Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is between light and medium brown and looks fairly rustic with a network of visible veins and color variations. The head appears to be finished off with a triple cap where the bottom cap reaches fairly far down the shoulder to cover the beginning of the rope band that spirals down the last third of the cigar as the identifier of the line. The aroma of the wrapper is a fairly faint mix of raisin and floral notes. The foot brings some raisin or plum-like sweetness along with natural tobacco and hay. The pre-light draw brings a very strong floral perfume note. There is also a decent spicy tingle on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The CAO Amazon Anaconda has an attractive Colorado red wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll is uniformly firm and the head is finished off with a thick triple cap. Aromas from the wrapper give off cedar and overripe raisins. Nosing the foot tells white pepper, cedar and ripe grapes. Cold draw tells raisins and cedar.

First Third

An interesting combination of flavors start things off as I’m getting wood, cinnamon and underlying floral notes. At a quarter inch in, the wood gains some char as some cream joins the floral note and the cinnamon is mostly present on the finish. At an inch in, the cinnamon has completely left as the charred wood is up front and the cream and floral notes are in the background. The retrohale carries the same combination of flavors, the charred wood is just a little fuller in its presentation. At an inch and a quarter, the wood loses the char as a dry earthiness joins the front of the profile. As the third comes to a close, the wood has gained a toastiness while the dry earth also remains up front. There is some cream still present in the background, but the floral notes have gone away. The strength was right around medium.

First Third

The first third gives mouth draw flavors of cedar, nuts, citrus, black pepper and intermittent coffee beans. Through retrohaling, spice is mainly noticed with black pepper, citrus and cedar. The finish is fairly long with gritty earth, cedar, black pepper on the rear palate and nuts. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cream leaves the profile as the toasted wood and dry earthiness is what makes up the flavor profile. At a half inch in, the earthiness loses its dry characteristic and becomes more of a slight damp earthiness. After a few more draws, the cream comes back to the profile in a big way. As the third comes to a close, the earthiness moves back to the dry profile while the wood just has a very faint toasty note to it. The creaminess is hanging on in the background as well as some floral notes that have made a slight comeback. The strength in this third remains at medium.

Second Third

The second third continues to show a profile that’s cedar, nuts and citrus. Not that the first third didn’t have minerals, but I am noticing it on the second third quite a bit more. The finish continues to give gritty earth, cedar and black pepper. Strength and body remains medium.

Final Third

Getting into the final third, I’ve left the rope band on and began to get a slight bitterness added to the profile of wood and dry earth. There isn’t much cream to speak of anymore. At a half inch in, some cream returns at the same time the bitterness increases. There is still some wood present, but the earthiness is now gone. As the cigar comes to a close, the bitterness and cream are at equal levels while the wood note is in the background. The strength in this third moved up to be slightly above medium.

Final Third

The last third drops a notch in complexities as the profile is now namely minerals, cedar and nuts both on the mouth draws and finish. Strength is slightly above medium and body maintains medium.

Burn

The burn was pretty awesome. Straight the entire way, even when it was burning through the spiral rope band which was quite a feat. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Burn

Burn performance was overall good. Ample smoke production, cool burn and fairly solid ash marks. Downsides were the uneven burn at times and minor un-burnt wrapper portions.

Draw

The draw was just a bit tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The flavors in the first third were quite nice with the floral notes mixed with the cinnamon and wood. Some earthiness came in shortly after and then things became a little less complex in each third. Construction was fantastic, so no concerns there and strength was right around medium the whole way. Now smoking the entire trilogy, I will stay say the original Amazon Basin is my favorite, but this cigar isn’t far behind. If you liked either of the two predecessors, then you’ll also like this one, so it would be a no brainer to pick  some up. I’m looking forward to smoking some more.

Draw

Very good draw. Slightly tight for my liking but no big deal.

Overall

CAO’s Anaconda rendition of the Amazon has a good amount of earthiness in spice and minerals, but fails to deliver sweetness in the profile that the Fuma Em Corda did so well in. Further, by the time the cigar got to the final third, it became a bit too monotonous for me. My palate has to give the Fuma Em Corda as the favorite. Pick this one up if you like more of a heavier earth and spice driven cigar.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.67

Cost/Point

$1.57

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$1.62

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: CAO Amazon Anaconda