CAO–OSA Sol
Monday, August 29th, 2011This is the first blend from CAO since it’s move to General Cigars. A part of me is disappointed in CAO for “selling out.” Another part understands mentality behind taking the money and running. General Cigars has good brands and bad. So it is only fair to give CAO a chance.
The name OSA stands for Olancha San Augustin. This is the region of Honduras that the wrapper is from. Sol refers to the fact that the wrapper is sun grown.
General Cigars sent me a five pack along with a press release. I appreciate the chance to try this new blend. So let’s see how the CAO OSA Sol treated me.
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan & Honduran
Size: 6 x 54
Price: $6.25
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper had a nice look to it, with no visible flaws. The odor coming off of the wrapper was a mild earthiness. The foot smelled the same with an added spiciness. The cigar was evenly and solidly packed, and the pre-light draw had slight resistance. The pre-light flavor was earthy with perhaps a note of wood.
The burn required one correction, and the ash held for around one inch.
Flavor:
The first third had a core flavor of earthiness. Accompanying it was wood. When passing smoke through the nose, I picked up an easy spice with earthy and woody notes. As I progressed through this third, the smoke feel improved from a dryness to smoother feel with a tinge of sweetness.
The second third kept the same earthy and woody flavors. The earthiness was different, almost grassy or a little musty. The spice through the nose basically remained the same. The smoke feel became thicker feeling at times, with a lingering sweetness.
The last third had an increase in that earthy, musty flavor. I can’t decide if I liked it or not. It was just there. Like before, woodiness was next in the flavor profile. The spice through the nose increased slightly in strength. A spicy tingle was left on the lips and tongue, but the flavor was that earthiness I mentioned earlier.
Conclusion:
I’m on the fence about this cigar… It wasn’t outright bad, but something about the earthy flavor seemed off. Nothing stood out as being bad, or particularly good. The flavors were just there. Maybe some age on these cigars would mellow the weird earthiness a bit, who knows. In the end, the CAO OSA Sol was just OK. Thanks again to General Cigars for letting me try it out.