After a 13 year hiatus, Rick Rodriguez has brought the CAO Vision back. With a new blend and new and improved LED box lighting, this cigar was released in early November 2020. I received samples of the VISION from STG for review.
Vision is available as a 7 x 50 Churchill only and CAO only made 2,500 boxes for US distribution. The new blend consists of a Cameroon wrapper placed over an Ecuadoran Sumatra binder, which surrounds Nicaraguan Habanos fillers from Estelí and Jalapa.
The Experience
The first thing you notice is the large prism that is part of the main band. As you turn the cigar, the bright, colorful 3D graphics catch your eye. Below the prism is the word VISION and the foot band has the word CAO in similar prism like fonts.
The toothy Cameroon wrapper is a Colorado shade and has several prominent veins and visible seams. The triple cap is smoothly applied. There is an aroma of sweet tobacco coming from the wrapper.
The finished foot gives off the scents of straw and hay.
After giving the cap a straight cut, the pre-light draw was excellent with sweet tobacco and hints of cherry.
The cigar starts off with a mild to medium pepper sensation in my sinuses via the retrohale with an abrupt finish. While on my palate, I picked up on smooth earthy tobacco that coated the tongue.
About halfway through, the retrohale picks up some strength and ends with a long. Lingering finish. Flavors on my tongue are consistent with the beginning.
In the home stretch, the retrohale is very strong with the longest finish yet. On my palate, the tobacco flavor becomes richer and has a strong, lingering finish.
The cigar had an excellent burn, a nice tight ash that was gray in color and produced excellent smoke volume with every puff.
[su_box title=”Summary” style=”soft” box_color=”#e1dddd”]The CAO VISION is a medium to full bodied, medium to full strength cigar that has great flavor and performance. I felt each smoke was an excellent experience and would definitely smoke these again.
Overall I rate the CAO VISION as a 91.6[/su_box]
Have you ever smoked a CAO VISION either back in 2007 or this new release? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!