The CAO Hurricane has begun appearing at retailers, including TopQualityCigars.com, the online presence of Casa de Montecristo in Countryside, Ill.

The cigar was first mentioned on halfwheel in October 2012, when a representative from General Cigar confirmed that a tweaked version of the ‘O’ blend from CAO’s “Last Stick Standing” promotion that ran from April through June of 2012. The cigar was slated to come out in November 2012, but was delayed until now for unannounced reasons.

According to TopQualityCigars.com’s listing, the CAO Hurricane is being limited to production of just 3,000 boxes of 10 cigars, for a total run of 30,000 cigars.  The cigar is being made in Estelí, Nicaragua and uses Nicaraguan tobacco for the wrapper, binder and filler. It is being made in just one size, a 6 x 54 Toro, with an MSRP of $69.95 per box.

The ‘C’ blend from the three-pack of cigars went on to become the CAO Concert, which was released at the 2012 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show.

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.

A representative from General Cigar Company told halfwheel that the CAO Hurricane is their final launch before the upcoming IPCPR Convention and Trade Show in mid-July.

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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 MLB.com, 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.