As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of CAO cigars in my humidor.

I generally like CAO's product line. They are not the best cigars in my humidor, but they are pretty darn close. And some of their cigars, I really love (current CAO fave: the Criollo).

Every now and again, even knowing how good their cigars are, I get a nice surprise.

Last night, I opened up the "Miscellaneous CAO" drawer in my humidor and my eyes were drawn to the humble CAO Maduro. It ain't pretty, the wrapper is nothing fancy, it's just a plain-old maduro cigar.

I suddenly recalled that I'd smoked one of these before, as part of a sampler pack, and that I'd really enjoyed it. Really really enjoyed it.

"Why haven't I had one of these in a while?" I wondered. The one in the drawer had been there at least six months. It seemed strange that something I liked so much would be left to linger for so long, so I decided to end the wait cycle and took the CAO Maduro out for a spin.

To make a long story short, everything I remembered about the CAO Maduro was accurate.

With the first puffs, I began to experience that classic maduro flavor. You know the one I mean: that taste of slightly bitter berries that fills up your sinuses and gives you a full-head cigar sensation.

Next, came my favorite thing about CAO cigars: they consistently delivery big mouthfuls of smoke. When I'm smoking a cigar, the last thing in the world I want is wimpy smoke output. I want the smoke to enter my mouth and coat everything, so I can really taste it, send some out my nose to smell it, and still have plenty left over to do a group of smoke rings (if I'm so inclined). This "big smoke" characteristic is typical of the CAO brands, which is one reason I keep coming back to them.

The flavor kept on building as I smoked. And it kept getting better and better, adding richness and complexity with each puff. Usually, I read while I smoke, but the flavor of this cigar was good enough that I found it hard to concentrate on my book.

If there is one complaint to make about this particular cigar, it's that about 2/3 of the way through, it started drawing poorly and wouldn't stay lit. But that self-corrected after about 10 minutes.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable smoke, and I found myself wondering "Why don't I have more of these?"

That's a good question. One that I'll have to answer next time I'm at the tobacco store.

Okay, listen up restaurant owners, because I'm only going to say this one more time:

Stop using nasty ketchup!

There is only One True Ketchup^tm and that is Heinz. Hunt's is allowed if you can't find Heinz, but there are no other acceptable ketchup brands. At least not in the USA.

Now, those of you who care to look will find messages from me in alt.ketchup from the late 80's and early 90's extolling the virtues of mustard over ketchup. But I wrote those messages when I was still a teenager, and didn't understand that while off-brand mustard is palatable, generic ketchup is pure evil. Please forgive my youthful ignorance.

I just picked up a burger and fries from a local mom-and-pop burger joint. They gave me "House Recipe^(r) Tomato Ketchup^(u)". And it is fucking gross. ARGH!

Listen, people: I know that buying the right ketchup is a little bit more costly. But saving a few cents per burger is not worth alienating customers by feeding them toxic waste. STOP DOING IT AT ONCE.

Oh, and let me end by saying that there is a special circle of Hell reserved for you restauranteurs who refill Heinz bottles with generic ketchup-esque puke. Really, you people should just eat kittens and get it over with.

Update 2/10/07:

Today, my wife and I sat down to lunch and I put a brand new bottle of Heinz on the table. Cecilia is from Argentina and has only been in the USA for 3 years. She is not used to a lot of American brands. When she saw the Heinz, she said to me "I'm so glad you got that. I've decided that that brand is my favorite." I tell you, folks, I haven't been so proud since she and I watched Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at the last Republican Convention and she told me that, if she was allowed to vote, she would vote Republican.

If I have one beef with the fine folks at CAO Cigars it's that they have too many different cigars to choose from.

Right now, my humidor contains the following CAO offerings: Italia, Brazilia, CAO Cameroon, CAO Maduro, Criollo, and, of course, the CAO MX2.

There are three more CAO cigars that I don't have: the CAO Gold, the eXtreme, and the CX2.

With a line as extensive as CAO has, it's sometimes hard to keep track of what you like and what you don't. Lots of folks rave about the Italia. I don't particularly care for it...or wait, was it the Brazilia I don't like? They both end with "lia" and they're both from CAO and they have very similar bands. It's very confusing.

But there's no confusion about the MX2. I have 20 of them. I just bought a box yesterday.

The MX2 (which stands for "Maduro times 2") delivers lots of full-bodied goodness. It has Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper, a Brazilian maduro binder, and lots of full-bodied fillers (from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Peru).

This is my current favorite "second course" cigar. Some folks call it medium-bodied, but I think it's on the full side of medium-full. I really can't handle fuller-bodied cigars unless I have one after I've already had something milder. The MX2 is great for my second course because it can deliver good flavor to an already beleaguered palate.

The MX2 has lots of rich smoke. I really love that. When I take a deep draw, I want my mouth to be filled with smoke (delivering flavor all over my palate). MX2 delivers that. It is also supremely well constructed: tonight when I lit one, I did a bad job, but the cigar still burned evenly right until it was burning my fingers. The draw is exactly as I like it: not too easy, not too firm.

But even if it was poorly constructed, you'd have to love the MX2 just on flavor. It gives and gives and gives. It starts out very spicy and rough and smooths out about a third of the way in. It's hard not to smoke it too fast because it's just so wonderful.

Oh, one more thing: the MX2 looks beautiful in your humidor. The wrappers are super shiny and oily, and the band looks like it belongs on the set of Star Trek. I don't place a lot of stock in a cigar's prettiness, but the MX2 has that in addition to all its other great qualities.

So, bottom line:

Strength: Medium-Full
Taste: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Price: $80 for a box of 20, $4.50 if bought individually.

Go out and try one. Have one of your regular sticks as an appetizer and have the MX2 for dessert. You won't be disappointed.