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Cigar Geeks Geek Critique

CAO Arcana Mortal Coil Toro
Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Kent (05Venturer)

96
Cigar Geeks Rating

Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique generously sponsored by our member Cfickter (Chuck). The cigar provided for this round is the CAO Arcana Mortal Coil Toro.

To honor the "old-world tobacco processing methods", CAO is revisited the unique old and rustic fermentation process of Andullo tobacco into their cigar the CAO Arcana Mortal Coil.  Like the name states, this cigar takes a rustic leaf of Andullo tobacco and rolls it into long cylinders, then wraps them tightly in palm tree pods and hangs them up like a sausage to undergo fermentation for two years. This results in typically sweet, dense logs of concentrated Dominican tobacco. These "logs" are then combined with a Connecticut shade binder and a filler blend of Honduran tobacco from the Jamastran Valley, Nicaraguan tobacco from EstelĂ­ and some Dominican Piloto Cubano and encases it all inside of dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper.




CAO Arcana Mortal Coil Toro

Brand:
CAO
Name:
Arcana Mortal Coil Toro
Length:
6.1
Ring Gauge:
50
Country of Origin:
Nicaragua
Filler:
Dominican Republic
Honduras
Nicaragua
Binder:
Connecticut Shade
Wrapper:
Connecticut Broadleaf
Color:
Maduro
Strength:
Full
Shape:
Toro
Average Member Purchase Price:
$9.24
Average Member Rating:
4.5 star rating based on 3 Review(s) (3 Review(s))
Notes:
This cigar takes a rustic leaf of Andullo tobacco and rolls it into long cylinders wraps them tightly in palm tree pods and hangs them up like a sausage to undergo fermentation for two years. This results in typically sweet, dense logs of concentrated Dominican tobacco. These "logs" are then combined with a Connecticut shade binder and a filler blend of Honduran tobacco from the Jamastran Valley, Nicaraguan tobacco from EstelĂ­ and some Dominican Piloto Cubano and encases it all inside of dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/cao-arcana-mortal-coil
This cigar was enjoyed with Coffee

Pre-Light: 10 Points of 10 Possible

This is a really nice looking cigar with very minimal veins and zero soft spots. I have smoked several of these previously and they have all been super consistent and this one shows to be the same. The stick has just enough give on the cannon and a very smooth wrap and no defects to be seen.

Lighting and Burn: 13 Points of 15 Possible

Burn is razor sharp with the ash holding on for well over an inch if I don't tap it off. Ash is a mix of light and dark grey and just a bit flaky but not bad. Smoke volume is great with plenty but not overpowering the smoking room. 1/3rd in the burn wavered just a bit but did not need any help as it straightened itself out in short order and was fine the rest of the smoke until about the middle of the 2nd half where the burn got just slightly wavy but nothing to cause any smoking issues or require any touch ups.

Construction: 29 Points of 30 Possible

Draw is spot on with just enough resistance. Cap cut clean with a straight cut and wrapper looks great with a dark cocoa color and zero defects visible. Construction is fantastic with virtually no flaws that I can pick out. I really find it tough to find anything wrong worth dinging this cigar on other than a tiny piece of wrapper did come off when removing the coiled band but did nit affect the smoking experience at all.

Flavor and Aroma: 44 Points of 45 Possible

1/2 -  Strength in this is on the medium full side with a great black pepper on the retrohale. Notes of cocoa, earthiness, nuts and a bit of spice. Nearing the halfway point I find that the black pepper on the retrohale has kicked it up a bit more that at the start of the smoke. I am also picking up a leathery hint as well.

2/2 -  Coming into the second half of the smoke I find that all of the flavors are still there from the start with an addition of a slight metallic (which I enjoy as long as it's not overpowering). The pepper on the retrohale has also tamed down a bit and is very enjoyable. This cigar does have some slight complexities thru the smoke but the changes are subtle and well received.

Summary

Big thanks to Chuck for sponsoring and letting me review this fantastic cigar. It was a great Christmas Eve morning smoke.  As noted previously I have smoked several of these previously and find that they never disappoint. I recently picked up a box of these as they are a limited run and wanted to make sure I can enjoy more of these as they age in my humidor.


   
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