CAO La Traviata

The La Traviata is the newest offering from Nashville, TN based CAO Cigars.  It was announced in July and debuted in August at this year’s IPCPR show in New Orleans.   The La Traviata is a brand that was originally manufactured in Havana during the early 20th century but was no longer produced.  CAO President Tim Ozgener said the inspiration to make the cigar and resurrect the brand came after smoking several classic Cuban cigars.  The La Traviata offers smokers a full-bodied, full-flavored cigar.

THE STATS

Wrapper:  Ecuadoran Habano
Binder:  Cameroon
Filler:  Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero blend
Size: Radiante – 6″ x 52
Price: $5.95
Beverage: Rum and Coke

In addition to the Radiante size the La Traviata will be offered in 2 other vitolas – Divino (5″ x 50) and Intrepido (7″ x 54), all 3 sizes will be packed in 24-count boxes.  Suggested retail prices on the cigars are $4.95 to $5.75, not including taxes.

THE SMOKE

The La Traviata stayed very consistent throughout the cigar so I don’t feel the need to break this review into thirds.  I smoked 3 cigars prior to reviewing; the flavors and burn were consistent however I did have one cigar that was plugged and would not open up and I had to give up at about the halfway point.

The burn quality was mostly good, required some minor touch ups but one cigar did go out a couple of times and require a full relight.  The burn line was good and the ash held well.  With the exception of the one plugged cigar the draw was good and offered up a nice amount of smoke.  Dominant flavors in the cigar were sweet tobacco and cream with some slight coffee and leather touches from time to time.  In the final third I detected a bit of sweet red wine, but it faded quickly.  Although this is marketed as a full-bodied cigar I felt it was more of a medium-bodied smoke.

Overall the CAO La Traviata was an enjoyable cigar at a very nice price.  I will definitely purchase more of these and this would be a great cigar to share with a friend that does not smoke cigars very often.

THE SHORT VERSION

- Decent burn, minor touch-ups required
- Good draw overall (1 of 3 cigars was plugged)
- Sweet tobacco, cream, coffee, leather dominate the flavors
- Affordable at $5.00 – $6.00/ea

For another review of the La Traviata check out Scott’s take on these at CigarChoice.net.