CAO Right Coast (6 3/4 x 72)

Video review HERE.



CAO Right Coast is a limited edition cigar that is one of the most strange looking shapes I've ever seen. If you're wondering there is also a Left Coast version. The Right Coast is available to cigar shops on the east coast, thus the name Right coast.

Not a lot is known about the make-up of the cigar but I'll tell you what I do know. It has a Connecticut Boardleaf wrapper. The binder and
filler are unknown but I heard there is some Colombian tobacco in it.

Only 400 boxes of 14 cigars were made.

The cigar is trapezoidal shaped; somewhat triangular but not quite. This is a large cigar, so you lovers of large ring cigars may want to try this one.

The price is rumored to be around $8 each, so the price is right to try one.


The cigar, as you could expect, has a nice feel in the hand. You will have to decide how you want to hold this cigar while smoking it. I found that it felt best to hold it with the flat side on top.

I also had difficulty in cutting the cap. With a cigar of this size it's not easy to cut the cap. I finally used Xikar scissors. All I could cut was the top portion of the cap. The test draw was a little firm but workable.

The first flavors were espresso and earth with a touch of cedar but it's hard to detect it with all the espresso notes. The pepper is very low with about a 3 or 4 in intensity. There are some sweet notes but I cannot identify them at this early point.


About 1/2 inch in the burn is very off. I'm smoking the cigar slowly as it is so large but the burn is not cooperating. The flavors are still heavy espresso, earth, and now there are some lightly sweet cedar notes and cocoa notes. The pepper is unchanged. The finish is sort of a cocoa cream with very little lingering pepper. The cigar feels full bodied but it may be all the heavy dark notes making it seem full bodied.





About 1 1/2 inches in the burn is still bad. I am hopeful it will self correct and I do not want to touch it up. The flavors, however, have improved. The earth notes have decreased. The espresso is more in line with straight coffee. The cedar notes are elevated with some sweetness and the cocoa notes are also elevated. The pepper is up to a 6. The finish is more of a sweet cream with some lingering pepper. By the way, the pepper is a black pepper. While the flavors have improved the burn is really frustrating. The cigar is more a medium to full bodied now.




 As I approached the band the burn is still off. It improved since the last segment but it's still not even. The flavors have cycled back around to heavy espresso and earth. The cedar and cocoa notes have decreased. You're pretty much back to the way it was at the beginning. Everything else is about the same with the exception the lingering pepper has improved. In fact, I think the pepper is better on the finish than it is on the front end!


 
 At the end the burn got even worse. The flavors in the cigar were not bad. I enjoyed the coffee notes, cedar, and cocoa. I'm sure the folks at CAO thought it was a good idea to shape the cigar like this and while it's cool to look at it just does not burn evenly. So, scoring the cigar I took everything into consideration and the burn really pulled the cigar down.

 Score: 85