The newest limited edition from CAO is arriving at retailers.
It’s called CAO Arcana Mortal Coil, a 6 1/8 x 50 toro that is highlighted by Dominican andullo tobacco, a unique way of processing tobacco.
Most tobacco used for cigars is harvested and placed in pilones basically extremely large piles of tobacco that are rotated in and out as the leaves dry but andullo tobacco is picked and then wrapped into large pods known as
yaguas after being harvested. These pods are then rooted into the ground while the tobacco cures.
For this release, General Cigar Co. is using four filler tobaccos: the aforementioned Dominican andullo tobacco, Dominican piloto cubano, Honduran tobacco from the Jamastran Valley and Nicaraguan tobacco from Estelí. It’s wrapped in a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a shade-grown Connecticut binder.
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This week, retailers should be receiving the first cigar in a new limited-edition CAO series called Arcana, a brand that distributor General Cigar says is dedicated to “old-world tobacco processing methods.”
For the Arcana’s premiere release, General has rolled out the Mortal Coil, a cigar that measures 6 1/8 inches by 50 ring gauge and features andullo tobacco in the filler. The word coil is a reflection of the andullo, a rather rustic leaf that undergoes a rustic fermentation process. Instead of traditional bulk fermentation, andullo is rolled into long cylinders, tightly wrapped in palm tree pods and hung like a sausage. After two years, the leaves turn into dense logs of concentrated tobacco that’s typically sweet in character.
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Since 2004,
Cigar Aficionado has selected its Top 25 Cigars, with one cigar claiming the top spot as the definitive Cigar of the Year. It isn’t easy to stand out in today’s premium cigar industry, with hundreds of well-crafted smokes from numerous countries that use tobacco in ways cigarmakers of yesteryear might not have envisioned. However, year after year,
Cigar Aficionado’s expert panel of taste testers works its way through the lineup. In the end, the panel’s blind ratings analyze everything from shape and roll quality to flavor profile and draw, all of which combine to determine one winner.
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First there was the Punch Eggroll, and then the Punch Chop Suey. This month, General Cigar is delivering another entry inspired by the Chinese food menu the Kung Pow! An obvious take on Kung Pao chicken, the new Punch Kung Pow! cigar measures 6 inches by 52 ring gauge and has a suggested retail price of $5.99 each.
“The medium-to-full-bodied blend is vaguely sweet with an undercurrent of spice, just like the popular Chinese food dish of the differently-spelled name,” said Ed Lahmann senior brand manager for Punch.
Made in Honduras at the HATSA factory, Punch Kung Pow! is rolled with a five-country blend: Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, Honduran binder and filler from Brazil, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
El Rey del Mundo Joins The Forged Cigar Company Portfolio
The El Rey del Mundo brand is being added to the portfolio of Forged Cigar Company, the recently launched independent national cigar distribution network that handles a portion of General Cigar Co.’s portfolio.
The brand had previously been available exclusively through JR Cigar and Santa Clara Wholesale, but will now be available to all retailers.
El Rey del Mundo will be offered in six vitolas, with the Café au Lait using an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, while the other five sizes use a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper. All of the cigars use a Honduran binder and filler.