CAO America?
Just wondering if anyone out there has had one of these. I bought the America Anthem edition, and I was wondering how the smoke is. I have had other CAO sticks before, the Brazilia and the Italia, and I've enjoyed both of those, imo they are a decent bang for the buck.
Comments
enjoy!
The price range for most of the standard CAO sticks I think is around $7...which isn't too bad. I got the America Anthem Limited Edition, so that was around $16 for the stick...it comes in its own little coffin, its quite nice, and like I said, I enjoyed the other CAO sticks I had, so I figure I'll let this one rest awhile and maybe smoke it when my friend comes in to visit. After I smoke it, I'll be sure to leave a review. I've seen mixed reviews on here about them, so I guess the only way to see how it is will be to try it.
cant miss
Brick and Morter... As in a "real" store rather than an online one...
1: How do you know a cigar is shitty? Just because it's a brand that you or others on this board haven't heard of doesn't neccesarily mean it's a shitty cigar... I just smoked a cigar last night that was hand rolled by a guy local to J0z3r... It had no band, no real name, etc... If I'd have assumed just because of those factors that it was a "shitty" smoke, I would have missed out on one fantastic burn!
2: How do you know a cigar is fake? To begin with, unless a cigar is cuban, it's almost certainly not worth faking... Even if a shop does happen to sell cubans, you WON'T find them out on the counter, and you WON'T find them by asking... Besides which, a lot of the fake cubans are still pretty fantastic smokes!
3: Assuming you are being mislead and steered toward bad cigars or getting ripped off, then I'd question your attitude going into the shop... I used to run a business... I treated almost all my customers with total respect and tried to do really good by them... If someone had a huge attitude, rather it be they tried to act like a know-it-all and like they knew more than me about my products, or if they were just an ass in general, you can rest well assured that I'd at MINIMUM overcharge them... Why? Because if they ARE happy with the purchase, then so be it, the extra was my bonus for having to put up with their dumb ass... If they WEREN'T happy with the purchase, then they most likely would never come back, which was fine by me as I didn't want that type of customer! What else would they do? Tell their friends not to come? Chances are their friends were asses too since they seem to stick together...
Contrary to popular belief, small business often work both ways... The customer is NOT always right, and some small businesses just won't put up with the hassle... Think "soup nazi" from Seinfeld here...
Now again, don't take this the wrong way... I have no idea what the interactions were between you and these shopkeepers, etc... HOWEVER, I can't help but question the fact that you're finding these same qualities in all the different shops you visit... I liken it to something along the lines of the inverted house...
A guy once built a house that was completely inverted... On the inside 4 walls he put up siding, and on the inside roof he used shingles... On the outside he put wallpaper, a couch along one wall, a fridge, a stove, TV, etc... His yard was covered in carpeting, and the outside of his roof was done in spackle...
On the inside of the house, the side with the shingles and siding, just above the door he hung a large sign that read, "To The Asylum"...
You see, the guy that thinks everyone else in the world is insane, the one who feels the entire world is a nut house... He's the guy living in an inverted house and is... well... most likely insane... When EVERYONE else is perceived in a certain way, chances are it's truely a reflection of ourselves...
however the cohiba i bought still doesnt seem ligit to me. i cant find any make of the cohibas that have the band that mine does. it has the cuban style band on it but it doesnt say anything other than cohiba which makes me question it.
my attitude in these shops were as follows. i walked in and i looked around trying to sort through everything and looking for two things. one being cigars that i kno and that im interested in and cigars that are on discount.
then the owner or clerk or whover would come up and ask me if i needed any help. i would explain to him that im just getting in to cigars im trying to find a few that are no more than 7 or 8 dollars that are mild - medium flavored. he would then help me pick some out. i really dont know enough to question his judgement so i inspect them the best i can and i move on. then i have him help me pick out sum discounts. the first place was a liquor/tobacco house and the guy just wanted me to buy everything haha but i actually got sum good stuff there it was pricey tho. the second place i went to the guy said he had these new 92 rated cigars that were originally 18 dollars that he would give me for 6 so i got one i forget which one it is tho i think it was the cohiba but i dont kno. this guy also gave me 20 percent off my entire order and a free cutter and we talked a little about cigars and he gave me great advice.
however i find it hard to trust somebody who is saying he is giving me these amazing cigars and nobody has heard of them i cnt find it in the CA book or mag and its nearly impossible to find online
A "Red Dot" (i.e. General Cigar's cohibas made in the DR) will look like one of these:
Honestly it doesn't sound like there was anything wrong with your approach, or that you had any sort of attitude, but it also doesn't sound like you were really treated badly in any way... I know what you're saying about the fact that you can't find these cigars, but again there's so varieties out there it's just really hard to say... The other thing is to always consider the source... I can "rate" a cigar a 98... That doesn't neccesarily mean everyone will find it a fantastic cigar... There is no "fixed" definition for cigar ratings, so take them for what they're worth...
When you get right down to it, there's NOTHING that matters other than what YOU think of a particular smoke... If it's a 92 in your book, then nobody else matters!
As for finding someone that knows about them, or finding them in your book, it really just depends... Being featured in a book or having a few internet shops sell your cigar isn't really an indication of how good a cigar it is... Consider this... Some would argue that the absolute best cigars you'll ever find are from little chinchales across the country... How many people know about Don Pablo unless they happen to take a trip to vegas? How many would think that a buck-fifty cigar from a literal hole in the wall called La Isla in Jersey would be about the closest cigar to a cuban you can get without swimming? El Canelo in Miami? etc...etc...etc...
The point is, I've said it before and I'll say it again... It doesn't matter who knows the name, or what the cigar has been rated... All that matters is what you think of it when ya smoke it!!!
btw my cohiba looks like the one on top except there is no writing in the yellow. so it looks like it should be the cuban but its not
I'm guessing it's a house blend from that guy. If it's anything like any other house blends or locally rolled cigars I've had, it's probably pretty good.