CAO Criollo Mancha

CAO Criollo Mancha (5.5 x 46). Didn't have many expectations going in to this one (either good or bad.) Prelight, there was that strong "barnyard" smell and the wrapper itself had was a bit spicy on the tongue. Firmly packed, no soft spots at all. Good start, there. Started with a very nice, even burn. The flavor surprised me a little. Not overpowering, but definitely interesting. Enough to keep me paying attention. The aftertaste was very mild and short-lived. With that flavor I expected a something more overwhelming. It was really hard to keep lit, actually. Which surprised me for the ring gauge. (Maybe I need to keep these a bit more dry?) Burned extremely slowly. Not a very firm ash, the slightest knock dropped it off. Draw was a little too tight for my taste and I wasn't getting a lot of smoke. Into the second half, getting a bit more spice and still well-balanced flavor. The first half was mild to medium, but it's getting progressively stronger. Burned hot all the way through and was getting somewhat spongy in that last third. I'd classify the flavor as smooth and mellow with a little kick at the end. But this cigar definitely needed a lot of babysitting to keep it going.

Related threads:

• tigbuddy reviews the CAO Criollo (Sep 2007) <- "After clipping the cap I took a long draw and ummm I like this one. Smooth draw with a slight sweetness." verhoevc also liked the Criollo but thought it took him down the path of CAOs that he didn't like (the rest of them), "that single Criollo was so good to make me give CAO all those chances over and over again, disappointment after disappointment."
• Matty_Vegas pans the CAO Criollo (Aug 2006) <- Ouch. "This stick of doom might just be the worst cigar I have smoked this year." For me the flavors were interesting enough to make it a decent smoke. I'd probably have another and don't consider it "bad" outright. A good thread with people on both sides, Zeebra notes that the "CAO Criollo seems to be a smoke that you either like or really hate."
• cvmfour recommends the Criollo for newbies (Jun 2004) <- "All in all I would reccomend this cigar to any newbie that wants a good smoke that will not overpower them."
• Ludwig reviews the CAO Criollo Conquistador (Dec 2003) <- I'm not sure that we're smoking the same blend here. He thought "this was a bland mild/medium smoke with no character, 1 dimmensional, pretty much just woody, with a lingering long finish" and I thought the flavor had a lot of "character" and that the finish was pretty short.
• Ginseng reviewed the CAO Criollo Conquistador (Oct 2005) <- and he found that the cigar doesn't go well with powdered doughnut, "Even more curious, taking a puff after a bite of donut (with coarse sugar topping) resulted in a very odd metallic taste that was not part of the character of the cigar at all." And yet still ultimately, "Satisfying, flavorsome, agreeable. Highly recommended."
• hbooker reviewed the CAO Criollo Conquistador (Nov 2002)<- With the Mancha as well, I agree that it's the finish that was the most surprising, "The finish was where this cigar lives IMO never getting a bit harsh it finished with such a great after taste it continued to build and started to show a hint of sweetness."
• Lumberg reviewed the CAO Criollo Pampa (Nov 2003) <- Okay, looks like I'm going to have to give the Pampa vitola a try since he thought "it drew probably the best of any cigar I have smoked" and that it had "Lots and lots of smoke" and "The ash was very cohesive, and the burn was perfectly even."
• statelandman adds the CAO Criollo Pampa to his ten worst list (Mar 2004) <- I can see what Zeebra was saying about either hate it or like it. statelandman launched in with "never until today have I smoked a cigar that was both salty and bitter" and thought the saving grace of the Pampa was its size, since "It allows you to throw it away after only a few minutes without feeling too guilty that you might be wasting something." Brutal.
• wk-mang liked the CAO Criollo Pampa (Nov 2002) <- He said, "a unique flavor to it but it was wonderful. I'm not sure how to describe it... some spice, a slight bit of "twang" and solid tobacco flavors that kept building and developing as I kept smoking." Twang works for me.
• hoshnasi reviews the CAO Criollo as part of a sampler (Jan 2007) <- He tells a great story about how his fiance hated the smell of this one in particular, "Jesus, when I came outside and smelled that cigar I thought this has to be the worst cigar Hoshnasi has ever smoked and I like your other cigars and pipes!" I didn't find it exceptionally pungent, but then again, neither did hoshnasi.
• SyrLinus liked the CAO Criollo Pato (Jan 2009) <- But what interested me about his review was that he took exception to the band, "One thing that both disappointed me was the band. While I liked the simpler paper band and it was loose enough to remove, it did tear too easily." I'm not sure I understand the problem exactly. Maybe SyrLinus collects bands? Was this one even worth collecting?

Also check out Gavin's review thread on a CAO sampler (Feb 2010) <- He's started out with the CAO Italia, which he found "to be mediocre at best." I can't wait to see the rest of the reviews.









PS: Thanks, lherzolite for your awesome index page of reviews. It's really helpful when I'm looking for comparisons for these reviews! Now I'll be a jerk and make a feature request: Fields for number of posts in the thread, whether or not it has pictures, and (this one is tough to automate) whether it's generally thumbs up or down. Seriously though, it's a fantastic resource, as is.

Great review as usual. I've got one of these as part of a CAO sampler. I was thinking of reviewing each of them in turn.