CAO America Potomac Cigar Review

Cigar Review Posted By: avantgrade

Cigar Stats: The America Potomac is a 5" x 56 Robusto with a
Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro and Shade Wrappers (Barbe Pole) wrapper.

Cigar Strength: avantgrade describes the cigar strength as being Medium.

Cigar Price: This Cigar was bought for $5.75 and was purchased Local B&M.

avantgrade purchased this cigar on 0000-00-00.
It has about 7 months of additional aging.

Look and Feel: 19 / 20
Flavor and Aroma: 36 / 40
Burn Consistency: 28 / 30
Bonus Points: 7 / 10

Food: none

Beverage: none

Cutter type: Dual Blade (Colibri)

Lighter: Tripple Flame Butane Torch (Nibo)

Appearance: A very appealing interplay of natural and maduro CT shade wrappers, complemented well by the red, white and blue theme of the dual bands.

Presence of veins: A few moderate veins, but majority of wrapper was very smooth and quite seamless

Humidity: 67%

Cigar draw: A little firm, but each puff yields plenty of flavor and smoke.

Cigar feel: Smooth

Oily or dry: Oily

Ease/quality cut: A sturdy cap kept the cigar nice and tight, and the snip was effortless.

Pre-light flavour: A little bit of leather and roasted nuts, with a faint note of spice in the background.

Country of origin: Nicaragua

Origin of wrapper: Connecticut, USA

Origin of binder: Brazil

Origin of filler: Nicaragua, USA, Dominican Republic, and Italy

Initial Light

The large-gauge cigar took the flame with ease, and in no time clouds of thick white-gray smoke filled the air. The pre-light flavors of leather and roasted nuts really make a prominent appearance, and the spice that lurked in the background starts to come forth a little stronger. So far, the burn is good, and the two wrappers are not fighting to keep up with one another.

First 1/3:

I start to taste some slightly bitter coffee, and it goes very well with the subtleties of roasted almonds. There is a distinct maduro sweetness imparted by one of the wrappers, adding another dimension to the cigar.

I did start to experience some uneven burning, but a touch-up with my trusty torch fixed that right up.

I also noticed that the body has increased a little bit from the mild-medium start into the medium level. It stayed so for the remainder of the cigar, down to the nub.

Second 1/3:

A little bit of cocoa notes peak through, and leather flavors intensify relative to where they started. Almond fades out into the background, and the spice is now distinctly that of black pepper.

A few more times I noticed an uneven burn, but it corrected itself and I went on to experience a very good cigar.

Final 1/3:

As the nub approached, the black pepper spice was intertwining very well with the leather flavors of the cigar... and that wonderful maduro sweetness helped tie it all together.

The smoke stayed very cool throughout the burn, and the cigar held it's firm salt-and-pepper ash for at least two inches (and even then I think I had to try too hard to motivate it to fall!).

I have had good experiences with CAOs in the past, and this one is no exception.