CAO America Potomac Review

For a very long time, America was like the heartland of tobacco and grew lots of tobacco. Many cigars were even made right in the United States, but over time, a lot of that work has moved to Latin America, where they do a sensationally good job of making cigars. It’s rare now to see a cigar that uses a healthy portion of American tobaccos in it; that’s the thing that sets the CAO America Potomac apart not just from the rest of the CAO line but from other cigars all over the place. The reason is that this stick has got five different tobaccos in it, and all of them are from the good old United States of America. It’s got a very thin barber pole profile, covered in this dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. We know a little bit about what flavors taste like in Latin American countries, but here we’re going to get a flavor profile that’s truly American.

The CAO America Potomac cigar has a smooth and seductive taste experience. These cigars are crafted by skilled artisans with carefully aged tobaccos that are sourced from growers in Honduras and Nicaragua. Hand-rolled, the Potomac cigar is great for long smoking sessions and has a medium-strength rating of 3 out of 5. The CAO America Potomac features a Connecticut broadleaf Maduro and Shade wrapper along with a premium Honduran binder. This classic cigar recipe yields bold notes of sweet leather, coffee, and dark chocolate, with an aroma reminiscent of cocoa.

Appearance of CAO America Potomac

This CAO America Potomac smoke is a mirror of the mesmerizing Potomac River, reflecting riverside forests, fields, and marshes in its oily, woody, and spicy leaves. A rich-tasting robusto cigar with 5 inches in length and a ring gauge of 56, this CAO offers a slow burn with smooth smoking characteristics.

Smoking Experience

It springs to life right from the beginning with flavor. A flavor that if I didn’t know was from America, I would say it might be from Nicaragua. It’s definitely got strength and presents; a lot of that may come from the American broadleaf wrapper on the outside, but we need to jump into the first third before saying anything else about it.

I can knock this cigar for one thing right off the bat, and that is that it’s not getting a fantastic burn. I’ve already had to touch it up a couple of times; it’ll lose some points for that, although when I’m smoking a barber pole, that’s something I’ve come to expect. I don’t know if it’s something that just regularly happens with barber poles; that has been my experience. As far as flavor goes, this stick is definitely in the realm of what I expect from Connecticut broadleaf wrappers. It’s got a very robust flavor, and the notes in there, it’s like dark chocolate coffee and leather. Nice and strong bold notes that will keep you coming back for a puff, so let’s go into the second third and see where this blend takes us.

In the second third, it’s still pretty standard Connecticut broadleaf which is not a bad thing at all. The burn remains to be just horrible, and I’ve had to touch it up constantly, but I will say a good thing about the cigar’s construction. I’m halfway through it, and it has not dropped the ash a single time; that’s got to get some points. The flavor on this cigar is carrying it through, and it’s definitely enjoyable. If you like fuller-bodied cigars, this is probably in your wheelhouse. The CAO America Potomac is actually just one blend in a whole series of cigars where they’re using tobaccos from all over the world. They’ve got other lines like the CAO Nicaragua, Colombia, Italia, and even the CAO Brasilia. There’s more than that, and this is something that intrigues me. I’m glad they’ve got one from America, but we got to go to the final third to see how this bad boy will score.

The burn on this seems to have just evened out but only right at the end of the cigar, which isn’t super helpful. Fortunately, the flavor on this cigar has been pretty good, and I’m excited to get a really good feel for what an all-American blend tastes like. It’s been a really traditional sort of Connecticut broadleaf taste which is actually one of the most incredibly popular things right now. Connecticut broadleaf cigars are coming out left and right, and everybody’s looking for them. The good news about the CAO America Potomac is that this is a highly competitive broadleaf cigar at right around seven to eight bucks per stick. It competes with a lot of the other boutique stuff out there. In my opinion, the flavor in this Connecticut broadleaf does actually compete with the flavor of those similarly boutique cigars. That’s great from a company as big as CAO because they’ve been around forever, making millions of cigars every year. So, to see that quality of flavor is something sort of special. My overall smoking time on this cigar has been about an hour and 18 minutes. If you like a full-bodied cigar with really robust flavors, then this is probably going to be your jam.

Overall Review of CAO Potomac

The CAO America Potomac is a cigar with robust flavors, giving you this dark chocolate, leather, and coffee taste. The construction is excellent, and the only downside is the burn. This is one of the best CAO cigars. Overall, it’s good, and I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a strong cigar with a lengthy smoking time.