Cigar Review: CAO Pilón

Cigar: CAO Pilón
Size: 7×48 (Churchill)
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $8.68 at my local B&M

My closest and most frequented B&M (which is actually a car wash with an owner who is a huge cigar nut) doesn’t always bring in a lot of new cigars. I know that I can tried and true great cigars there anytime. So when they get anything in that is new, I usually make note of it and figure out quickly if it is something worth trying. My latest visit found me face to face with a CAO that I wasn’t familiar with: the Pilón. The story of the Pilón involves using an Cuban fermentation technique from the 1800s:

This [fermentation technique] method involved hemming tobacco leaves together and stacking them, layer by layer, in a circular pattern. While building and tending to the round pilon took as much patience as it did skill, this method of natural fermentation maximized the flavor and color of the leaves.

Sounds interesting doesn’t it? Well, let’s get started…

Taking the Pilón out of the plastic wrapper, I found a soft spot in the middle of the cigar right away. While the empty space wasn’t much, it was enough give for me to notice. Wood notes and fragrances of cinnamon were found in pre-light aromas. After the punch and light, I found my first number of draws to be balanced with starting notes of wood and a bitterness which I couldn’t quite place. The bitterness wasn’t bad; it made for an interesting flavor blend with the wood. That flavor profile stayed true throughout most of the cigar. At the halfway point, I found spice introduced to the overall mix of wood and bitterness. In the last inch of the cigar, the bitterness departed while the wood and spice increased slightly and finished out the cigar. I would classify the cigar starting at medium body and finish around medium-to-full. Total smoking time was 1:30.

Besides the found soft spot in the cigar, the biggest issue I found with the Pilón I smoked was that if I were to take a pause in smoking, a minute for example, I basically had to take two to three draws to get it back going again. Perhaps my punch wasn’t sufficient or maybe it correlates to the soft spot…I don’t know. I do know that it kept me from enjoying the cigar more than I could have.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10

To recap the CAO Pilón:

• Without finding the soft spot and having any of the draw issues, this would have been a nine out of ten. It’s a good cigar, reminiscent in some ways to their La Traviata line, but still different.
• This cigar would appeal to all ranges of smoker, with a nice balance of flavors at a strength that all can enjoy.
• Cigar.com sells single sticks of these for $7.25 and $98.10 for a box of 20. Even still, what I paid for this at my local B&M is acceptable to me.
• I would consider buying more of these as I think my wife would enjoy this. I have one extra sitting in my humidor; I may follow-up on this after I smoke that to see if I encounter any similar problems.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.