Review: C.A.O. Brazilia Minis

Not to be confused with the Cariocas (which are about 4×40 - by my estimate - and come in tins of 5), the C.A.O. Brazilia Minis are cigarette-sized, come in packs of 20 and are, like the larger vitolas in the Brazilia line, a full-flavored treat. Unlike many cigarillos which don’t produce the rich taste many cigar smokers are after, the Brazilias pack a pretty big punch and are not overwhelmed by a strong drink - an aspect I find particularly appealing.

Wrapped in a toothy, thick, rosy wrapper resembling that of their larger cousins, these cigarillos are a bit rough in appearance but alluring nonetheless. The aroma of a freshly-opened pack is also wonderful: earthy and pungent tobacco. Upon lighting, the first few puffs smack of chocolate but never cloy: the sweeter notes are balanced by leather, earth and cedar. Through the heart of the 12-minute smoke, the taste is a hearty blend of these flavors with the occasional addition of a floral note or a whiff of dried fruit. As the cigarillo closes out, spicy cedar tends to dominate. Don’t smoke these too fast: the spice will overpower the nuances which linger all the way down to the nub.

Add to these flavors a white ash which is surprisingly solid and a “real cigar” aroma, and you’ve got a winner. I wish more cigarillos were as full-bodied as the Brazilia Minis, but whether or not other brands follow C.A.O.’s lead in the future, these small cigars will remain one of my reliable favorites. 5 / 5

A great introduction

Israeli food and wine writer Daniel Rogov gives a great introduction to cigarillo production and the market in various countries in this essay.

The piece opens with an elegant description of cigarillo culture at the Paris opera:

I was still quite young when I realized that for two hundred years the intermission between the first and second acts at the Opera in Paris has been timed to last precisely nineteen minutes. That provides enough time to stroll from my opera box to the bar, to acquire glasses of Veuve Clicquot Champagne for my date and myself and to find a place to stand overlooking the grand staircase, there to ponder on the qualities of the Champagne, the opera, or the romantic history of the exquisite rococo building in which I was standing. If there was anything at all to destroy this otherwise perfect setting, it was the knowledge that the eight minutes remaining in the intermission did not offer enough time to enjoy the cigar I was carrying in the inner pocket of my smoking jacket.

Whatever I may have been as a young man, I was not completely obtuse, so it did not take long to realize that the solution of the most sophisticated cigar smokers during such occasions was to turn to a cigarillo, one of those small, thin elegant cigars meant largely for those who do not have the leisurely hour or so that a Churchill or a Double Corona requires. Today, more than half of all European cigar smokers carry a cigar case in their right hand jacket pocket and a small, elegant white box of cigarillos in their other inner pocket.

The author then goes on to describe the production of cigarillos and to highlight some of his favorites. As the title of this post states, a great introduction to the world of small cigars and well-written, too.

Cigarillos in Cigar Aficionado

A couple of my favorite articles on cigarillos come from past issues of Cigar Aficionado. Though the publication rarely devotes many column inches to small cigars, these pieces - spaced ten years apart - give a sense of where the small cigar market was in 1994 (the owners of the Danneman brand hoped at the time that it would be up-and-coming) and a decade later in 2004 (when the explosion of cigarillos had just begun). Check them out.

Review: Café Crème Arôme

Blonde in color, these cigarillos appear to be made of homogenized wrapper leaf due to their seamless look. While I have a knee-jerk aversion to the mass-produced feeling which such a construction instills in a cigarillo, the truth is that these cigars are no more commercial than their rougher-looking natural-wrapper counterparts. And as it turns out, whatever the manufacturing process for the Café Crème Arômes, it seems to be working pretty well. These are a pretty darn good smoke and are among the most consistent small cigars I know.

Upon opening the tin (I got a 5-pack for about $3.50), I was met with a strong scent of aromatic tobacco, not unlike a sweet pipe blend. Upon lighting and taking the first draw, the cigar tastes quite sweet, with caramelized sugars and a buttery texture overpowering any nuance. However, after the first couple of puffs, the flavor mellows out to a smooth combination of sugar and some floral notes with whisps of earthy tobacco underneath. As the 15-minute smoke wraps up, the flavor shifts away from sugars and into the realm of toasted tobacco.

In all, I was very pleasantly surprised by the assertive yet attractive flavor of these cigars. The Arômes pair well with coffee because they provide a sweet counterpoint to the drink’s darker flavors. If you’re looking for an interesting sweet smoke, you should definitely think about picking up a pack of these treats from Café Crème. 4 / 5.

Review: Zino Red Mini Cigarillos

The Zino Red Mini Cigarillos come in a very attractive ruby cardboard box filled with 20 small cigars. According to the New York City Davidoff Shop website, these cigarillos come with a Brazilian wrapper, a binder from Java and a filler of Brazilian and Javanese tobaccos along with French Burley. My guess is that it is the burley which lends these cigars their distinctive pre-light aroma of hay. Whatever it is, these Zinos start off with an unusual and pleasant mild note.

Upon lighting, the cigarillo has a sweet, mild flavor consisting mostly of hay, but which builds with the addition of vanilla and hints of wood. Due to their mild profile, these smokes wouldn’t lend themselves to being paired with a strong drink, though a smooth scotch or a cup of tea might work out well. Overall, a quality quick smoke for those who like a mild cigarillo. 3.5 / 5

Past Articles

The decision to start a new blog dedicated solely to cigarillos was a long time in coming. For the last year or so, I have been posting off-and-on to my other cigar blog, Coffee & Cigars. Recently, however, I find myself smoking more and more small cigars and wanting to review them. These reviews, however, have felt a bit out of place among the many full-size cigar review sites. I decided they needed a home of their own. Hence CIGARILLO was born. In order to kick off this new site, I’ve pulled together the links to some of my old cigarillo-related posts from Coffee & Cigars. Enjoy!

• Cigarillo Review: Agio Mehari’s Brasil
• Storing Dry-Cured Cigars
• Cigarillo Review: Three Cigarillos (The Griffin’s Griffiños, Davidoff Mini Cigarillos, C.A.O. Brazilia Minis)

Why a site for cigarillos?

There are so many cigar review sites out there. Why one more? And more to the point, why one for cigarillos? Well, the answer to the second question is helpful in answering the first.

So, why a site for cigarillos? Because it seems like every day, more of these small-format cigars are showing up on the market. Some are hand-rolled from long-filler tobacco while others (the majority) are machine-made. Some are dry-cured while others do best in the humidor. Above all, the important trend is that more and more, makers of premium cigars are putting their names on cigarillos, and as it turns out, some of these little smokes are actually pretty good!

I happen to love cigarillos. They provide a quick break any time of day. They travel well, not taking up too much space and most not requiring the constant humidification which larger cigars necessitate. Due to their small size, I can smoke two or three blends in a sitting, thereby getting to sample a broader variety of products at once. In short, cigarillos are a great product and somewhat underappreciated, I feel, by the many cigar aficionados which the boom has spawned.

So, why one more cigar review site? Because cigarillos are different. Dry-cured smokes have a different range of flavors than humidified cigars. They have different storage needs. They are sold in different places. I believe that this site has something new to offer. Though I continue to smoke larger cigars and though I often enjoy a pipe, this site will exclusively review small cigars. I hope you will find it to be a useful resource as you search for that perfect smoke.

Your comments are welcome. No doubt, this is something of a daring experiment. With your feedback, I believe it will become a successful one.

Happy smoking,
Ben