CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke

In 2021, General Cigar Co. announced a new limited edition CAO line named Arcana, which means mysteries or secrets. According to General, the idea behind the new series was to release blends utilizing tobacco from around the world that the company does not normally use.

That was certainly the case with the series’ debut release Mortal Coil, which included andullo tobacco in the filler. Andullo is a native Dominican that is traditionally fermented by being wrapped with palm tree pods into long rolls called yaguas after the leaves are harvested, instead of the more traditional method of placing the tobacco leaves in large piles.

One year later, General released the CAO Arcana Firewalker, which included Nicaraguan filler that had undergone an aging process called chincagre, which the company refers to as “an archaic process of primary aging used by local tobacco farmers in Western Nicaragua.” After the filler tobaccos were grown in the Masatepe region of the country and harvested, the leaves were placed in a large pile called a pilón before being buried deep in volcanic soil for two months. Once that time had passed, the tobacco was removed from the ground and taken to the factory, where it underwent a second round of fermentation for a period of nine months.

The latest addition to the Arcana series is the CAO Thunder Smoke, a 6 1/2 x 52 toro extra covered in a Honduran Olancho San Agustín wrapper and a Mexican San Andrés binder. However, the most unusual part of the cigar is the filler blend, which includes tobacco grown in Cameroon, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

According to General Cigar Co., the CAO Thunder Smoke takes its name from Zimbabwe’s iconic Victoria Falls, one of the world’s largest waterfalls. In a native Bantu language, it is known as Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which translates to the smoke that thunders.

“With CAO Thunder Smoke, we are pushing the boundaries of cigar making, venturing into uncharted territories to craft an unparalleled smoking experience,” said Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager for CAO, in a press release. “Our mantra, ‘We Go Where The Tobacco Takes Us,’ has guided us to innovate and redefine the industry standard. This release is not just a milestone for CAO, but a bold leap forward for the entire cigar world.”

Each Thunder Smoke has an MSRP of $12.99 and is packaged in 20-count boxes. General says this is a limited release, though the company did not disclose production numbers.

• Cigar Reviewed: CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
• Wrapper: Honduras (Olancho San Agustín)
• Binder: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Filler: Cameroon, South Africa & Zimbabwe
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $12.99 (Box of 20, $259.80)
• Release Date: September 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

When looking at the CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke, the first thing I see is the large, glossy band that takes up the vast majority of the cigar. Peeking around the edges–and when I remove said band—I find that the wrappers are a very dark brown color with a reddish tint in certain light. There is plenty of tooth and mottling on each of the cigars, and overt, protruding veins are plentiful, leading to an extremely rustic visual appearance. Aromas from the wrappers are surprisingly faint, with a generic woodiness over gritty earth, straw, barnyard, chalk and a touch of vegetal. Scents emanating from the feet are more substantial, with aged oak leading sweet cloves, peppermint, leather tack, earth and a light campfire note. The cold draws are full of more aged oak along with some black licorice sweetness, cinnamon, sawdust, creamy nuttiness and a significant amount of both spice and black pepper.

Despite the abundance of spice and pepper on the cold draw, once lit, the cigars lacks those notes almost entirely. My first cigar has a tight draw, while flavor-wise, all three cigars feature flavors of bitter espresso and earth in the first few puffs, which, after about five puffs, give way to strong flavors of raw asparagus and oak. Secondary flavors of charred meat, wheat bread, peanuts, coffee beans, dark chocolate and cinnamon flit in and out, while the retrohale features some slight black pepper combined with a light bready fig sweetness, reminding me of a Fig Newton cookie. Flavor for my second and third cigars ends the first third at full—my first cigar is at medium-plus—while both the strength and body for all three hit a solid medium. Construction-wise, the first cigar has a tight draw, needs two burn corrections and produces less smoke than the other two cigars, which have no problems whatsoever.

Around the start of the second third of all three cigars, a new spice shows up on my tongue while the main flavors shift to a combination of plain popcorn and oak. Additional flavors include salted potato chips, cloves, cocoa nibs, earth, pencil lead and cinnamon, along with about the same amount of Fig Newton sweetness and black pepper on the retrohale. A perfumy floral note shows up on the finish for a short time on my second cigar, but soon after the burn line passes the halfway point it is long gone and the other two cigars never have it. The flavor is full and the body is at a solid medium, but the strength increases slightly to hit a point just over the medium mark. Thankfully, the cigar with the tight draw has opened up nicely, but that cigar still needs one burn correction to keep on track.

During the final third, the main flavors shift to a combination of peanuts and earth leading the profile, followed by secondary flavors of charred meat, coffee beans, dry hay, cinnamon and chalk. On the retrohale, there is slightly more black pepper and the sweetness now reminds me of graham crackers, but neither of those notes is strong or distinct enough to make much of an impact on the overall profile. Flavor remains at full, the body remains at a solid medium and the strength stays put at a point just over medium. Two cigars need attention from my lighter to avoid larger issues, but the draws and smoke production on all three cigars continue to be excellent until I am finished with them.

Final Notes

• Interestingly, while most CAOs are made in Central America at the STG Estelí factory, the Thunder Smoke was produced at General Cigar Dominicana, the Dominican factory best known for making Macanudo and the non-Cuban versions of Cohiba and La Gloria Cubana.
• According to General Cigar Co., Thunder Smoke was the first premium cigar to use tobacco from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
• CAO is named for brand founder Cano A. Ozgener. In 2007, Ozgener sold the company he founded as a pipe business. Interestingly, Cano’s son Tim Ozgener—who was also the former head of CAO—launched a new company in 2022 named Ozgener Family Cigars.
• The band on this cigar is obnoxiously large; in fact, I had to remove the entire thing after only 14 minutes of smoking time so that I would not start to burn through it.
• My first cigar had a draw that was much tighter than ideal in the first third—albeit still smokeable—which affected not only the flavor profile but also the construction and the smoking time.
• General Cigar Co. advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• These cigars are officially listed as being 6 1/2 x 52 vitolas.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to one hour and 53 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase the CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke, site sponsor Famous Smoke Shop has them in stock.