October 10, 2012 Patrick Lagreid News

CAO Hurricane on the Horizon

A representative from General Cigar Company confirmed the development of a new cigar from CAO, dubbed Hurricane, which will be released in November. The blend was developed by Rick Rodriguez, head of product development for CAO, and is a tweaked version of the ‘O’ blend from the company’s “Last Stick Standing” promotion which ran earlier this year. CAO Hurricane will debut in a single 6 x 54 size packaged in 10-count boxes.

The ‘C’ version, after a few tweaks, was shown off at the IPCPR convention and trade show in early August as the CAO Concert and recently started arriving at retailers. While the Concert debuted first, General Cigar Co. said the ‘O’ was the winning blend from the promotion, when consumers were asked to submit their feedback on three different blends via a CAO website.

News of the Hurricane first surfaced in this StogieGuys.com article, when Rodriguez and Ed McKenna, CAO’s Senior Brand Manager, mentioned it at W. Curtis Draper’s Little Puff in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. A version of the Hurricane was handed out at the CAO-sponsored After Puff event, with a secondary band that read ‘AP 2012,’ according to the report.

Overall Score

CAO CAO Hurricane CAO Last Stick Standing Ed Lehmann General Cigar Co. Last Stick Standing Rick Rodriguez
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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.

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