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09-10-2009, 04:33 PM

Here's my understanding:

CAO introduced the Black 11 years ago, but then it was discontinued. They re-introduced it as a CI exclusive a few years back (supposedly the same blend). Although CI (actually, Swedish Match and all their companies -- CI, cbid, cigar.com, etc.) has had the exclusive distribution in the US since this cigar was re-introduced, I'm not sure if that holds true for other markets such as Europe. Note this is different than the CX2, which was introduced as a general-market cigar and then purchased by Famous Smoke as an exclusive.

If you ask most CAO reps about they Black, they will either look at you like you're crazy or tell you it was discontinued years ago, lol.

The VR was introduced as another CI exclusive cigar more recently. It was originally promoed as a Black with a maduro wrapper, but I don't think that's actually true.

I love, love, love the CAO Black. Definitely one of my 2-3 favorite CAOs and one of my 4 favorite Connecticut-wrapped sticks (Cabaiguan, 601 Black, and Perdomo ESV being the others). It's an awesome stick.

The VR is also good, but for CAO maduros I prefer the Brazilia and Italia above the VR.

09-10-2009, 04:33 PM	#6
njstone Guest Posts: n/a	Re: CAO Black and CAO VR Here's my understanding: CAO introduced the Black 11 years ago, but then it was discontinued. They re-introduced it as a CI exclusive a few years back (supposedly the same blend). Although CI (actually, Swedish Match and all their companies -- CI, cbid, cigar.com, etc.) has had the exclusive distribution in the US since this cigar was re-introduced, I'm not sure if that holds true for other markets such as Europe. Note this is different than the CX2, which was introduced as a general-market cigar and then purchased by Famous Smoke as an exclusive. If you ask most CAO reps about they Black, they will either look at you like you're crazy or tell you it was discontinued years ago, lol. The VR was introduced as another CI exclusive cigar more recently. It was originally promoed as a Black with a maduro wrapper, but I don't think that's actually true. I love, love, love the CAO Black. Definitely one of my 2-3 favorite CAOs and one of my 4 favorite Connecticut-wrapped sticks (Cabaiguan, 601 Black, and Perdomo ESV being the others). It's an awesome stick. The VR is also good, but for CAO maduros I prefer the Brazilia and Italia above the VR.