CAO OSA "Lot 54" Review

CAO "OSA Lot 54" - 6 X 54. Wrapper - Honduras (San Augustin), Binder - Connecticut Broadleaf, Filler - Nicaragua & Honduras. Medium bodied.

Initial lighting taste - A very dry woodiness.

First third - Spice, dry wood and cinnamon. Balance is off with too much woodiness and cinnamon.

Second third - The cigar settles down in this third - spice picks a bit and there is now a sweet bready quality coming into play with cinnamon and an very interesting and surprising sour apple flavor. Balance is now very good with all the flavors meshing together nicely.

Last third - Spice continues with a very enjoyable sweet creaminess, sour apple and notes of cinnamon. Long finish of creamy spice and cinnamon.

Construction - Smooth textured, dry brown colored wrapper with no major veins. Attractive in appearance. Burn was straight with a salt & pepper colored ash that was solid and held on. Draw was a bit on the loose side but otherwise good.

A very interesting smoking experience - the first third I did not particularly enjoy - balance was off and I really thought that this cigar was not for me. By the end of the first third, the cigar was beginning to make an amazing transformation to a very well balanced, complex and tasty smoke. The sour apple flavor that I detected is one that I have not experienced before but I really liked a lot. It may not sound like a flavor that one might want in their cigar, but it really works very well with the other flavors in the OSA. In fact, the last two thirds of this cigar was so good, that it more than compensated for the first third so that this can still be considered a fantastic cigar. MSRP on this vitola is a consumer friendly $6.25 which makes this an affordable regular rotation cigar for those of us on a budget.