CAO Italia Gondola cigars are exquisitely made figurados blended with an Italian-grown Habano leaf and Nicaraguan & Peruvian longfillers capped in a tawny, sweet-smelling Honduran wrapper. The smoke is rich, earthy and remarkably creamy. Medium to full-bodied with a sensational aroma, too.
You might have trouble finding another cigar that features Italian Habano seed long filler tobacco. CAO is known for thinking outside of the box, and the Italia is no different.
CAO took Italian filler and combined it with long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and Peru, and finished thecigar with a Habano seed Honduran-grown wrapper and binder. Widely heralded as the producer of some of the worldäó»s finest wines, olive oils, and truffles, Italy has been largely overlooked as a source for premium cigar tobacco.
Historically, there have been two types of tobacco seeds that thrive in Italy, said CAO Vice President, Tim Ozgener. äóìThe Geudertheimer seed is grown and used primarily for machine made cigars. The seed grown for CAO Italia, however, is an Italian Habano seed originally brought to Italy from Cuba some forty-plus years ago. This seed is grown in the Benevento region of the southern portion of Italy, located between Rome and Naples. Weäó»ve experimented a great deal with Italian tobacco and we believe it lends a very unique earthy-sweetness to the blend, one that rounds out the robust, full-bodied flavor profile that is CAO Italia.
