Today's review is of the CAO Soprano. This cigar was created by CAO at the request of the folks at HBO in honor of their hit show "The Sopranos". I was a huge fan of the show and was a little worried that this might simply be a marketing gimmick. When I did some research into the cigar I found that it had been hailed as one of Cigar Aficionado's best cigars of the year in 2005. According to the CAO website the Sopranos are made with a Brazilian wrapper, Honduran binder and filler from Nicaraguan, Columbia and the Dominican Republic. This is the first Soprano either of us have ever tried. Once again we got these in an online special. They normally retail for somewhere north of $10.
The cigar is a very dark brown color with very small and not at all prominent veins. It is a solid cigar that is very firmly packed. This is consistent with my experience with the CAO Brazilla (one of my favorites). Randy found the draw to be a little tight as did I but not problematic.
We are pairing the smoke tonight with a Special limited Release Imperial Stout from Boulevard Brewery. this is a great example of an Imperial Stout, very rich with a chocolaty finish.
This cigar burned extremely well, with a tight burn line. It held a very compact and firm ash. the ash was grey/white in color and had no blooming. It burned extremely well from start to end. Many good cigars that we have smoked have had burn problem and required touch ups and/or re-lighting. That is always disappointing. Thus, we really appreciated the exceptional burning characteristics of this cigar.
Although this is a full-bodied smoke it was very smooth. It was strong but not at all overpowering. The taste stayed very consistent over the course of our smoke. Sometimes full-bodied cigars start out strong and their intensity grows. Others become increasingly acrid or bitter, this one did not. We thought it was a great smoke.
It is clear that the blenders at CAO took the creation of this cigar as seriously as the folks at HBO took the Sopranos. This cigar lived up to the hype. We have not always agreed with the good folks at Cigar Aficionado, but this one they got right.
We both gave this cigar a score of 4 (out of 5). Its score was hurt by its price. We would be hard pressed to pay $10 or $12 for this cigar, but would happily pay the $5 that we got them for. It is an excellent full-bodied cigar that we really enjoyed smoking. We would not offer one of these to a novice, but anyone who likes their smokes on the full side would really enjoy one of these. It paired very well with the Imperial Stout which is also a very strongly flavored beer. We will definitely be keeping our eye open for another special on these. I'd love to have a couple more in my humidor.
As with all great smokes the band went up on the wall where it will remind us of a great evening where friends enjoyed a lovely smoke, good drink, and stimulating conversation in the friendly confines of the Man Shed - Bully!
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