CAO Extreme Toro

Founder and creator of CAO, Cano A. Ozgener, started making some of the best-known Meerschaum pipes in the world in his garage as a hobby. While traveling to different trade shows, he noticed the need for humidors and started making those as well. During the cigar boom of the 1990s, he was introduced to Carlos Toraño who then introduced him to Nestor Plasencia. The rest is, well, history as the pair began creating unique blends that have developed into the cigar brand that we all know and love today.

The CAO Extreme is not messing around. At first glance you’ll notice the oversized band and upon further inspection it will tell you everything you need to know about this one-of-a-kind powerhouse. It starts with a hearty blend of long-leaf ligeros from Honduras and Nicaragua with a dash of La Entradas long-fillers that is secured by a spicy Nicaraguan binder. This monster is finished off with a rich, dark, and oily Ecuadorian Habano ligero wrapper, at which point it is then laid down for a very long nap. The result is a powerful and rich bouquet of toast, charred oak, nuts, espresso, and black pepper which will intensify throughout the burn. Perfect for an after dinner smoke, enjoy it with a Pumpkin Ale.

Honduras has been a tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing area for hundreds of years, but it was the Communist revolution in Cuba that really put Honduras on the map. In the 1960s, many Cuban cigar makers fled their homeland and arrived in Honduras to re-establish their way of life. The immigrants took advantage of the climate, soil, and geography, which were well-suited to tobacco growing, and began producing high quality cigars. The center of the Honduran cigar industry is the city of Danli and the nearby Jamastran Valley. The majority of the world’s pure Corojo tobacco is grown here, now that Cuba has stopped production of this iconic, spicy, and rich variety in favor of Corojo hybrids. Other important areas of Honduran cigar production include the Talanga Valley, Copan, and Trojes.