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CAO contruction and Gurkha Questions

wydog

New Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2009
Messages
16
My girlfriend and her best friend are in the next room over smoking a fake cohiba that's been sitting out for at least 6 months (perhaps induced by too much peach vodka) so I am here asking questions. I did search this time so I hope this hasn't come up a bunch before.

1. I just smoked my third CAo (Brazillia, LX2, and Italia) and have had draw issues with two of them. The Brazillia was far too tight, I couldn't smoke it. The Italia was tighter than I like at first but loosend up towards the end. Is tight draws a CAO characteristic? I'll admit I like a pretty light draw but is this something usual?

2. I was perusing CI and saw the deal of the week on Gurkha Centurian Perfecto? Anybody smoke these? Wanna point me to a review or at least fill me in?
 
1. I haven't noticed any recurring draw issues with CAO's, though I haven't smoked one in a month or two.

2. I tend to avoid Ghurka's, and CI for that matter. Look around our retailer forum and see if there are any deals that appeal to you, some first class folks there selling some good smokes.
 
I recently tried a CAO Italia from CI and it too was plugged up. I didn't even smoke a quarter of it before I gave up and grabbed one of my "go to" sticks. I'll give it another go sometime.
 
I'm a big CAO fan. I know what you're talking about. All the Brizilla "2" I've smokd were tight. All the Cameroon Golds I've smoked "2" were really loose. I like a tighter draw. I don't like the feeling of sucking through a straw. You can give a like massage and help loosen it up a bit.

-Gianni-
 
I've smoked a handful of Brazilias in a few different vitolas (Gol!, Lambada, and Samba) and, while they were on the tighter side of the draw spectrum, none of them were unsmokeable. I don't have enough experience with the rest of CAO's line to make a sound judgement about their construction.
 
It is interesting that you mention both those brands, as Torano has a great deal to do with making them both.

If you get a chance to watch the video "Seed to Soul" you will see Tim talking about how all CAO's are draw tested in the factory. So in theory they should always draw pretty even. In practice however, a machine may not be able to tell us anywhere close to what the "light up" experience can about a cigar. At least the damn machine had better not enjoy it as much as I do :laugh:

Hope I helped.
 
I've found the Cx2s to have less of a draw issue and have found the LX2 that I'm smoking right now to be a bit tighter than expected. It loosed after the first few draws. BTW, an awesome cigar.
 
I've only smoked a few CAO Brazil and I do remember a draw problem on a couple of them. The Italia has seemed OK to me. I smoked an LX2 tonight and had some burn issues with it.

I've smoked one or two Centurians and enjoyed them. I have some friends who are big fans of this Gurkha blend and buy them everytime they're on special. I bought 36 of them, 12 for me and 12 each for two friends.

There are myriad Gurkha available, and some I think are really good. Of course, some of them I think are ass. All of them are overpriced if you were to pay MSRP.
 
Both of the Brazilias I've smoked wereon the tight side, but not so tight I couldn't smoke 'em down. Tighter than average, probably.
 
I smoke CAO on a fairly regular basis and have not noted any recurring draw issues.
 
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