CAO L’Anniversaire Cameroon Belicoso

Body: Medium
Time: 1 hour 10 min.
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

    Pre Light: Very good draw, with a taste of cocoa powder. Wrapper is free from crinkle, defects, and zero water spots. This cigar has a wonderful box press to it, making it rectangular, with the band facing a long side.

    Light: The smoke starts out slightly spicy that eventually mellows into a peppery texture. About an inch in, the taste gives way to a buttery/creamy flavor. The sensation on the tongue is salty and bitter, but those tastes are not dominating. Refer to this article. A few inches in the smoke is spicy through the nose, but not on the pallet.

(I made a grave mistake with this picture, poorly lit on bright background. These will improve, but for now I pointed out the ash)

    At this point the taste is buttery/creamy and the sensation on the tongue is now balanced. The smoke now offers a slight nutmeg taste combined with cocoa and a hint of almond. The ash fell a couple puffs later, and the cigar had a delicious finale.

    Finale:  Now offering smooth cocoa, butter/cream, with a hint of almond, almost like pure natural homemade almond butter. Not a harsh or bitter finale at all...very well made cigar that can be smoked patiently with a perfect burn.

Box buy?: Absolutely. This cigar is one of the finest Cameroon smokes I have ever had, and will be changing my favorites accordingly.