Well folks, another Thanksgiving is in the books! I hope you all enjoyed your time with friends and family and I certainly hope you found time to enjoy that all-important Thanksgiving Day cigar! I know I did…3 in fact. Funny though, of the cigars I had selected for my Thanksgiving enjoyment the one that stood out head and shoulders above the others was none other than the CAO ‘VR’. I packed my humi with a few select personal favorites and grabbed a few of my VR’s for that inevitable request from my wife’s cousin, “hey man, did you bring any extras?” (you know how that story goes, right?) and off we headed to the in-laws for a day of gorging, imbibing and stories about family members I’ve never met. When said conversation ensued I was only too happy to volunteer to head outside and operate the old turkey fryer for an hour knowing this would be a prime opportunity to light up a cigar and enjoy the peace and quiet of a beautiful fall day. I left my smokes inside but had a spare humi packed in the car and after managing to the get the turkey-fryer fired up I snuck off to the car and grabbed me a CAO ‘VR’ Moby, clipped the foot and lit’er up.

Truly a cigar that can be described as pretty, the ‘VR’ is as oily as it is dark and oh so toothy. I’ve had this box since we received our first shipment back in June of ’07 and the additional aging has done wonders to the tobacco within. Off the start the first few draws are creamy and rich with distinct chocolaty undertones and a sweet finish. I should mention that the ‘VR’ is manufactured by the famed Torano family whose attention to detail and focus on producing a quality product is second to none. So it came as no surprise that after two inches in the burn was as straight as could be with an ash as solid as concrete. Reaching the 1/3 mark some peppery “tinglies” are noticeable on the front and sides of my mouth as the Moby begins to change a bit and pick up some strength. The fryer finally reached 350 so I grabbed the bird and dropped it in. If you’ve never fried a turkey I highly recommend trying it at least once. It’s surprisingly violent and rather amusing to watch the entire pot shake. As I continued smoking my Moby I began thinking of what else I could chuck into the old fryer just for grins… When I finally refocused my attention back on the ‘VR’ I realized that it had mellowed tremendously. The spice and tinglies were gone. In their place rich, leathery notes of chocolate and coffee coated my palate leaving me wanting more but alas, the end was near.

As the evening wore on I smoked the remaining two Moby’s that I had brought along with me enjoying the same experience each time. Ironically I readily gave up some much pricier smokes to friends and family just so I could keep the CAO’s for myself. Just goes to show you that you don’t have to spend a bundle to get a damn fine smoke!