Cigar Weekly

C.A.O. International introduced the C.A.O. 1968 L'Anniversaire 1998 Cameroon line at the 67th Annual RTDA Show in Las Vegas in July. Following up on the successful L'Anniversaire Maduro, the 1968 L'Anniversaire 1998 Cameroon uses Grade One Cameroon tobacco for the wrapper. The binder and filler are Cuban seed grown in Nicaragua.

According to Jon Huber of C.A.O., the C.A.O. "Cammie" was not intended to be a spicy smoke. "C.A.O. was looking for a blend that highlighted the sweet caramel-like nature of good quality Cameroon wrapper without being overwhelmed by a spicy filler/binder combo. Creating a quality Cameroon wrapped cigar is tricky -- you have to make sure that you don't lose the essence of the sweet wrapper by having an overwhelmingly spicy filler; otherwise, why use a Cameroon wrapper? I would describe the C.A.O. Cammie profile as sweet caramel-like taste backed by a rich and earthy Nicaraguan filler/binder."

Tabacalera Perdomo manufactures the box-pressed 1968 L'Anniversaire 1998 Cameroon in the Dominican Republic.

Cigar Weekly reviews are blind taste tests conducted by our readers. Reviewers are sent three samples with all identifying marks removed. Reviewers are chosen randomly from the list of everyone that has signed the Cigar Weekly Guest Book. Their comments are below.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Charles Belida (charlieb): Unless I am mistaken, I recognize the distinct shape of this cigar. The cigars were relatively well constructed with a firm feel, nice cap, fine color and a wrapper that was fairly smooth. The cap cut nice and the draw was on the easy side. The pre-lite aroma was on the floral side.

Dave Ray Deibert (Purosdave): These cigars are extremely boxpressed and wrapped in a medium brown slightly golden wrapper. It is a toro sized cigar with a smooth, fine-veined wrapper. The 2nd cigar had some damage at the head probably from removing the band. The same cigar also had some discolorations and some oily sheen on the wrapper. Both samples had a couple soft spots. This cigar is most likely made by Perdomo.

David Burton (AZJarhead): The distinctive shape of this cigar is interesting. The flat box pressed shape is unlike any I've smoked. It has a medium texture with a medium cap combined with a firm bunch. A well constructed cigar.

Marty Wood (weinsur): The two samples were medium to dark brown in color and smooth to the touch with very nice wrappers. One was damaged in shipping and when I tried to smoke it I discovered that it was plugged so I am basing my review on only one of the samples. They were box pressed and screamed "Perdomo or Perdomo-made".

Robert S. Brown (Bobfire): There wasn't any need to guess what brand of cigar this was. It looked like the tongue depressors that Nick is famous for. The Cameroon wrapper and the size and shape made me pretty sure it was a CAO Cameroon in the Toro size. It looked great like most of Nicks products. Very smooth wrapper and fairly firm construction

Robert Tinning (gumby): The foot of the cigars were damaged, so the smoking experience was offset a little buy loose wrapper. Outside of that, nice appearance, though I'm not a big fan of the current fad for box pressed cigars, much less these extreme box pressed cigars. Feels funny in my mouth. If I wanted to smoke a rectangle I wouldn't usually be looking for a cigar...

Steven R. Case.Jr. (Jayhawk): A very good looking box pressed toro. The extreme box press gives me the idea that this is a CAO product. At first inspection, the cigars were firm and seemingly well filled. But a pre-light draw concerned me, as it was extremely loose.

Smoke Comments

Charles Belida (charlieb): The samples both lit well and produced plenty of smoke. There were no burn problems with my smokes which in itself made for an enjoyable experience. The ash was a medium grey, that was on the flaky side, which I attribute to the shape of the cigar. I would put the strength of this cigar on the mild side of medium. I did detect some slight vegetal and metallic notes in these cigars, but they did not last long. Nearing the end of the cigar I did detect a bit of spiciness. The finish tended to be a little dry.

Dave Ray Deibert (Purosdave): These cigars were on the lighter side of full bodied with a flavor associated with cameroon cigars. Some woody and spicy flavors are detected in the ample amounts of smoke that it produces. Has a great balance but has a slightly unfavorable aftertaste.

