Vitola: Box-Pressed Toro- 6.125” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $9.50
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
CAO has been on a roll for the past few years. Good new blends with fun marketing—like the Flathead, innovative blends—like the Amazon Basin series, and TAA-exclusives—like Expedición, the subject of today’s review. This marks the third year in a row that General Cigar’s contribution to the Tobacconist Association of America Exclusive lineup has come through the CAO division, following up the Esteli and Brazilia Select.
Expedición, like most TAA-exclusive selections, comes in a single box-pressed toro size and uses a blend of Nicaragua, Honduran and Dominican fillers, a Connecticut Shade binder leaf, and a Connecticut Broadleaf oscuro wrapper. It is made at the GCC factory in Honduras (Honduras-American Tobacco S.A. or HATSA). If you saw the recent announcement of the CAO Bones (a new regular release) you might recognize the blend components as being very, very similar, although Bones is made in the STG Estelí factory in Nicaragua…and they have been more specific about filler varietals for Bones. Could it still be the same blend made in a different factory? Yes…and that’s something I look forward to testing out when Bones becomes available. Also, it’s worth noting that Expedición and Bones will make at least four releases with Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers since Ricky Rodriguez took over as blender and brand ambassador, following Flathead and Session. Apparently he’s as much a Broadleaf fan as I am!
I bought Expedición at Burns Tobacconist, where I used to work. You can pick it up at TAA-member stores nationwide…there are about 80. I bought two and this review sample is the second time I’ve smoked it. I got some information about the blend from Cigar Coop’s news article.
Prelight
The band of the Expedición doesn’t have the name of the blend anywhere, which I see as a deficiency…I know people that can’t remember what they’re smoking while they have it in their mouth, much less a day or two later. The band does look cool, though with orange and blue main colors on an art deco motif. The band meets with the CAO “world” logo, indicating this is one of their blends that is meant to highlight tobaccos from far-reaching places.
The wrapper leaf was a very dark brown, the color of espresso beans, really. It had oils to the touch and some to the eye, and smelled of leather and earth. The foot was a lighter earth note with a mix of hay and cocoa powder thrown in for good measure.
Once I clipped the head from the Expedición, I got a very good draw that had some wood and some sweetness in amongst notes of medium-roast coffee and earth.
Flavor
Firing up the CAO Expedición, I was surprised by notes of cashew and cedar up front, with semi-sweet chocolate, earth, and black pepper coming in close behind. The retrohale had more woodiness and a fiery but brief red pepper heat. As I made my way through the first third, I got more chocolate with a slight increase in sweetness, along with a good amount of pepper, while the nuttiness and cedar fell back in the profile.
In the second third, I picked up some anise in the mix as the chocolate fell back into a semi-sweet place. Earth continued on fairly steady and cedar was mostly absent at this time. There was some pepper hanging on still.
The last third was increasingly earthy with cocoa powder and espresso bean coming in afterward and a good amount of pepper coming back to keep things interesting.
Construction
I had a very good draw, even burn line, and solid ash.
Value
I thought the flavor profile was well worth the slightly-less-than-$10 price tag.
Conclusions
Expedición was a good, fairly complex blend from CAO that showed a little difference from other blends in the lineup. It was similar to the Flathead, although with a little more complexity and a little less body and strength, making it a little more interesting than that blend at times. If Bones is anything like this, I predict it will be a good addition to the regular releases.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
