Cigar Reviewed: CAO Italia

Smoked at: Carolinas

The CAO Italia is a good cigar when you want lots of flavor, but you're tired of all the black pepper. With a dark chocolate brown wrapper and a colorful band, this 5 x 54 could easily be an everyday smoke. The unlit draw is sweet and full of tobacco flavor and aroma. The draw is a little tight It lights well and burns pretty evenly. Once lit, you get some cocoa, molasses, and fruity notes. It is smooth and creamy. The flavors intensify as you proceed through the smoke, and it does become a bit spicy, but as noted, without that black pepper zing. I had to downgrade this cigar on construction. the wrapper unraveled from the center of the cigar about half way through the smoke. When they unravel from the end, it's usually user error from cutting off the cap or chewing on the tip. But this unraveled from the middle and came completely off, leaving me smoking the last half of the cigar with just the binder. Still, the flavor was there. I look forward to trying another and hope the unraveling was a one-of flaw.