Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $7.99
- Samples provided by General Cigar Company
Background
In 2018, CAO Cigars produced their first blend featuring a Mexican wrapper: Zócalo. It was a limited edition, released around Cinco de Mayo and paying homage to gathering places in Mexican city squares. I reviewed the single size it was shipped in—a 6 x 60—and enjoyed it, although I found that it slightly overstayed its welcome…at least for me and my patience. Look…for me it takes a pretty spectacular blend to want it to stay around longer than an hour or so…and 6 x 60s tend to go an hour and a half or more.
Befitting the new rule of the post-FDA cigar marketplace, “What’s old is new!”…now Zócalo has been declared to be a full-time line from CAO with the implication that the “limited edition” version was a “test” to see if cigar smokers would enjoy and support the line. The biggest complaint they seem to have gotten was that it was available in only the single size…so now they have added two additional vitolas: Robusto and Toro. The blend features Nicaraguan fillers, a Cameroon binder, and a Mexican San Andrés Morron wrapper.
General Cigar sent me a 5-pack of these. This review is based on the fourth time I smoked this size. If your local shop isn’t carrying CAO, you can order them from our sponsor, Small Batch Cigar.
Prelight
The first thing you’ll notice on this release is that the box does not simply repeat the earlier limited edition box. And neither does the band. So you’ll be able to tell very easily if a store has the original LE from 2018 on their shelf. The new box is the same intricately folded paperboard that we’ve been seeing on CAO and Punch releases for several years now. The new version makes liberal use of red, white and green “Mexican flag” colors and seems to set it up as part of the company’s “World” collection in overall design. The band is just a subset of that design…red, white, and green, along with plenty of gold foil.
I found the wrapper leaf to be very similar to the original release…a dark chocolate brown color with a bit of oiliness to the touch and to the eye. This one was much more earthy in aroma, without the coffee beans I noted from the LE review. The foot was earthy, with more pronounced cocoa powder and coffee notes, along with a touch of grassiness.
Head clipped, I got a very good cold draw that had flavors of dark chocolate, hay, and earth.
Flavor
In this Robusto format, the Zócalo starts off with bold flavors of dark roast coffee, red pepper, earth, and cedar, while semi-sweet chocolate played around just below that. I picked up a slight anise note on the finish and the retrohale was peppery and woody. As I continued through the first third, I got a really nice mix of earth and espresso bean and cocoa powder, while the pepper spice mellowed out a bit.
As I got into the second third, I noted that the blend was hitting me as medium-to-full in body and I continued to get plenty of coffee, although not quite in the “espresso bean” category that I was before. Semisweet chocolate was coming through loud and clear and pepper was a nice accent.
The final third of the CAO Zócalo continued a pleasing mix of dark chocolate, earth, and coffee beans with charred wood and pepper to add complexity.
Construction
I had a very good draw, even burn line, and solid ash up to half an inch or so.
Value
I like this cigar a lot and the price tag is excellent.
Conclusions
I have to say that my suspicions were correct…this blend is even better in the Robusto format than it was in the 6×60. The blend is still an excellent example of taming the bitterness of Mexican wrapper with plenty of sweet and spicy notes that balance and add complexity to the proceedings. I will enjoy having this around as a regular option for the future.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