David Burton (AZJarhead): The first thing I noticed was an immediate burst of rich flavor. The draw was excellent with ample amounts of smoke. It had a perfect balance of flavors all the way through. A slight touch of bitterness combined with a light burn on the tongue only added to the pleasant experience. The rich earthy smoke left a nice aftertaste. I experienced a slight run problem with both cigars that evened out towards the middle. The run was not a major problem.

Marty Wood (weinsur): The flavor was very good and stayed consistent all the way through. A very rich cigar but not strong with a slight sweetness also. This cigar produced tons of smoke and the draw was effortless, just the way I like it. The bunch was firm and the ash was solid but the cigar became spongy at the end. The burn was good but did take some touching up while smoking it.

Robert S. Brown (Bobfire): The first cigar was a disaster and I pitched it part way through. It must have suffered from the mailing. It was harsh and had alot of trouble keeping it lit. The second one I waited till the last week before the review was due to smoke. It burned well and had a good basic tobacco flavor and a little hint of sweetness and toastiness. It was a good medium body smoke that I would like to try again and see if there is any consistency to the line. The second one had some wrapper splitting as I smoked it but I can't be sure that wasn't damage from shipping. The wrapper was very thin and delicate anyway. This is a hard one to judge due to the smoke and construction problems I had with the first one and the wrapper splitting with the second one.

Robert Tinning (gumby): Nice smoke, held a nice long ash. I'm guessing that these are the CAO extreme box pressed, and they matched the ones I have and tasted just as good. Regardless of what they are, they were a very nice smoke, though a little milder than I usually smoke.

Steven R. Case.Jr. (Jayhawk): This cigar is NOT for the weak stomach. This is the first cigar that has ever actually made me nauseous. I enjoy a strong cigar, but I'm going to have to draw the line here. It was one dimensional, with the prominent flavor being charcoal.

Summary Comments

Charles Belida (charlieb): I did enjoy these smokes and wouldn't mind having a few on hand if the price was right. It is an enjoyable early in the day smoke, as it approaches a medium body. I would say that there is a good balance in this cigar.

Dave Ray Deibert (Purosdave): This is a good cigar with lots of smoke. At times I was really impressed with the full flavor that it produced. A few times it became rather bland but recovered quickly. I would consider purchasing this cigar if it was not over-priced. Thank you Dan for including me in this review!

David Burton (AZJarhead): A very nice medium bodied cigar with generous flavor and ample smoke. The distinctive shape while adding to the experience could possibly have caused the run problem. A very enjoyable cigar.

Marty Wood (weinsur): Overall a great cigar with a good flavor. I'm still guessing this is a Perdomo product. I'd definitely recommend giving this cigar a try.

Robert S. Brown (Bobfire): I like to give the benefit of the doubt when doing these reviews. I would give this a thumbs up because I think all the problems I had were probably due to shipping. When the second cigar was burning properly I enjoyed the flavor profile. I think I will buy one of these at my local shop and give it another try and post it on the forum. I think this cigar could have been capable of scoring in the high 30s if all went well.

Robert Tinning (gumby): Nice cigar if you can get past the silly flat shape. If these are $4 or less, a great value and I recommend them as your everyday smoke. More than that and I can think of a dozen cigars I'd reach for first.

Steven R. Case.Jr. (Jayhawk): I'm pretty sure that these are the new CAO Extreme. And I found them to be extremely bad. I wouldn't recommend them to anybody, but I'm sure that there are people out there that like them.

Scores

 Review Results
Final Score: 36.4 out of 50

4 Star -- Excellent

There has been a rush in the last couple years to release new Cameroon-wrapped cigars and the C.A.O. 1968 L'Anniversaire 1998 Cameroon line was one of the first of the new brands, having been released in July, 1999. In the past, Cameroon wrapper was used almost exclusively with Dominican filler tobaccos and this cigar's Nicaraguan filler represents a departure from that. Blended specifically to bring out the Cameroon flavor, our reviewers described the flavor as mild and rich with some wood and spice flavors. A few noted a light sweetness, too. The cigar's unique box-pressed shape was easily identifiable and most reviewers correctly identified it as a Perdomo-made product. These cigars were in short supply when first release, but are now readily available at around $6.00 a piece in box quantities. Definitely worth trying.