CAO PROFILED IN CIGAR AFICIONADO MAGAZINE
Publication Hails CAO As Among “The Hottest Of Cigar Brands”

Nashville, March 8, 2004: CAO, the brand renowned for consistently staying atop the ratings of the finest cigars in the world, is profiled in the April 2004 issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine.

Cigar Aficionado is recognized as ‘the magazine of magazines’ in the premium cigar world and is largely heralded as the final word on the topic of the world’s finest cigars.

The four-page feature spread tracks CAO’s progress from it’s humble beginnings as a pipe company in 1968, to it’s current status as one of “the hottest cigar brands.” The article shines the spotlight on the Ozgener family (Cano, Aylin and Tim), founders and owners of CAO, as well as on the cigars that have made the CAO name world-renowned. “We are honored to be able to share our story with the readers of Cigar Aficionado,” said CAO President, Cano Ozgener. “The article effectively captures the story of CAO, however, there are still many chapters to be written.”

In keeping with the tradition of being the cigar that ‘outscores the Cubans,’ the CAO eXtreme Lancero surpassed both the Cohiba Lancero (CUBA) and the Montecristo Especial No. 2 (CUBA) in the Cigar Aficionado April 2004 ratings of the best cigars in the world.

Yum, yum, love those CAO's!

Kazama

cuban schmooban

Although I agree with what CA has to say about CAO Cigars ...

... the mag itself doesn't rate very high in my book ...

Loved the article. Sounds like a great place to work; I kept looking for some mention of "Jon," but never saw it. Alas.

BTW, what is the correct way to ask for a C.A.O.:
"C-A-O", or can I say "COW" ?

Congrats to CAO and Jon.

Time to celebrate and spread the wealth. Lancero's on the way????

drnos. . . Say C A O. They are the initials of the founder and president. See above.

I'd take the Cubans over CAO...hands down. I've had several Monte #2's and I've had many more boxes of CAO's products. They don't make a cigar that comes close to the Monte # 2!

To declare such is an utter disgrace to the TRUE afficionado. Just because a company buys their ratings and advertisements doesn't make the claims true. Where do the claims stop? One can banter on about any such claim but you're telling me that in an equal world more of you would buy a CAO over a Monte. made in Cuba?

Don't even get me started on WHO really made that CAO product, because that's a whole other topic! Maybe Jon can post up here on how many cigars CAO ACTUALLY makes. Not ones that Perdomo or Torano or any other roller makes for them. To vote them in the 90's is a laughable joke! You'd buy a cigar with a different band and rate it a 90, but the same cigar doesn't score the same or close to it? You get what you pay for, and this reminds me of the old payola scandals that FM radio went through in the late 70's early 80's!

Actually, we've been producing CAO L'Anniversaire Maduro, Brazilia, Gold, and Criollo for over a year now (see below). MX2s are also made by CAO. CAO Fabrica de Tabacos IS a partnernship with the Torano family, however, the factories are clearly sub-divided and CAO maintains our OWN staff of buncheros, rollers, supervisors, et al.


CAO ANNOUNCES OPENING OF “CAO FABRICA DE TABACOS”
CAO Enters Into Partnership With Torano Family To Create CAO Factories

Nashville, January 30, 2003: CAO, the makers of some of the most sought-after cigars in the world, have announced the opening of their own production facilities in both Esteli, Nicaragua and Danli, Honduras.

The creation of CAO Fabrica de Tabacos represents a partnership between CAO and the Torano family, who bring four generations of tobacco growing and production expertise to the table. “This represents a major step for CAO,” said CAO Founder and President, Cano A. Ozgener. “We have always maintained a major input towards the blend and development of our cigars, however, we are now at a juncture where we felt the time was right to step up and take on the role of cigar manufacturer. We have been working together with the Torano family for nearly a decade now, so the evolution into this partnership was a logical progression of our relationship. Now, as partners in our own factory, we will be able to secure a better foothold on not only the quality of our products but on the future of CAO, as well.”

CAO Fabrica de Tabacos in Nicaragua and Honduras will be responsible for the production of CAO Gold, CAO Brazilia, and CAO Criollo along with plans for future expansion.

Who was making the CAO L'Anniversaire Maduro, Brazilia, Gold, and Criollo before?

Maduro originally began in 1996 with Nestor Plasencia. It was discontinued and re-launched in 1998 with Tabacalera Tambor (Costa Rica). We were "asked to leave" that factory in 1999 and production was switched to Tabacalera Perdomo, S.A. (where our CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon and eXtreme are still produced).

