A friend of mine over at StogieNewb gave me this smoke and asked me to try it. I let it sit in the humidor for only 2-3 days before I lit it up. I’ve smoked a few CAO cigars before, but apparently I’ve never blogged about them. The reason for this might be that they just aren’t really that memorable. The CAO ‘VR’ holds true to that thought.
The burn was even, and the smoke was plentiful, but overall I thought this was a rather mundane smoke. I tasted a deep leathery taste, with hints of pepper, especially at the beginning of the cigar. It was almost dry tasting because of the strong leather flavor. The cigar is also advertised to contain some sweet hints during the smoke, but I didn’t experience that at all. I think the over-powering leather taste killed it for me, to be honest. I kept waiting for it to lighten up and get into a smoother taste but it never did happen. I find myself enjoying a medium-bold cigar these days, and I think the body of this cigar was fine, but the taste itself just never did grab my interest.
Another friend gave me the CAO Brazilia, so I’ll try that one next and post it here. I don’t imagine I’ll be picking up another ‘VR’ anytime soon though.