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Last post 9 years ago by QMPASH. 19 replies replies.
CAO MX2
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QMPASH Offline
#1 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 7:47 AM EST
Joined: 03-15-2011
Posts: 897
I took my wife to the supermarket on Friday to go shopping. Right next to the market was the local cigar emporium. Since i was out of smokes, I decided to go in and pick up a couple of cigars and smoke one while my wife was in there. I picked two CAO MX2's. I've always had good luck with CAO and I can't remember ever having picked up a bad one. I hit the cap carefully with a punch and opened up a small hole in the cap and styarted smoking the stick. Within 5 puffs, the cap started to dissolve and about 1/3 of the way I had to chuck a cigar that cost me eight bucks. I expect that from cigars under $5.00 occasionally, but CAO? Angry
sd72 Offline
#2 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 7:57 AM EST
Joined: 03-09-2011
Posts: 9,600
Ya, unfortunately CAO isn't under the same ownership/management for awhile now. What used to be a solid everyday smoke now no longer gets purchased by most people who smoked them prior to the takeover.

Add it to the list.
zitotczito Offline
#3 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 8:59 AM EST
Joined: 08-21-2006
Posts: 6,441
Just not the same anymore. I treasure the ones I bought before the change took place.
TMCTLT Offline
#4 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 9:47 AM EST
Joined: 11-22-2007
Posts: 19,733
Used to Really enjoy this cigar along with a few others from Hubers old line, haven't smoked ONE since the buyout / merger whatever it was....
JKilburn Offline
#5 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 11:41 AM EST
Joined: 10-19-2011
Posts: 1,461
I too used to enjoy this cigar. Was very chocolatey from what I recall.
wheelrite Offline
#6 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 11:54 AM EST
Joined: 11-01-2006
Posts: 50,119
QMPASH Offline
#7 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 1:07 PM EST
Joined: 03-15-2011
Posts: 897
[quote=sd72]Ya, unfortunately CAO isn't under the same ownership/management for awhile now. What used to be a solid everyday smoke now no longer gets purchased by most people who smoked them prior to the takeover.


Add it to the list of cigars I will never smoke again.
Thanks for clearing this up for me (this goes for everyone because, for a change, everyone seems to be saying the same thing.) Who bought them up and when? Angry
sd72 Offline
#8 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 1:11 PM EST
Joined: 03-09-2011
Posts: 9,600
I'd rather not say, and approx. two years ago. Check the box bottom.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#9 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 1:19 PM EST
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
QMPASH wrote:

Add it to the list of cigars I will never smoke again.
Thanks for clearing this up for me (this goes for everyone because, for a change, everyone seems to be saying the same thing.) Who bought them up and when? Angry


It's convoluted.

About 15 years ago, Swedish Match acquired a large majority share in General Cigar.
Around 7 or 8 years ago Henri Winemans under Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) acquired CAO cigars as their sole long-filler premium cigar product.
In 2010, STG and Swedish Match merged.

And that's how CAO eventually ended up being moved in with the rest of the long filler premium product under General sometime around 2012 when they consolidated. They'd actually been owned by someone else since about 2007 though.
Rut-Ro! Offline
#10 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 1:44 PM EST
Joined: 01-16-2010
Posts: 1,991
The CAO brand was a great brand when owned by Founder Cano A. Ozgener's family. It seems that as some other family owned brands, they sold out for big money...can you blame them?

Some say it is a sellout. Others say good for them...what a man or his family do with their company, is their business. Some brands that sell get gobbled up and then quality suffers....in the never ending sea of new cigars does it really matter?

The had a good run for many years. I would bet that they had a plan and they made out....money wins in the end.

the MX2 was an awesome smoke. I do not smoke CAO any longer...

All I can say is we will see what happens to the latest victim(DE) to sell out to a big conglomerate......

