Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
At the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show, General Cigars introduced a new offering under its CAO brand called CAO Session.
CAO Master Blender Rick Rodriguez was inspired to create CAO Session from spending time smoking cigars in his “man cave” in his garage. He was looking to create an everyday cigar that could be something special.
To create this cigar, Rodriguez went to the Dominican Republic. He teamed up with his former Team La Gloria colleague Yuri Guillen, who serves as the factory manager for General Cigar Dominicana. It’s the first CAO cigar created in the Dominican Republic in over a decade – with the last one being the CAO Vision.
Blend and Origin
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Vitolas Offered
Garage: 5 1/4 x 55 (SRP $8.59)
Bar: 6 x 49 (SRP $8.99) REVIEWED TODAY
Shop: 6 x 60 (SRP $9.59)
The cigar is very dark and contrasts nicely with the burnt orange foil band. The cigar has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were somewhat unusual. The front end flavor is a cedar/plum, some brown sugar, a touch of cinnamon, quite a bit of nutmeg, semi-sweet chocolate, and a black coffee base. There was a nice amount of black pepper which I rated at 7 to 7 1/2. The cedar/plum flavor is quite different but it's nice and keeps your interest.
At the first third (26 minutes) the plum-like flavor is still there. There is some earthiness that has popped up but by and large the flavors are like I initially described. The cigar is medium bodied but leaning heavily toward medium to full. The finish is one of chocolate and nutmeg with a nice amount of lingering black pepper. This is an interesting cigar. It has interesting flavors with plenty of dark notes but also adequate sweetness. I rated the first third at 92.
At the second third (53 minutes) the flavor notes are flowing along just about like they have been previously. The nutmeg is very smooth which gives an overall smoothness to the cigar. The chocolate has a touch of sweetness but not a lot. Most of the sweetness comes from the cedar/plum combination. And, there is a touch of brown sugar. The cigar is quite dark but it has enough sweetness to make it a nice maduro. The cigar is a high grade medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. Nothing much has changed so I maintained the previous score of 92 for the second third.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 16 minutes. In the final third the sweetness decreased while the nutmeg and coffee notes increased. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The cigar got darker with less sweetness but it's still something I could smoke again. Nice price point. This is not the best maduro I've had but it's not bad. I lowered the final third score to 90 with the decreased overall sweetness and elevated darker notes. 
Overall Score: 91.33
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