CAO Mx2 Toro

Featuring a maduro wrapper and binder, the medium-bodied CAO Mx2 is considered one of top maduro cigars being rolled today. Available on a limited basis throughout the year, it's difficult to find an Mx2 without putting your name on a long waiting list. Fortunately, we know people in high cigar places! Like all CAO cigars, the Mx2 (whose name derives from the double maduro leaves used for the wrapper and binder) has a flawless construction and a burn that makes it a solid performer every time you fire one up. Six countries produce the tobaccos that make up the medium-bodied Mx2. It's wrapped in a well-fermented broadleaf Connecticut Maduro, bound with spicy Brazilian Maduro and filled with sweet and spicy fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Peru. You can expect an intense and vibrant smoking experience, rich with flavor. Toasting and lighting will be quick and easy—look for a good volume of thick smoke. The draw is excellent, the ash light grey and firm. The aroma is rich and earthy with hints of black pepper. Look for the dense Maduro flavor, consisting of coffee and earth tones, to begin in the first third of the smoke. In the second third, the earthy flavors are replaced by the flavors of bitter chocolate and coffee. In the final third the coffee and bitter chocolate flavors—characteristic of the Connecticut Maduro wrapper—come through even more intensely. Expect a nice, slow burn and a smooth and creamy finish. Pair this one with a chocolate stout or Churchill's 20 Year Tawny Port.

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.