The Stokk by CAO
The fourth CAO Arcana is the recently released Støkk that was made in collaboration with Peter Stokkebye a pipe tobacco manufacturer also owned by General Cigar. I don't smoke pipes, so all I know is they use a combination of Andullo cigar and Latakia pipe tobacco in respective halves. Latakia is fire-cured pipe tobacco, and that's unsettling because I haven't liked fire-cured tobacco in other cigars. This is another strong smelling cigar with that smokey campfire smell dominating, so we'll see how it goes!
BRAND / CO: CAO
CIGAR: Arcana Stokk
VITOLA: Belicoso - 6.5" x 52
STRENGTH: Medium - Full
WRAPPER: Connecticut Broadleaf, Natural
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Cyprus (Latakia) / Dominican Republic (Andullo) / Honduras
ORIGIN: Nicaragua, Scandinavian Tobacco Group Estelí
APPEARANCE & CONSTRUCTION: Average
A medium chocolate brown Broadleaf wrapper is used that has nice oil, mottling and some very light tooth. It does have a lot of veins that are on the thicker side creating strong ridges. The seams are tight and blend in while the cap is clean. The band isn't very attractive and it's huge, covering most of the cigar. CAO's marketing team seems to like very on the nose design tie ins so there's use of the Danish alphabet and related imagery.
DRAW & BURN: Good / Great
The draw is good and the burn starts cleanly. The burn is a little wavy and uneven, but controlled getting to a nice dead even by the midway point. The ash is nearly white with dark blotches and thick striations. It holds well into the early second third before falling.
FLAVOR PROFILE: Good
Like the Thunder Smoke, cold smells are deceiving. The cold smell is strong campfire and off-putting to me, but the smoke starts off decently. This foot should be the end with Andullo which is a sweeter tobacco. And this does start sweet, but with gritty leather and earth. There's a powdery cocoa and very charred wood taste. Even though this is supposed to be the Andullo portion, you're getting some of the fire-cured flavor. There's also some aromatic aspects, dry coffee and dry must. It's a very dry profile to start and I'm getting a very salty taste from the wrapper as well.
As I get to the halfway point, in waiting for things to change. I notice that sweetness is staying to drop off, there's more charred wood, gritty earth and the campfire flavors are starting to pick up, just that the overall flavors feel a little less intense. Did I say gritty earth? Because magically the earth becomes very smooth and the sweetness comes back before receding again. The Latakia shifts this to a very chill blend that while charred and earthy, is smooth and refined. The fire cured aspect is not overwhelming my palate at all, it's better balanced, but complexity is heavily reduced. All I'm really getting at this point is charred wood, earth, leather and sweet. You do get some of that campfire flavor, but it's balanced well enough where I'm tolerating it. I would say the first half was great, while the second half was average, resulting in a "good" flavor profile. But could I smoke an entire cigar with this part of the blend? It might be a bit boring for my tastes but I think I could.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: Great
So this was surprising, in a good way, because I really wasn't sure what to expect with the strong fire-cured smell of the Latakia. I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first, but I didn't hate it either because it wasn't an overwhelming campfire flavor. The Arcana line seems to be well suited for people who are feeling adventurous and don't mind trying something new at the risk of not liking the cigar. I have just one more to burn, so we'll see if it's the same experience, but I probably won't look to smoke the Støkk again beyond that. This burned quite well and was a fun experiment, so I rated the experience a little higher than normal.
Purchase Singles or by the Box HERE
Review written by Sean McCloskey of The Collective