The CAO Amazon Basin Extra Añejo

The CAO Amazon Basin highlights a unique type of tabacco grown in the Amazon. This tobacco is given the name “Braganca”. Braganca is said to yield less than half of a traditional tobacco varietal, and is harvested only once every three years. Once harvested, Braganca is rolled into tubes in which they undergo a natural fermentation for 6 months. Once fermentation has taken place, they are transported out of the Brazilian Amazon by canoe for use of the CAO factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.

What separates the Amazon Basin Extra Añejo is that this edition has been aged for 2 years once rolled.

The Amazon Basin Extra Añejo is a 6” x 52 RG Toro. The filler bunch is made up of Colombian, Dominican, Colombian, and the Braganca tobacco from Brazil. It is bound by a Nicaraguan leaf, and is wrapped with a beautiful Sumatra out of Ecuador. A tightly twisted tobacco leaf/stem takes the place of a cigar band.

The Amazon Basin Extra Añejo is medium to medium-full in body. The extra aging is apparent in the blend, there isn’t a rough edge to be seen. Earthiness, light chocolate, and black pepper are noted throughout the hour and 15 minute smoke time. Not much flavor evolution takes place. Construction is quite impressive.

At 15 dollars MSRP per stick, there was nothing about the Amazon Basin Extra Añejo that wowed me personally. Outside of the beautiful aesthetic the cigar has, there wasn’t enough going on in the blend for me personally- it was quite pedestrian. Any special characteristic of the Briganca tobacco was unnoticed. For me personally, there are many cigars that hit the spot in that price range.