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CAO Vision Prana/Catalyst Cigar Reviews
By Daniel | February 26, 2008
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Brand: CAO
Line: Vision
Vitola: Prana (Torpedo 6.25 x 52), Catalyst (Robusto 5 x 50)
Origin: Dominican
Wrapper: Domincan
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, Brazilian
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Box Price: $320 (Box of 20)
I’m always for lighting up a much-hyped cigar. And few have been hyped more than the CAO Vision, Cigar Aficionado’s #9-ranked cigar of 2007.
In the cigar blogosphere, CAO seems to have a reputation for flexing more marketing muscle than other companies. For the Vision, perhaps it’s justified.
It’s CAO’s first Dominican-made cigar, and it comes in some rather innovative packaging: a high-tech humidor complete with a built-in hygrometer, a digital display and neon blue LED lights. It’s an impressive-looking thingamajig, and the cigars are equally impressive.
The Vision has a veiny, four-year-old Dominican Corojo wrapper, an earthy, leathery scent, along with a good prelight draw. Both the Prana and Catalyst vitolas continued to draw extremely well as I smoked them down. They continued to taste earthy, but they smoothed out towards the middle, as hints of cream and roasted peanuts were added to the mix, probably from the aged wrapper. At the end, the Vision got a tad spicy, which I also enjoyed.
Verdict: The burns on these were even, but slow, so I smoked the Prana for almost two hours, and the Catalyst for about 80 minutes. The Vision is extremely consistent through these two vitolas — I didn’t try the Epiphany (Toro, 6 x 50) — but I think you’ll find it’s a pleasant cigar overall. With a price tag of $12-$16, it’s a good medium-bodied, special-occasion smoke.
Similar cigars: The Graycliff Crystal, which I’ll hopefully have a chance to review soon.
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Tags: CAO Cigars, CAO Vision, cigar, Cigar Reviews, Daniel
Topics: Cigar Reviews |
February 26th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I’ve had one of these sitting in my humidors for ages, I gotta get around to smoking it.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I agree. I have smoked the Epiphany a few times.It is too pricy for me to buy a full box,but it is a great occasional smoke.They burn great and the taste is true from start to finish.Is too bad that the “hype” has overshadowed the cigar for what it is.In my opinion,it should not be priced higher than $8 a stick
February 26th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Has it truly been overshadowed? And why is $8 the magic number? I’m not calling you out, Brian, but I’ve heard that $8 way too much. I heard the Stogie Review guys throw out that #, and I’ve heard it elsewhere as well.
You say the taste is true and it’s good from start to finish. Is the only thing holding you back the price? If so, I completely understand. I love my $1 Flor de Olivas as much as the next guy.
But I’m willing to take the plunge into an expensive smoke occasionally, and, in my opinion, this is a pretty damn good cigar. What would you guys spend $12 on?
February 26th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I must admit that I’m one of those guys that has been holding back on these cigars because of the reviews that say it is over priced. Though $12 is over my price range on cigars most of the time I do splurge every once in a while. I will get around to trying the Vision but I’m in no hurry.
Daniel, for me $8 is getting around the price where I cut myself off though it is closer to $6-$7. If I pay over that I expect to be blown away with flavor and burn. Though I have limited experience with them I would pay $12 for a limited hard to find cigar. But then again it would have to be the perfect time to smoke it.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Fair enough. But when you splurge, what do you splurge on?
Brian - Please don’t feel like I was taking a cheap shot at you. I agree with you, for the most part, but I really want to know what you’ll spend your money on!
February 26th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Fellas-
You guys all seem pretty pampered….an average cigar here in Minnesota is around $12 with our lovely 70% smoke tax. I would buy Visions in fistfulls if they cost only $9. Try $23-$25 here! I liked the two Visions I’ve smoked, but that was early on when they started showing up one box at a time in shops late last year. And everyone who I have seen smoke one or talked to who smoked one had the same problem….a horrible burn. Now, Jack might have licked this problem by smoking it super slow. But I’ve seen the burn running up one side in the nastiest ways on these Visions. I do think they are overpriced and I’ve notced CAO has set the box price standard no matter where you buy them. So, you won’t find a cheap box anywhere. And I’m sick of people ripping CAO for their marketing gimmicks. Look, they have helped make cigar smoking cool again and pobably help get younger guys like myself into smoking cigars at all. So, we have to give them credit for expanding the cigar world and trying new things, don’t we? And I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad CAO except those nasty Flavorette things.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Man, a 70% smoke tax? Holy crap!
Joe - I don’t think I smoked any of the Visions that slow, but it’s always a possibility. But I agree with your take on its marketing strategy. I did a Q&A with its lifestyle marketing director Jon Huber for a piece in Marketing News (I’m a reporter for them.)
Check out the piece on CAOCigars.com, and click through to “Press”. (Damn Flash page won’t let me give you an exact URL!)
February 27th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Daniel, padron, Opus X, Ashton (close if not over $12) and I’m sure I will spend it on a Vision at some point. Hell I have yet to have a Soprano even though I was at the gaming show when we rolled out the slot machine game with James Gandolfini and Steven Schirripa. They had samples but I missed out :(
I think this all depends on the tax as Joe brought up and your budget. Since I rarely spend $12 or more I would most likely pick a proven smoke over one that has mixed or bad reviews. I’m not haten on anyone, someone that has the money to spend that much on a more regular basis will have more freedom.
Joe, I think CAO has the best marketing strategy in the business. I just take it with a grain of salt and do my research before jumping in full throttle.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I’ve had these. They are pretty good. One thing you may want to consider if you buy a box is that you can turn around and sell the cool humidor on ebay for about $75. If you don’t care about collecting interesting boxes, knocking $75 off the price does bring things down into a reasonable level. You should also look around. I paid something in the neighborhood of about $260 or so when I bought my box of Pranas a few months ago, so you might find a better price than $320
February 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Good ol’ eBay!
February 28th, 2008 at 11:26 am
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