Wrapper : Connecticut maduro and shade barber poled
Binder : Brazilian maduro
Filler : Nicaraguan, Italian, American and Dominican Republic
Source : bought at my local shop
I am going to be doing the CAO America Anthem size for my weekend long celebration of Independence Day.
Right off the bat, these are very overpriced, in my opinion. This stick will run you around $25.00 while the other America sticks are multitudes cheaper. You could buy a three pack of bottlerockets (7×50) for cheaper than this one which is (8.5×52). Pricing on these really makes no sense to me but as long as I keep buying them, who is really to blame.
I will not list all the sizes here as most places will carry these cigars but you will probably pay around $8-$10 a piece for them except the Anthem of course.
Pre-Light
Taking a gander at this CAO America Anthem and I notice a bit of a blemish at the cap along with a major soft spot about 2/3rds of the way up the cigar from the foot. It is that big of an indent/soft spot that if my local store would have had more, I would have taken this back for another one. I figure paying $25.00 for a cigar should have included a ton of quality control. I am not happy at all with those problems!
Other than that, the stick looks a bit rustic with a few veins and one point, at the soft spot, it seems like a stem is bent in half.
I undid the foot band with no damage to the wrapper, cut the head and lit her up.
I will mention the draw is a lot tighter than I normally like but the other one or two I have smoked were also this way.
First Third
Running face first into this CAO American Anthem I am hit with a chocolate and woodsy taste upon the first puff or two. Starting out I would say this is a medium body but towards the lower end.
Even if you can not taste a lot of flavor nuance in a cigar, you will be able to taste the bittersweet chocolate in here. I am guessing with that Brazilian binder and the maduro wrapper it really overloads on the chocolate. It tastes good but just be prepared for it being right in your face. I also got a bit of a woodsy taste and a slight spice in this third.
Cigar has not climbed out of the medium range, which is great for me. We have a long way to go though.
Second Third
Sliding into the second third of this CAO America Anthem and the chocolate is still right there along with a nutty taste I just picked up.
I am a little worried about the soft spot as I should be hitting it in this third or right around the transition to the final third.
About half way into the second third and I will admit, the chocolate taste is getting a little dreary. Nutty and woodsy tastes are still there but with this being an eight and a half inch cigar, it is a commitment to smoke. I wish there would be a little more variety at this point but it is still a good cigar.
Chocolate flavor stayed through the second third along with a nutty and woodsy taste. There was a tiny bit of spice also. With the flavor profile it was very nice to get some changes and nuances but the bittersweet chocolate was really in front of everything.
Cigar hit the full range but nothing with nicotine killing you.
Final Third
We are into the last third of this CAO America Anthem and other than a few corrections and the soft spot, it is doing pretty well.
Well we definitely hit the full range here at the end.
Bitterness has picked up a bit along with the smoke getting a bit warm, probably from the tight draw. Flavors are still the bittersweet chocolate but the nutty flavor has been hit or miss. I still get a slight spice but nothing major at all.
Cigar has burned pretty well in this last third which did surprise me considering the touchups in the second third.
Wrap-Up
Wrapping up this CAO America Anthem and I have to say, I do not like the price one bit. I just do not think it is that special of a cigar to warrant the huge price premium over the other America cigars. I also think America(n) Anthem sounds better.
Would I buy it again? Only if I get something worthwhile for free with it. I just can not justify the price.
I like the cigar, I really do so if these would ever come down in pricing to a level a little more fitting of them, I would buy them. I do have a couple other sizes of the America line in my humidors right now so they can get me through this weekend.
Ran out of space on my sd card so – till next time, keep smokin!
A huge thank you goes out to Len Wilson at http://lenwilson.us/ for graciously letting me use the flag ensemble video at the end of my review.
AUDIO –> Right-Click: Save As
Mike,
Great review. Sorry, but these won’t be in my line-up. A $25 stick is already out of my range, but one with a lack of QC is flat out unforgivable.
Hey, I have some hats. Can I interest you in some $12 Devil’s Weeds? 🙂
Glad to see you using the new lighter, but why the touch-ups with the other lighter?
I have so many lighter’s laying next to me, I just grab something. I will have to take some of them away from the big comfy chair so I dont use random ones.
Devil’s Weed for only $12, I am all over that NOT lol
Mike, I have to agree that $25 for that stick is unacceptable even bordering obscene in my opinion. Adding the QC problems on top of that is like a slap in the face. Even with the construction problems aside, I think the prices of some cigars are just getting out of hand, this cigar being a perfect example. I enjoy other CAO products but if outrageous pricing as in this case continues I could see being turned off from CAO just on principle. I think they did a good thing with the La Traviata but this earns them a black mark in my book. I also think a slight decrease in the prices of a few of their other cigars wouldn’t hurt either but now with the announcement of a price increase on their cigars, it may just pull CAO out of my normal rotation.
Other than that, nice review Mike but I agree with jjo. I won’t be buying a single one of these.
Thanks,
Rick
Nice review Mike
You paid 25.00 for a stick!?!?! Truly, the world is about to come to a flaming end! lol
Nice review, and I agree it’s not worth the price, utterly ricidulous. I’ve smoked the Potomac a few times, and I did enjoy that.
Mike love the intro brother, that’s something to many people forget. I agree way over priced but a good smoke.
Nice review Mike. I have two in my coolerador that I won last year.Guess I have to go smoke one now!
Nice review Mike I had the Potamic size this weekend and thought it was pretty good. Happy Fourth Buddy
Great review Mike! I generally like nearly all the CAO lines…but not at $25. Heck, not even at $20 or even $15 per cigar. Just not in my price range per cigar.
I bought a 4-pack of the America Potamics for this July 4th weekend, and shared them with a friend while fishing. He couldn’t keep his lit, and mine split horribly about halfway through the cigar. Both wasted. I’ve had construction issues with the America line before several times ….I think this might be my last time to buy those unfortunately.
Good review! The first one of these I had, the Potomac, didn’t really impress me at all but as with any cigar I am pretty much always willing to give it another shot. So, I tried another one quite some time later and have to say that I did enjoy it much better than the first. The downside is the pricing on these cigars. For a barber pole style cigar I much prefer the Don Jose Correa Doble Capa from Route 45 Cigars, at a much more affordable price. I recommend checking them out.
I’ve had a few CAO America’s but not the anthem size. That’s quite expensive to have all the construction issues that yours had but it sounds like u enjoyed it. Hope u had a great 4th
NIce review. I’ve had a couple of these (great 4th of July smoke), but agree that the $25 price tag is out there. I could see charging $15 like the Camacho LIberty.