CAO Brazilia Piranha!
4 1/2 ring gauge x 46"
Reviewed by Dave Francis
Ay Caramba !! A small cigar with a large bite !!
If smoking a
complex, lively cigar is one of the great pleasures in life,
then writing a review for it can be quite taxing. Lordy,
this is quite a cigar to properly describe. The very aptly
named CAO Brazilia range is very South American in nature -
full of life and fire and zing and never, never pedestrian.
The last thing you could call a CAO Brazilia is "boring".
Strangely
enough, the Brazilia range has little to do with South
America. Admittedly, the wrapper itself - a dark, dark black
aripicara leaf - is from Brazil, but that's that - the
Piranha's insides are solidly from Nicaragua, which was in
Central America last time I looked in an atlas. Whatever the
contents of the Piranha are, the label is a little work of
art in itself and certainly looks Brazilian. I've smoked
some decidedly hideous Brazilian cigars in my time - never
say no to a free cigar - but, worry not, gentle reader, as
the CAO Brazilia range is decidedly a high quality,
enjoyable smoke which should remind the smoker of "Brazil" -
sambas and wild nightlife and fiery women. Curiously enough,
most Brazilian cigars don't seem to remind me of Brazil at
all. So, if you're ready for a little samba - let's have a
look at this particular bit of someone's rainforest.
As with most CAO
cigars, the Piranha looks lovely. A dark, dark brown wrapper
- almost black - surrounds a very well made stick indeed. I
have to say that I find the wrappers on the Brazilia range
fascinating and wonder how long these are left in the sun -
they're an inky black, and a wonderful example of the
tobacco growers' art. Let's not denigrate the rollers,
either - the Piranha is a very nicely made cigar, perfectly
rolled, with a wonderfully closed head. The foot on the
review sample I received was cut at a slight angle - no
matter, mere detail.
The CAO Brazilia
Piranha was a solid example of a good quality cigar, and it
was pretty solidly rolled too. The words "rock hard" sprung
to mind. Most CAO cigars, with the exception of the Cameroon
range, are very tightly packed - more so than a Cuban.
Typically, draw is pretty much unaffected and since
Nicaraguan bodied CAO's tend to be somewhat better in terms
of consistency than their Cuban counterparts, one can infer
that the roller knew what he was doing when he rolled this
one. I tend to prefer to let my Nicaraguans spend quite some
time in the humidor first, and the Piranha had had a decent
enough sleep in there before being seized upon and
decapitated with a very positive snick. CAO's always seem
very hard and on the dry side to me - the Piranha was no
different. I've learnt to stop assuming that every cigar
behaves like a Cuban. Whereas such a tight pack and a
hard-to-cut head would cause concern amongst the hardened
Havana cigar smoker, I've learnt to accept that CAO's are
somewhat different in their "handling characteristics" -
they all smoke fine.
With no problems in
getting air down the stick, I reached for the matchbox. Two
matches and a judicious blow on the foot got the CAO burning
cherry red and I was rewarded by an immediate wonderful spicy,
peppery initial taste with low notes of cocoa or chocolate.
Absolutely wonderful. It's hard to imagine that such a small cigar
could provide such an interesting, complex set of tastes but the
diminutive Piranha does so with aplomb. Nor is the Piranha a biter
- all the taste occurs at the back of your throat. Some CAO's
produce an overflow of pepper or spice in the nostrils - not so
the Piranha, which is a remarkably well behaved cigar. CAO, of
course, pride themselves on producing cigars which are "Cuban
like" in taste - so they say - and I was definitely reminded of
the initial burst of flavour one gets when lighting up a Monte #4
- or rather, I should say, when one lights up a good quality Monte
#4. Variability is not an issue with the CAO range. I wish I could
say that about Montecristos.
However, as we got
underway, I kept reminding myself that the CAO didn't exactly
taste Cuban. Matter of fact, it didn't taste Nicaraguan, either.
What it did taste like was just wonderful. As the initial burst of
flavour subsided, along came a great peppery, spicy taste with
lots of initial cedar. A spicy almost Cuban bottom note with
pepper at the top - I was astonished that a cigar so small could
have such a big, sparkly taste. Lovely. Unlike a lot of Nicaraguan
cigars, there was no nutty taste nor were the flavours presented
in a "cloud" - they were sharp, defined - though not so defined as
a real Havana cigar. Rich, dark and deep - an inch in and the
Piranha hadn't spent a second in the ashtray at all. Who cared
where it was from ? This was quite a cigar indeed.
