Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the CAO Arcana Stokk is a marbled medium brown with some raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is well finished. The band, which covers over half of the cigar, is gold, brown, black and red. The front denotes the brand and sub-line, while the sides denote the line. The aroma from the wrapper is an herbal medicinal note, while the foot brings a smoky meatiness. The pre-light draw brings a smoky mix of wood and meat along with a mild spiciness on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with smoky, toasted oak, earth and some mild black pepper. At a half inch in, the smokiness is showing a very long finish as it just sits on the palate. The retrohale is very lightly smoky, toasted oak, with earth and mild black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the smokiness becomes pretty light. At an inch and a half in, the smoky finish is not lingering as much as it was before. As the third comes to a close, the faintly smoky, toasted oak is up front, with earth just in front of the middle of the profile and black pepper just behind the middle of the profile. The strength was slightly below medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the smokiness is barely hanging on. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper picks up a bit. At a half inch in, a light mustiness joins the profile. At three quarters of an inch in, the smokiness increases a bit and gains a bit of creaminess. The retrohale remains very lightly smoky, toasted oak, with earth and mild black pepper. At an inch and a half in, a meatiness joins in that also carries a smokiness to it. As the third comes to a close, the smoky, creamy, toasted oak is up front, with earth and black pepper just ahead of the middle of the profile and some smoky meatiness in the back half. The strength bumped up to medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the fullness of everything increases. The retrohale is now smoky, toasted cedar, smoky meatiness and some earth. At an inch in, all of the components are pretty even in fullness. At an inch and a half in, the smoky meatiness departs. As the cigar wraps up, the smoky, toasted oak and earth are even up front, with black pepper slightly behind. The strength remained at medium.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any intervention. The ash held on in about inch and a half increments.

Draw

The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

The cigar began with smoky, toasted oak, earth and some mild black pepper. Later, the smokiness lightened up. The second third saw the black pepper pick up a bit and a light mustiness join in. Then, the smokiness increased and gained some creaminess. Later, a smoky meatiness joined in. The final third saw the fullness of the entire profile increase. Later, the smoky meatiness departed. The CAO Arcana Stokk had an average flavor profile throughout although it had the unique components of the smoky oak and smoky meatiness. I’ve always been intrigued by this style of cigar, but it seems very hard to put it all together and have it deliver a full cigar that is enjoyable as it usually ends up as a profile that only excels in small doses and this cigar was no different. The combination just didn’t lend itself to this size of cigar and it isn’t something I’d see myself returning to.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$2.30

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: CAO Arcana Stokk