The other lines you mentioned were previously made by The Torano Family.

So Jon...all things being equal...and you had access to whatever you wanted to smoke, whenever you wanted to smoke it...you'd take CAO's products over say some other Cuban crafters?

"All things being equal," I enjoy cigars from Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the DR.

Let's put it this way - I enjoy wine. In fact, I drink wine on a nightly basis. Most nights, I enjoy California wines, however, I occassionally drink a nice French red, sometimes I go for an Australian Shiraz, or even an Italian wine from time to time.

Taking this back to cigars, I sincerely feel that the quality of cigars coming out of countries other than Cuba has risen over the recent years; and that is not just said for CAO's products, either. Honestly, the bottom line is that I try to smoke just about everything and anything (CIGARS) I can get my hands on - whether that be Cuban cigars, CAOs, Fuentes, Padrons, Camachos, on down the line. I'm a 'cigar junkie(!) - in fact, I got into this business NOT because I needed/wanted a 'job,' but because I fell in love with cigars back in 1994 and made it my MISSION to be involved with this industry.

I think it's crucial to stay 'on top' of what's out there. Hope that answers your question adequately.

Yes it did. Thanks.

Hey Jon,
Hook a brother up. I am a hard worker, passionate about cigars, knowlegeable about cigar beverage pairings, and really want to work in the industry., 20 years as a chef, is long enough. I really would like to here how you went from being a cigar lover, to working in the industry.
homebrew at centurytel dot net
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)
P.S. My mother says I could become wealthy selling matches in Hell. LOL

Homebrew - Since you asked, here's the story:

I walked into a wine store one day, saw the George Burns issue of 'Cigar Aficionado,' and thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen - an entire magazine dedicated just to cigars(!). I fell in love with cigars, started buying them (when I could afford them), keeping a 'tasting journal,' and just began reading and educating myself as much as I could.

At that time, I decided I wanted to spend my life doing something I was passionate about, rather than just going to a 'job' that paid the bills. From there, I just wrote letters of interest to every company I could find in that issue of CA; in fact, I still have Gordon Mott's (Executive Editor @ CA) rejection letter (lol).

As 'luck' would have it, one of those companies was headquartered here in Nashville (I had just moved to Nashville from Los Angeles). I called and got the owner's name and wrote him a letter. Four months later, I got a message on my voice mail from the owner of CAO, Cano Ozgener.

A couple of meetings/interviews later, Cano was kind enough (or crazy enough) to take a chance on me. I took the only job they had open at that time: Shipping Manager. While I 'cut my teeth' in that position, I simultaneously began promoting the company locally on my off-time. I landed a cross-promotion with a local rock format radio station and parlayed that into 3 on-air radio spots (I was the station's 'cigar guy').

After that, I brought the audio tapes in to Cano and was immediatley promoted to Director of Promotions and P.R. (I sucked at shipping - lol!). In April of last year, I was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.

That's the story....I can honestly say that not one day in the past 8 years have I ever 'dreaded' coming in to work. This job (and this industry) is an absolute JOY and I can't wait to come in to the office every day.

Good luck to you...

I know you know just how fortunate you are to be able to say you can't wait to get to work. It shows and I envy you. Great article in CA. I knew there was a connection between CAO and Toraño but I didn't know it was THAT close. Two great companies that put out a great product.

THREADJACK ON
Now, when are you all going to get your pipes and pipe tobacco links working on the website?
THREADJACK TERMINATED

Jon, that's a great story. Truly a testament to making your life into what you want it to be. Now, brains, talent and hard work never hurt, but too often what is lacking is the drive and the balls to take our life and transform it into one we are enthused about. Sitting on the couch and bitching and moaning about life is easy. Going out and changing it is hard. And terrifying. I hope I can do it.

At the herfs we have been holding every month (sometimes more often) in Seattle, I have noticed that CAO and Torano are consistantly the top brands on everyone's lists. There are a lot of major name brands that get offered as trade bait and the response is a turned up nose. And these are not cheap sticks. But I wave a CAO and eyes light up and, suddenly,I become a popular guy.

Love those CAO's!

Kazama

Oh yeah.

Dr MaddVibe, I understand why the MAD is in your name.

Love them CAO's.

Kazama

Actually you don't. You're just trying to be a smart ass!

Look up Fishbone...the band...Angelo Moore...The Man.