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CAO certainly got the
name right on the Brazilia range. Fiery, snappy, sparkly little
beastie that it was, the CAO was fully occupying my attention. Not
one for the Gentleman's Club, this - I'd smoked a good Monte 2 the
night beforehand, and the CAO, whilst having a similar sort of
flavour, was a totally different proposition - the Monte was, as
they are, a reserved, complex, austere smoke - the Piranha picked
similar sort of flavours up and threw them across the room at you.
This was a cigar for younger smokers - not a pompous old
fuddy-duddy of a stogie, this one would do the samba with you at
three o'clock in the morning. The Carmen Miranda of the cigar
world, I thought, herfing away like a madman. Did I like it ? I
certainly did, and there was more to come - much more.
As the Piranha and I
got a little more acquainted, the initial pepper note was being
replaced with a Monte like zing, and the cedar began to fade into
the background - the samba tempo went up a notch. Although the
pepper was still there, a more complex and full taste was
developing. One of the reasons I love the Brazilia range is that
they tend to remind you of a different cigar with each drag - at
one point, the Piranha was reminding me of a Hoyo corona, the next
of an RyJ Cedros. Brazilias tend to change flavour several times
as they're smoked - they tend to be a pig to review, but you'll be
smoking them, I hope, not writing about them. Suffice it to say
that they're extremely interesting indeed, and unlike any Cuban
I've ever smoked. Yes, they're definitely "Cuban like" once you
get underway - not exactly a Havana cigar, but a very, very
interesting approximation of Cuban tastes. Does it matter ? Nope.
Smoke it and see !
A couple of inches in,
and the Piranha hadn't yet seen the ashtray. I was riveted. All in
all, the best analogy I could make was that I was smoking
something like a Monte which'd had 10,000 volts put through it.
There was a slightly sweet note of cane sugar and cocoa or coffee
tastes in there somewhere. Despite gross herfing abuse by your
humble scribe, strangely enough, no burn problems had developed at
all. The Piranha, being tightly rolled, was also a very slow
smoker. Although it's not the longest cigar in the world, you'll
certainly spend your time wading through this one. We were well
underway, the Piranha and I - and it was certainly behaving
itself, which was more than I was. If I was too enthusiastic, I
received a very peppery taste in the nostrils - I began wishing
I'd had a drink at hand (probably a rum ) to accompany the Piranha
- alas, the antibiotics I was on at the time said "no" - but even
with the occaisional nasal pepper overdose, the Piranha was a
good, well behaved stogie. Still Monte like in nature, the CAO had
a black coffee taste mixed in with a peppery top note and with
occaisional hints of sweetness, it was a cigar I was well and
truly enjoying. Always a surprise, the CAO rated "unputdownable"
in my book. I only managed to return the CAO to the ashtray when
the great column of rock hard whitey-grey ash threatened to make a
mess of the sofa. Brazil, here we come……
This was - in an age
of anodyne, characterless cigars, a cigar with real personality.
It was deep, dark, rich and complex and seemingly changed
character with every drag. I know I've classified this as a
"younger persons' cigar" - it's definitely not a staid, boring
smoke - but older hands will love the CAO Brazilia range for its'
referential characteristics - it reminds you of so many Cubans
previously smoked. I was enjoying the CAO so much that I was
astonished to see that I'd reached the half way point - time for a
few taste notes. Half way in, I was smoking a sweet and full
flavoured cigar of medium strength which - although it reminded me
of so many cigars, really said "Montecristo" to me - or rather,
shouted it. The "Monte plus" flavours weren't as defined in the
CAO as in a Cuban cigar - did I care ? Not a jot. It didn't get so
much as "in yer face" as "bite yer nose off and spit it out".
Lovely.
Smoking further, the
CAO began to define its' flavours more clearly, become very "Cuban
like" in nature. It had softened to coffee, pepper, Cuban-like
spice, sugar - absolutely wonderful. I sat back, blissfully happy,
dropping rock hard ash all over the sofa and not caring one iota.
The CAO starts off all fireworks and samba and then becomes
interesting indeed in the last third. A lively, buzzing cigar
which'd lasted longer than a Cuban corona, in its' last third, the
CAO was giving me "cabinet like" tastes, and I began to think of
Hoyo De Monterrey's and RyJ Cedros's. Medium strength and full
(enjoyable) flavour, I absolutely hated to condemn this to the
ashtray having smoked it to the nub and beyond.
Conclusions ? Try this
one. Wonderful. Smoke of the week for me, and I hope it'll be the
same for you, too. "Interesting" is hardly praise enough for this
cigar, and my hat's off to CAO for producing the Brazilia range.
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