Dual Review: CAO OSA Sol

Lot 54, 6" x 54 ring gauge / MSRP $6.25
Since the time that I gave my "preview" look at CAO's first offering under General Cigar management, the company has been kind enough to send us samples for review (thank you) and the cigar has actually gone on sale nationwide, with the OSA Nation roll-out tour hitting a shop near you soon. The OSA (pronounced "Oh-Suh") is named for the location where the wrapper was sourced, Olancha San Agustin, and this particular leaf was taken from the 2008 crop. Along with this Honduran Sungrown wrapper, Rick Rodriguez and the development team used a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and a blend of tobaccos from Nicaragua and Honduras for the filler.

DAVE SAID:
The banding and packaging on the OSA Sol is creative and attractive, pretty much unlike anything else on the shelves, including older CAO cigars. The wrapper leaf was a little toothy, but had a nice oiliness under the fingers and mostly very small, delicate veins. The color was a dark tan with a minimal amount of red, which just did not strike me as particularly "sun grown" in appearance. To be fair, though, the term "sun" did not appear in the press release except as "Sol" (the Spanish translation) which is part of the name of the cigar. It just stands to reason, though, that if Sol is in the name, it just might be a sun grown wrapper. I'll have to ask specifically when the tour comes to my town. (Note: it was confirmed at the recent event that this is a Sungrown wrapper, however since the Olancha Valley has a partial tree canopy, it tends to be only partially Sungrown, which does explain a bit of why it does not have the characteristics of a typical leaf grown in this way.) Giving the cigar a good sniff, I got some leather and hay from the wrapper, as well as earth and a bit of chocolate on the foot. I used my Xikar VX in this particular review sample (I had smoked three of this vitola prior to this one) and got a very good draw that had flavors of natural tobacco and hay.

After lighting up, the first impressions I got were all wood: cedar, oak, and even some maple. A few puffs later, I got more of the natural tobacco and grassiness that came through on the prelight. The retrohale exhibited just a bit of pepper spice, and overall this started off as a medium bodied cigar with a somewhat interesting flavor profile. Through the rest of the first third, the flavor remained good. It did not really move out of the "woody" or "medium" categories, though. So far it was just good and consistent without much else to report.

In the second third the OSA Sol had more of a straight cedar flavor on the palate with some maple notes on the retrohale. The construction was as close to perfect as you could ask, featuring a very straight burn line, fantastic draw, and an ash that held on for up to three-quarters of an inch.

If there were only two-thirds to this cigar (which would require a new understanding of math), this would qualify as a good, but fairly uneventful stogie. Unfortunately, in the last third, the flavor of this Lot 54 sized OSA Sol just kind of got up and left the building. I really don't know how to describe it fully...the flavor did not suddenly turn bad, but it did get quite dull very quickly, which was unexpected. Having smoked the smaller (robusto) sized version previously (as a show sample), I felt like that had a more interesting flavor profile overall and provided a more enjoyable experience. Body and strength were totally middle of the road on this cigar, making it easily accessible to all but the newest of smokers; the price is very easy on the wallet, too. I really wanted to like this cigar...but the fact is that it just didn't do much for me, at least not in this size. With a Sungrown wrapper, I expect more spice and fuller flavor, and that just is not what I got.

Body: 5/10
Strength: 4/10
Complexity: 4/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10




KEITH SAID:

I’d also like to thank General Cigars for sending us these samples to review.  I smoked four of this size prior to this review.

The packaging and banding while it may be innovative and new, doesn’t really do much for me.  To me the neon lime green in both kind of cheapens the look.  The wrapper was a nice medium milk chocolate brown.  There were medium veins and a slight amount of lumpiness to it.  When I gave the cigar a squeeze I couldn’t detect any soft spots and there was a slight amount of give.  Putting my nose to the wrapper I got a slightly nutty aroma with barnyard coming from the foot.  After clipping it with my MTX and taking a cold draw on it I only got a slight sweetness with an ok draw.

Once I lit the cigar up the first taste I got was leather with a mapley sweet finish.  After a few puffs I did get some spice, especially on the retrohale.  As I progressed into the first third I did get tastes of earthiness and wood with a slight Davidoff like mustiness.  The draw was very good and the burn line was pretty straight.  The grey ash held on for about three quarters of an inch before needing to be tapped off.

The second third was more of the same for me.  The main flavors were still of leather, earth, and wood with a sweet finish.  The draw and burn continued to be great.  One thing about construction, this was the only sample out of the 5 that didn’t have any construction issues.  All of the others at least had burn issues, and one wouldn’t draw. 

The final third was a bit different that Dave’s experience.  I got a slight amount of change in the flavors.  They were now leather and cinnamon still with a sweet finish.  I also felt like the spice and strength built a bit.  It is still definitely a medium bodied and strength cigar though.

I’m like Dave, I was looking forward to giving this cigar a try.  Unfortunately it really didn’t do much for me.  There wasn’t anything bad about it at all, just nothing that grabbed me and held my attention.  I would say that you should definitely give this one a try, especially at this price point, and make your own decision about it.


Body: 6/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 5/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 7.5/10