also just a tiny tingle on the lips afterward--maybe some pepper or spice in there?

After lighting, the initial flavors were leather and earth with maybe some cedar notes. The draw was still nice, although it was not pulling quite the volume of smoke that I normally prefer. The retrohale on the cigar was very smooth and light and is probably a very good one to learn how to retrohale with. The CAO website lists this as a full-bodied smoke, but in my experience, I have never seen that in the past; I did not see it on this stick, either.

About a third of the way into this stick, I was still not convinced that it was anything but medium-bodied. It was good, though, with the earthy and leathery flavors dominating and some spice coming up on the finish. The retrohale revealed some nuttiness, too.

During the second third, the nuttiness of the cigar becomes more prevalent while the earthniess became more muted. There was still a bit of pepper on the finish. The draw tightened up a couple times, forcing me to poke the head back open again.

Heading into the final third of the cigar, the flavors remained mostly nutty with a little pepper. While I maintain that this is mostly a medium-to-full smoke, in this size the body and strength do tend to pick up as you move along. It never does get into the full-bodied experience that CAO's website promises, though.

To wrap up, this is a very good cigar. In fact, it is probably my second favorite vitola in this line, the best being the box-press, currently only available as part of the "4 for the 4th" special edition set. It has a well-balance set of flavors with a slight kick that will not overpower. It would be suitable for all but the novice smoker. The one problem I have with this entire line is price--I'm sure that this is a result of using two wrappers (wrapper tobacco being by far the most expensive kind of leaf), but $10 per stick is just a buck or two too much to pay on a regular basis for the America. It's good, but not "$10" good.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10