Ever since the original CAO America was introduced back in 2007, it has been at the top of my list of cigars to smoke on the Fourth of July. Although it has a patriotic red, white and blue band and is made with some American tobaccos, it is not an American puro. However, for the United States of America's 250th birthday, General Cigar has introduced a limited-edition CAO America 250th Anniversary Cigar that is an American puro made entirely with tobaccos grown in the good old USA. It became available in May 2026 in one box-pressed Robusto size (5.5 x 55) that is priced at $9.99 per cigar. Like the original, the 250th Anniversary cigar has a pinstripe appearance created with U.S. Connecticut Shade and Broadleaf wrappers, but the binder is an U.S. Havana Connecticut and the filler is a blend of U.S. Broadleaf and Pennsylvania tobaccos.
The CAO America 250th Anniversary cigar began with a peppery taste along with a modest and naturally sweet tobacco flavor. After just a couple of minutes or so, an earthy taste joined the peppery and sweet tobacco flavors. By the 15-minute point, leather and wood also had joined the mix as the pepper and sweet flavors began to moderate a bit. At the 20-minute mark, the flavors became more balanced with the pepper and sweetness moving more into the background, which nicely complimented the earth, leather and hints of wood. After about a half-hour, the smoke also became more smooth and creamy, and all of the flavors were perfectly balanced. During the remainder of the smoking session, the flavors remained pretty much consistent and were very enjoyable all the way to the very end. The body of the smoke stayed in the medium-to-full range throughout.
The CAO America 250th Anniversary cigar was very well made and had a great draw, even burn and held a medium-to-long ash. I ashed the cigar three times at 15 to 20-minute intervals, and no touch-ups nor relights were needed. It took me a total of 55 minutes to smoke the cigar down to 1½ inches remaining.
I was somewhat surprised and impressed with the 250th Anniversary edition of the CAO America cigar. I was wondering how well the American filler tobaccos would perform compared to Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. However, this American puro passed with flying colors, and I enjoyed it more than the original CAO America. Therefore, I'm rating it with a superior 4.25 points on a 5-point scale.
Again, CAO America 250th Anniversary is a limited-edition cigar that will not be available at cigar retailers for very long. If they are already gone when you read this, CAO America regular production cigars are also very good patriotic smokes that should still be in ample supply before and after America's Semiquincentennial.
