My wife wanted me to try out one of the CAO Pilons she got me to see how I liked them (yeah, like I am going to tell her I hated my anniversary present...) so I fired one up yesterday afternoon
The size she got me were the 5.5 x 44 "corona" sized. She said she had noticed I have been smoking the smaller ones recently so got me those (Again, not about to tell her that I smoke the smaller ones when its cold out and just getting ready to break out the big ones - there is more than one reason I am happily married....)
In any case, unlike the recent Blendlab KD-5552 I reviewed -where I would never have guessed it was a Nicaraguan/ Criollo - this cigar perfectly fits the Nicaraguan filler/Ecuadorian-Habano wrapper combo I like so much.
Lovely darker brown color, firm but not tightly packed, great tobacco smell on pre-light
Lit and burned perfectly. I note that in some Mothership reviews people mentioned construction issues and this first one I had did have a small split in the wrapper about an inch in. Burned right past it with no problem or unraveling.
The taste lines up with a lot of other similar blends. Good but not overpowering peppery/spicy kick on the intake, nutty at times, good medium to full tobacco flavor underneath. Lots of nice white smoke and a good firm ash.
To compare with others I would say it is spicer and not as "nutty" as a Padron thousand series (Padron uses a similar Habano wrapper but grown in Nicaragua not Ecuador). But not as spicy as your typical Don Pepin stick that has Nicc. filler and E-H or corojo wrappers.
The cigar it reminded me most of was one of my favorite Blendlabs, the YH-542, which is also a E-H wrapper and Nic. filler. I would say that the CAO is a bit stronger than the YH and the spiciness lasts a bit longer but, of course, it is a bigger ring gauge so has more of that Nicc. tobacco inside!
Indeed, the Pilon could easily be just a slightly larger version of the YH-542 and would not shock me if it were ever relieved that they are both made by CAO (or whoever might have actually rolled the Pilon for CAO)
This was my post on the YH-542 on the Mothership:
Nice spicy start. Some Pepper a bit of salt over a solid medium-full Nicaraguan tobacco flavor.Perfect draw and solid white ash. Lots of smoke for its size. I always have liked the spicier Ecuador habano wrapper on top of A Nicaraguan filler and this one fits that profile perfectly. Spice did slowly fade away and then the blurb about earth and nuts is correct but not the "slightly sweet on finish" - didn't see any of that. With the small size it's not going to evolve a lot but, on the other hand, it was nice and consistent. No bad spots or weak bits.
I could write almost the exact same thing about the CAO Pilon.
Defiantly a very good choice by my wife! It has been a great 9 years with her (2nd for me, 1st for her).
Oh yeah, I got her flowers, jewelry and romantic (and expensive!) out-of-town weekend.
