Aramas A55

When Ozgener Family Cigars debuted during the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show, it marked the return of company founder Tim Ozgener to the cigar industry after a 13-year hiatus. Ozgener had previously been the president of CAO, a company that was founded in 1977 as a pipe company by his father, the late Cano A. Ozgener. In 2007, the Ozgener family sold CAO to Scandinavian Tobacco Group—which was a different company than the Scandinavian Tobacco Group that exists today—and Tim Ozgener continued as president of CAO until 2010, which was the year that General Cigar Co. absorbed CAO into its portfolio.

After Ozgener Family Cigars debuted in 2022 with two different blends—Bosphorus and Pi Synesthesia—not much was heard from the company regarding new products until March of this year. That was when Ozgener announced a brand new regular production line made up of four different sizes named Aramas, which is a reference to Mount Ararat, a dormant volcano located near the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. In fact, in Armenian, that same volcano is known as Masis, and the Aramas name is meant to combine the two names.

“Aramas is an homage to my father, Cano Ozgener, his penchant for hard work, and his value for the relationships he cultivated in his lifetime,” said Tim Ozgener, founder of Ozgener Family Cigars, in a press release when the cigar was announced in March. “We worked with Ernesto (Perez-Carrillo) on Aramas to develop a dense, complex, and rich blend, that also retained impeccable balance.”

Interestingly, Aramas is the first line from Ozgener Family Cigars to be introduced as a product made by Perez-Carrillo Jr.’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory, although it should be noted that Ozgener’s Bosphorus line debuted as a Tabacalera Pichardo-made cigar but moved production to EPC’s Tabacalera La Alianza factory a few months after it was first released. Neither of these situations is overly surprising, considering that Tim Ozgener is a co-owner of Crowned Heads, a company that has a long history of collaborating with Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.

Blend-wise, the Aramas line incorporates a Mexican San Andrés wrapper covering an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua as well as Connecticut broadleaf.

All four vitolas in the Aramas line are packaged in 20-count boxes that started shipping to retailers in late May. 

• Cigar Reviewed: Aramas A55
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Length: 5 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 55
• Vitola: Robusto Grande
• MSRP: $15 (Box of 20, $300)
• Release Date: May 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The mottled, dark brown-colored wrappers show off the colorful bands of the Aramas A55 nicely, and while those rustic wrappers do feature some noticeable oil, they are still sandpaper rough to the touch. A physical inspection reveals quite a few veins running up and down their lengths, and all three cigars are extremely hard when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers include sour earth, wood, black pepper, leather tack, generic nuttiness and some bready notes, as well as some light generic sweetness. However, the scents emanating from the feet feature a more obvious—and creamier—nuttiness, along with oak, espresso, toasted bread, brown sugar and more sour earth. Finally, after straight cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of creamy almonds, oak, black pepper, cocoa nibs, plain popcorn and raisin sweetness.

Starting out, the Aramas A55 features some obvious spice and black pepper—both on my lips and tongue—along with a strong bitter espresso note. That profile quickly morphs into main flavors of oak and anise, followed by coffee beans, gritty earth, powdery cocoa nibs, salted pretzels, leather and light cinnamon. The retrohale features a combination of black pepper and raisin sweetness, but definitely more of the former than the latter at this point. Flavor ends the first third at a solid medium, while both the body and strength lag a bit behind a point just under medium. Construction-wise, there are no issues whatsoever through the first third when to comes to the burn lines, draw and smoke production.

The profile of the Aramas A55 changes a bit during the second third, with the main flavors shifting to a combination of creamy oak and gritty earth. Secondary notes of bitter espresso, yeast, cinnamon, leather tack, barnyard and a slight vegetal note flit in and out at various points, and while the retrohale continues to be dominated by black pepper, there is slightly more of the raisin sweetness as the second third comes to a close. Flavor increases to medium-plus, while the strength bumps up to a point just over medium and the body hangs back a bit at solid medium. Thankfully, there is no change at all in the construction, with copious amounts of smoke emanating from the feet of the cigars, excellent draws and virtually perfect burn lines.

The oak flavor remains a major player of the cigar in the final third, but the gritty earth has once again faded into the background, replaced by a distinct cocoa nibs flavor at the top of the profile. Additional flavors include generic nuttiness, toasted bread, lemongrass, coffee beans, cocoa powder and cinnamon, while a slight metallic bitterness is noticeable every once in a while on the finish. A more obvious change is noticeable on the retrohale, where the raisin sweetness has increased enough to really affect the overall profile in a positive way, while the amount of black pepper remains fairly constant. Flavor ends the cigar at medium-full, strength increases to medium-plus and the body increases slightly to land at a point just over medium. Finally, the overall construction continues to be excellent in almost all aspects, with only one cigar needing a single minor burn correction.

Final Notes

• Ozgener Family Cigars was named as halfwheel’s New Company of the Year for 2022.
• Interestingly, the first thing that popped up on Google when I did a search for “Aramas A55” was this British horse bridle.
• Tim Ozgener’s father, Cano Aret Ozgener, founded CAO in 1977 as a pipe company. Cano Aret Ozgener passed away in 2018 at the age of 81 following a long battle with cancer.
• Crowned Heads distributes Ozgener Family Cigars in the U.S., which is one of the reasons that the latter company was part of Crowned Heads’ PCA booth earlier this year and in 2022.
• I can’t say enough about the construction of these cigars: other than a minor burn correction in the final third of one cigar, there were no issues whatsoever, to the point where I did not even have to think about it at all other than to mark down updates on the scoresheet.
• Along with the above, on each cigar I smoked, the ash fell off in roughly half-inch chunks like clockwork.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged one hour and 41 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Aramas A55 cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar all have them for sale on their respective websites.