Repeat review from the 2025 release. Dry leather & espresso profile. The draw was absolutely perfect with a pretty clean burn line. Construction was solid as generally expected with the Basins.
From the 2025 release. A dry leather & espresso profile for flavor. The draw was absolutely perfect with a pretty clean burn line. Construction was solid as generally expected with the Basins. Good smoke session.
Light up : Earth, leather, espresso, chalky smoke, no pepper, and lots of smoke output.
2nd: transitioned to silky smoke, a slight sweetness, a subtle note of milk chocolate/ coco powder, leather and earth is still present but not as pronounced. A hint of a floral note,
3rd : no change but nub worthy
The special sauce used to create Amazon Basin is a tobacco called ’Braganca,’ a rare tobacco harvested from a remote region in the Amazonian rainforest. It’s really crazy, actually. Everything from its taste to the way it’s cultivated. Grown in a virgin, tropical land in the rainforest and harvested only once every 3 years, Braganca may be one of the most elusive tobaccos in the world. After the tobacco is harvested, it’s rolled by hand into tubes and fermented for 6 months. Then, it must be transported by canoe back to the mainland. Wild in every sense. To create CAO Amazon Basin, this Braganca tobacco was blended with tobaccos from 5 different countries and finished with a dark, Ecuadorian Sumatra ligero wrapper. But despite the breadth of tobaccos contained within, you can still taste and smell the unique Amazonian tobacco almost instantly. An exotic, distinctive taste that’s bold and very unique…unlike anything you’ve ever had before. Additionally, each cigar is finished with a rustic, 100% twisted tobacco ‘band’ that adds another unique touch.
The first draw is an impeccable flavor bomb of pepper, citrus cayenne, aged leather and a touch of honey. After sitting a bit, I get a strange amount of honey dew, strong black tea and creamy espresso. The burn, despite a less than perfect light on my part was phenomenal and the draw was absolutely superb with a crown cut. I'm only slightly disappointed because the flavor mellowed quite a bit in the middle. Glad I bought a fiver, wish I had bought a box.
Still among the best! Slightly better draw than my first time smoking one after resting but still a little tight. Great flavor with a touch of something fruity at the back end.
The ONLY reason this doesn't get a full 5 stars is due to the slightly tight draw that required a poker to be used a few times during the smoke. The appearance is among the cleanest looks of any cigar, and the smoked profile resembles exactly what you smell before lighting it up. Definitely one to return to frequently!
One of my favorite cigars, original release CAO Amazon Basin. Today's my birthday so I thought it was fitting to smoke one of my last original basins. A little canoe at first but the burn evened out great after the first third. The flavor changes from earthy to chocolate cherry after the first third. And then it changes again going through the band to a strong oak and vanilla flavor. A great cigar for a celebration smoke!
