CAO Flathead V660 Carb

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 Flathead was inspired by classic American hot rods and the vintage pin-ups that usually accompany them. In fact, the cigar’s flat head and squared off shape takes inspiration from old flathead engines. The V660 Carb you have in your shipment today is named after the carburetor, and the 660 is the length and ring gauge. Heavy in hand, this powerhouse features a Connecticut Habano-seed binder that secures a bevy of Dominican and Nicaraguan long-fillers. It’s all wrapped up in a stunning dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, and the cigar is then carefully and gently box-pressed. Full bodied and building in strength, expect notes of ripe fruit, molasses and leather. Not only did our panel love this smoke, so did Cigar Aficionado which awarded it an amazing rating of 95 (the highest rated 60-ring cigar, ever) and third place in their list of Top 25 Cigars of 2015. Impressive, powerful, and delicious, pair this smoke with an Angry Chair Brewing Fudge Bucket Milk Stout.

The Nicaraguan cigar industry originated when Cuban cigar makers escaped the revolution and re-established their livelihood in Nicaragua with Cuban-seed tobacco. Blessed with dark, rich soil, their new home was ideal for tobacco cultivation and Nicaragua quickly became known for cigars that rivaled Cuban quality. Unfortunately, revolution and war came to Nicaragua in the 1980s and devastated the industry, but it’s rebounded dramatically and is once again producing tobacco considered by many to be the finest in the world.

The Esteli Valley is in many ways the heart of Nicaraguan production and is known for its very powerful and spicy tobacco. The Jalapa Valley produces arguably the finest tobacco in the country: somewhat sweeter and less intense than Esteli, but extremely complex. The tobacco of the Condega Valley is often described as a blend of the other two regions.