While researching tobaccos and techniques for the newest addition to the CAO Classic Series, the brand’s blending team—headed by Agustin Garcia Rick Rodriguez—came across a fermentation technique from 19th century Cuba that they become so intrigued with, they decided to not only use it but to name the line for it. The CAO Pilón draws from the common name for large piles of tobacco undergoing fermentation, and while modern day pilónes can reach 20-feet long, 10 feet wide and four to six feet high, pilónes of yesteryear were much smaller, and in this case, round. This differing style of processing has its plusses an minuses, of course: while the process takes longer because the smaller pile generates less heat, the longer time is said to result in a greater reduction of ammonia and sugar content to the leaf, both of which improves burning and combustibility, according to General Cigar Co., which owns the CAO brand. In a statement issued during this year’s IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, where the cigar was released, Rodriguez said that the team had been experimenting with this style of fermentation for several years, adding that while this is the first CAO project to use it, it ...
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