Heck, as many of you know, even the original owner of CBID sold out.....do you think he is sad? HAHA!
namadio Offline
#11 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 10:30 PM EST
Joined: 11-24-2014
Posts: 1,621
I found a CAO CX2 (I think), one that's not on their website anymore, at a shop in ohio two months ago. It was a solid smoke but I haven't had another cao since.
frankj1 Offline
#12 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 10:58 PM EST
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,221
like most, I dabbled in this cigar smoking thing for a few years and then fell in love with the CAO cameroon line (L'Anniversaire?), especially the robustos and toros. I probably haven't had anything CAO in several years, but for a period of time I went through a lot of their stuff. I guess they are/were a big reason I have been involved to this day...kind of sad but as Rut-Ro! said, they can do what they want when money is involved.

Plus, there was a hot daughter all over the marketing.
ZRX1200 Offline
#13 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 11:35 PM EST
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,599
CAO Brazillia drew me back into cigars after a long break from them around 2005/6. Yeah they used to be great and my tastes were simpler.

Good ol days
frankj1 Offline
#14 Posted: Sat, Jan 3 2015, 11:52 PM EST
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,221
ZRX1200 wrote:
CAO Brazillia drew me back into cigars after a long break from them around 2005/6. Yeah they used to be great and my tastes were simpler.

Good ol days

didn't like my first couple but let them rest for a while and they really improved. Proabably wouldn't go back now.
TMCTLT Offline
#15 Posted: Sun, Jan 4 2015, 11:24 AM EST
Joined: 11-22-2007
Posts: 19,733
Would still Love to find a bunch / box of OR La Traviatas asthey were also a solid smoke and a FAV!!!
cacman Offline
#16 Posted: Sun, Jan 4 2015, 1:15 PM EST
Joined: 07-03-2010
Posts: 12,216
ZRX1200 wrote:
CAO Brazillia drew me back into cigars after a long break from them around 2005/6. Yeah they used to be great and my tastes were simpler.

Good ol days

Used to love the Brazilia & MX2, but haven't tried in a long time. Last time I bought them they where $22.50/10pk from the holt. The new motorhead series did look interesting and received some half-decent reviews.
MikeNice81 Offline
#17 Posted: Sun, Jan 4 2015, 9:34 PM EST
Joined: 01-04-2015
Posts: 2
I picked up a Flying Dog sampler from CAO. The guy at Total Wine said they had been there at least three months. The color of the cellophane seemed to jive with his estimate and each one in the pack was better than I expected. CAO isn't really a straight off of the shelf cigar. Everybody I know that smokes them on a regular basis says they need between three and six months to really come together.

Maybe you just got a dud. That will happen with anything mass produced.
Mandoman Offline
#18 Posted: Mon, Jan 5 2015, 10:58 AM EST
Joined: 12-27-2005
Posts: 4,761
TMCTLT wrote:
Would still Love to find a bunch / box or OR La Traviatas asthey were also a solid smoke and a FAV!!!

Yep, fine smoke. I'd like to find some Odysseys.
QMPASH Offline
#19 Posted: Mon, Jan 5 2015, 12:17 PM EST
Joined: 03-15-2011
Posts: 897
MikeNice81 wrote:
I picked up a Flying Dog sampler from CAO. The guy at Total Wine said they had been there at least three months. The color of the cellophane seemed to jive with his estimate and each one in the pack was better than I expected. CAO isn't really a straight off of the shelf cigar. Everybody I know that smokes them on a regular basis says they need between three and six months to really come together.

Maybe you just got a dud. That will happen with anything mass produced.


Thanks for your input. Aging would have little, if anything to do with the cap. That is just sh*tty construction and/or poor materials (tobacco.) I tried the 2nd CAO and it was as bad as the first although I got a little further along in this stick than the first one (not much though.)Aging removes ammonia and "tames" the nicotine. When cigar falls apart it tells me that someone is putting it out as fast as they can and to hell with the quality. And, a cap dissolving in a stick that runs $8.00 per?? Fugetta bout it!!!
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