PCA 2024: CAO

The 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show marked the first time CAO was back at the Trade Show in five years. This is because the brands of General Cigar Company were back at the Trade Show for the first time since 2019. We usually strive for a theme in our booth recaps. While the return of a staple brand like CAO could be a theme in itself, this is not the case here. CAO is known for its lifestyle brands, but it has also been known for its focus on tobacco. This year, the slogan in the booth was “We go where tobacco takes” and that is definitely the case with the release of the new CAO FASA blends. As a result, the tobacco around CAO FASA was the theme of CAO at PCA 2024.

CAO FASA builds two blends, a foundation of a Cameroon binder and a combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, but that is where the similarities end. The concept here was to highlight the importance of the wrapper on that foundation.

The first blend is the CAO FASA Sol. It uses the Honduran Olanco San Agustin (OSA) wrapper. This wrapper is used by General Cigar on many blends, but one of the first cigars to use the wrapper was the CAO Osa Sol, which used this wrapper back in 2011. This cigar is produced out of the HATSA (Honduran American Tobacco S.A.) factory in Honduras.

The second blend is the CAO FASA Noche. The Noche has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, which has been used on many CAO blends over the years. Production for FASA Noche is handled at the STG Estelí factory in Nicaragua.

The cigars are available in the same vitolas: Toro (6 x 50) and Gigante (6 x 60). The idea was not to overwhelm the retailers with a lot of sizes. Both vitolas are available in 24-count boxes. In addition, FASA Sol and FASA Noche are value-priced cigars with equivalent price points. The Toro is priced at $6.99, and the Gigante is priced at $7.99. These cigars have begun to arrive at retailers.