CAO Flathead 6-Cigar Sampler

CAO has introduced the CAO Flathead in 2013, with a bold new full flavor and design. The name comes from the unique shape of the cigar, not only is the cigar box pressed, but the head is also flat. The wrapper is a dark, oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and the blend is rife with Nicaraguan tobacco. The retro design is inspired by the muscle car engine and the lid of the box can be removed and used as wall art.

A box pressed cigar is a cigar that has a square shape. Originally, this shape came from the practice of packing round cigars tightly in cardboard boxes which are then compacted using a manual press. The cigars are thus pressed into each other and become a "squarish" or semi-square shape. Today, cigar makers use square shaped molds or a wooden trunk press for their box pressed cigars, achieving a more defined square section.

Most cigars are manufactured in the Caribbean and Central America.
Despite many decades of war and revolution in this Central American country, the cigar industry has thrived due to the hard work and tenacity of Cuban exiles to the land such as Plasencia, Padron, Oliva, Ortez, and others. Tobacco has been a force of social stability, and the country is now one of the principal exporters of premium cigars in the world.

Cigar wrapper color varies from green (Double Claro or Candela) to black (Maduro or Oscuro) with a full range of browns in between.
Maduro wrapper can go from dark coffee brown with a reddish tint to blackish brown (the latter also called Oscuro).

Handmade cigars are completely made by hand from start to finish.

General Cigar Company manufactures premium cigars in several factories located in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Founded by Edgar Cullman, Sr. in 1960, the company experienced incredible success with their Macanudo brand. After a series of acquisitions throughout the years that made General Cigars one of the largest cigar manufacturers in the world, the company merged with Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) in 2010.

The wrapper is the last tobacco leaf to be rolled on the cigar, so it is the one the smoker will see.
Connecticut Broadleaf is grown in the United States' Connecticut Valley and is prized for its dark, oily, full flavored and aromatic characteristics. The plants are grown in full sun giving this cigar wrapper its characteristic sweetness. The Connecticut Broadleaf plant leaves are mainly processed as maduro tobacco. Today, Connecticut Broadleaf seeds are being grown in other countries besides the United States.

The binder is a full tobacco leaf that is used to roll the cigar, binding the filler tobaccos together. 
Connecticut Habano binder is grown from Connecticut seed by General Cigar Co.

Filler is the term used to describe the tobacco inside a cigar or the "guts" of the cigar.