CAO is known for their laundry list of 90+ rated blends and for being one of the most innovative brands in the industry. Now with their new release, CAO Pilon, they are resurrecting a seldom used and costly fermentation method, the circular pilon. A standard tobacco pilon is basically a pile of tobacco ‘hands,’ which are 10-15 tobacco leaves tied together, that are allowed to heat up and ferment. With a circular pilon the hands are carefully layered in a circular pattern, with the payoff being that the tobacco ferments at a slower rate which enhances the flavor.

CAO Pilon comes dressed in a dazzling Ecuador Habano wrapper, encasing the binder and long-fillers from Nicaragua. This cigar is medium-bodied and packs flavor in droves with delicious notes of spice, cedar, pepper, nuts, and cocoa. CAO Pilon is a rich and hearty blend that continues CAO’s string of hits.

CAO Pilon received an impressive 90-rating from Cigar Aficionado.

We now have Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year from Last Year – the Oliva Melanio Serie V back in stock.  We also have Cigar Snob’s No. 1 Cigar for 2015 – The My Father El Centurion H2K in stock.

What Cigar Aficionado had to say about the Oliva Melanio Serie V

“One look at the sharply pressed corners and carefully curved head and foot of the Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado tells you this is no ordinary cigar. The Nicaraguan smoke represents the pinnacle of achievement for Oliva Cigar Co. The Oliva Cigar story began in the late 1800s, when Melanio Oliva started growing cigar tobacco in Cuba. His heirs carried on the family tradition in the fields, but it was his grandson Gilberto Oliva Sr. who began making cigars.
As with so many cigar stories, Gilberto Oliva Sr. faced a difficult road. He left his native Cuba in 1964, and eventually started working for the Plasencia family in Honduras. In 1995 he and his son Gilberto Jr. created a cigar within Plasencia’s factory called Gilberto Oliva. A year later, they set out to open a factory of their own, and shortened their brand name to Oliva.
Business was tough in those days, and Oliva struggled. Faced with dwindling reserves of cash, in a cost-cutting move they turned to Gilberto Sr.’s robust stocks of Nicaraguan tobacco, which changed the flavor profile of Oliva cigars at a time when the interest in Nicaraguan flavor was increasing.
Nicaraguan tobacco helped Oliva survive. The cigar that brought it to the attention of connoisseurs debuted in 2006: Oliva Serie V. Made by a small group of rollers and blended for strength and style, the Serie V line was an immediate hit. In 2012, to pay tribute to the first man in the family to grow cigar tobacco, Oliva added the Melanio version, which is distinguished from the original by its Sumatra-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador. The Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado has rich, big notes of leather framed by a range of coffee, caramel and woody intonations. It’s a classic smoke.
Oliva’s cigars have appeared on our Top 25 list nine times in a row. This is the first time the company has been named Cigar of the Year.”

What Cigar Snob had to say about the My Father El Centurion H2K:

“The hits just keep on coming from the father-and-son blending duo of Pepín and Jaime García. My Father has built a fiercely loyal following thanks to its consistently high quality and calling-card smooth strength. With this cigar, they bring something new not only to their repertoire but also to the cigar world in general: a Habano 2000 wrapper grown in Connecticut. It took some experimentation, but all that work the Garcías did paid off; it’s a novel idea that results in exciting flavors, wonderful balance and a profile that’s unlike anything we’ve smoked from My Father. That said, the patently Nicaraguan binder and filler blend are there to remind you where the cigar came from. It’s a package that earned a rating of 95 from our panel—only the second 95 rating we’ve ever given—making it our 2015 Cigar of the Year.”