Was lucky enough to have recieved a few of the new CAO maduros from Jon at CAO, and went out and picked up an old one so I could run a comparison. Both of the cigars were the robusto size.
This is my first real review that I've written up so i tried to be through, hopefully not overly so.
I was plesantly surprised with how much darker the new maduro was. The old maddie had a more basic earthy smell to it, while the new one had an almost sweet smell to it, the construction on both was the flawless work you'd expect from a box pressed CAO.
The old maddie was smoked first, it lit up well and ahad a great draw, produced lots of somke. The begining had a great medium taste with a mild spicyness which powered up as the smoke continued. There was a bit of an uneven burn (probably due to poor lighting) which corrected itself quickly. The cigar got surprisingly mild towards the middle, and the draw got a bit loose which produced a faint bitter aftertaste. A greyish ash was produced throughout the cigar. The last third increased with strength and flavor with some plesant sweetmness, end of the cigar was a bit overpowering but all in all a great smoke.
The new maddie also lit up easily and it had a perfect draw to it. A very bold cigar that was powerful and spicy in the begining with a peppery taste to it. Produced tons of smoke that had a plesant smell to it. I was surprsied while the old maddie created a grey ash this ones was very white with a few dark flecks. The spicyness faded to a smoother center that was almost creamy feeling in the mouth all the while maintaining the power it had. The last third was nothing but power, the draw was a little hot, but other than that fantastic for a good strong cigar.
I thought the new one was hands down better than the old ones if you're looking for a powerful smoke (and why would you be smoking a maddie insteam of a cam if you weren't)
First real review I've ever written, so hope everything cam out alright, do yourself a favor and pick a few of these up when they come out when you want a cigar that'll knock you out.