CAO Cigars
CAO cigars offer a sound variety of 90+ rated blends that cigar connoisseurs have purchased several times over throughout the years. While a handful of core lines originally established the brand, CAO has developed many new selections around innovative marketing strategies that highlight a blend’s regional influences. CAO cigars are additionally offered in a popular collection of flavored selections for those who like to satisfy their sweet tooth with the smooth and creamy aroma of fine tobaccos.
CIGARS
CAO America
Price Per Cigar:$6.99 - $10.896 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: HondurasWrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf8 Reviewsread more
CAO Arcana
Price Per Cigar:Only $11.992 options availableStrength: FullCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Ecuador Habano1 Reviewread more
CAO Brazilia
Price Per Cigar:$6.73 - $10.8910 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: HondurasWrapper: Brazilian28 Reviewsread more
CAO Cameroon
Price Per Cigar:$6.99 - $11.298 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Cameroon5 Reviewsread more
CAO Colombia
Price Per Cigar:$6.73 - $10.898 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Nicaraguan27 Reviewsread more
CAO Flathead
Price Per Cigar:$7.09 - $13.498 options availableStrength: FullCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf50 Reviewsread more
CAO Flavours
Price Per Cigar:$1.56 - $9.4914 options availableStrength: Mild-MediumCountry: Dominican RepublicWrapper: Cameroon12 Reviewsread more
CAO Gold
Price Per Cigar:$6.36 - $10.8910 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Ecuador Connecticut15 Reviewsread more
CAO Italia
Price Per Cigar:$7.29 - $10.192 options availableStrength: FullCountry: HondurasWrapper: Honduran6 Reviewsread more
CAO Maduro
Price Per Cigar:$6.74 - $10.896 options availableStrength: Medium-FullCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf14 Reviewsread more
CAO MX2
Price Per Cigar:$7.13 - $11.796 options availableStrength: Medium-FullCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf7 Reviewsread more
CAO Nicaragua
Price Per Cigar:$6.74 - $8.994 options availableStrength: FullCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Honduran2 Reviewsread more
CAO Pilón
Price Per Cigar:$7.23 - $10.394 options availableStrength: MediumCountry: NicaraguaWrapper: Ecuador Habano8 Reviewsread more
SAMPLERS
ACCESSORIES
CAO BRAND HISTORY
The CAO name is derived from the initials of brand founder Cano A. Ozgener who began his career in the tobacco business in 1968 by modifying and improving the designs of meerschaum pipes. An engineer by trade, Ozgener expanded his pipe business at the urging of a handful of tobacco shop proprietors who were impressed with the quality of his work. He later transitioned into the manufacture of humidors and parlayed the newly established CAO name into creating his own cigar brand during the cigar boom of the 1990s. Demand for cigars was at its height as the Nashville-based CAO Cigars debuted. Despite early manufacturing and supply-chain challenges, the brand eventually achieved a foothold in the premium market thanks to the efforts of Cano and his children, Tim and Alyin, who were on board to launch and manage the new cigar company.
CAO BRAND OVERVIEW
The first line to produce steady sales figures was CAO Maduro, rolled by the makers of Bahia cigars. The cigar featured a deep red band, reminiscent of Cuba’s Partagas Serie D No. 4, over a jet-black Maduro wrapper. Following this early success, production shifted to Nick Perdomo’s factory in Nicaragua, where the popular CAO Cameroon was created; while a successful flavored line, CAO Flavours, was developed at the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic. A handful of robust and edgy advertising campaigns garnered the brand attention from a more extensive consumer audience in conjunction with bestselling releases like the mild CAO Gold and hearty, double Maduro, MX2.
Eventually the bulk of CAO production would rest in the hands of the Torano family with whom the Ozgeners would jointly manage factories in both Danlí, Honduras and Estelí, Nicaragua. The Torano family’s primary initial contribution to the brand’s portfolio was CAO Brazilia, a full-bodied, earthy blend rolled with an oily Brazilian wrapper marketed with an eye-catching band rendered in bright yellow, green and navy, the colors of Brazil’s national flag. Positive reception to the 91-rated Brazilia prompted a handful of successive national-themed releases, including CAO America and CAO Italia.
Following a string of prosperous years, global conglomerate Scandinavian Tobacco acquired CAO from the Ozgener family in 2007 and subsequently folded the brand into the portfolio of General Cigar Company in a merger with Swedish Match AB. The company continued its market reach in 2009 with the launch of CAO La Traviata, a value-priced Cuban-heritage brand with origins that date back more than a century. The line also includes the notable La Traviata Maduro. The first official CAO releases under the management of General Cigar included CAO OSA Sol and CAO Concert which enjoyed moderate consumer appeal. The brand continues to innovate with contemporary lines such as CAO Flathead, a hefty box-pressed blend themed after pin-up girls and hot rods. Flathead achieved reputable status as a ‘Top 10’ blend in Cigar Aficionado’s rankings for 2015.
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