Brand guide
CAO cigars
CAO is a premium cigar brand owned by General Cigar Co., started by Nashville engineer Cano Ozgener, with blends built from leaf grown across Central America, South America and Africa.
CAO began with pipes, not cigars
CAO takes its name from Cano A. Ozgener, an engineer born in Istanbul in 1937 who ran his business out of Nashville, Tennessee.
He studied engineering in Istanbul and at Columbia University. He tinkered with pipe stems. That turned into a pipe and humidor company, which he ran full time from 1977.
Cigars came later. Cigar Aficionado reports he entered the cigar market in 1993, and the first CAO cigar reached shops in 1995. His son Tim and daughter Ayleen worked in the company with him.
Who owns CAO today?
General Cigar Co., a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, owns and makes CAO.
The family sold in 2007 to Henri Wintermans, a division of ST Tobacco Group. Tim Ozgener stayed on as president. Then came a 2010 merger that put Swedish Match's cigar business and STG together. CAO moved from Nashville to General Cigar's US headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. Tim left in 2010.
Cano Ozgener died in Nashville on June 9, 2018. He was 81.
CAO goes to the leaf
CAO's own line, "We Go Where The Tobacco Takes Us," sums up a brand that names a country or a leaf on most of its bands.
The maker's about page lists the Amazon, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua as places it sources leaf. The line pages get specific. Pilón uses a Nicaraguan binder and filler. Nicaragua blends Condega, Estelí and Jalapa filler. Maduro wraps an Ecuadorian binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler in Connecticut Broadleaf. A limited America 250th Anniversary release is made only from US-grown tobacco.
The brand site does not name a factory. Cigar Aficionado notes the first CAO cigar was made in Honduras.
CAO flagship lines and their wrappers
Every line below is listed on caocigars.com, with the wrapper and body exactly as the maker publishes them.
| Line | Wrapper (maker) | Stated body | Notable sizes (in x ring) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAO Maduro | Connecticut Broadleaf | Medium to full | Robusto 5 x 50, Toro 5.5 x 55, Belicoso 6 x 54 |
| CAO Cameroon | Cameroon | Mellow to medium | Perfecto 4 x 48 up to Churchill 6.875 x 48 |
| CAO Pilón | Ecuadorian Habano Viso | Medium | Corona 5.5 x 44, Churchill 7 x 49, Gigante 6 x 60 |
| CAO Nicaragua | Honduran Jamastran | Medium to full | Tipitapa 4.875 x 50, Matagalpa 5.625 x 46, Granada 6 x 50 |
CAO groups its range into Classic, World and New Age collections. FASA Sombra wears an Ecuadorian shade-grown wrapper. Orellana uses a Brazilian Cubra leaf. Flathead, with its garage-themed names like Speed Shop, is a sub-brand of its own.
CAO milestones by year
The CAO timeline runs from a Nashville workshop in 1977 to a General Cigar brand.
- 1977: Cano Ozgener goes full time in the pipe business.
- 1993: CAO enters the cigar market.
- 1995: First CAO cigar, made in Honduras.
- 2007: Sold to Henri Wintermans, part of ST Tobacco Group.
- 2010: Merger with Swedish Match's cigar arm; operations move to Richmond, Virginia.
- 2018: Cano Ozgener dies in Nashville at 81.
What to know before you buy a CAO
CAO sizes on the maker's site run from a 4 x 48 perfecto to a 6 x 60 gigante.
The site does not flag any of these lines as box pressed. Names change by line: CAO Nicaragua uses Nicaraguan place names like Granada and Tipitapa instead of robusto or toro, so check the dimensions, not the label. Run any of them through our ring gauge converter if 55 or 60 ring means nothing to you yet.
Wrapper tells you the most at a glance. Cameroon, Habano, Broadleaf and Brazilian maduro all sit on different spots of our wrapper color chart. Body, as CAO states it, ranges from mellow-medium to medium-full.
CAO ownership and origin questions
Who owns CAO cigars?
General Cigar Co. owns CAO, and General Cigar is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. The brand was sold by the Ozgener family in 2007.
What does CAO stand for?
CAO comes from the initials of founder Cano A. Ozgener, an engineer who built the company in Nashville, Tennessee.
Where are CAO cigars made?
The first CAO cigar, introduced in 1995, was made in Honduras. Today CAO blends draw on leaf from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Ecuador and Cameroon, and the brand site does not name a single factory.
Is CAO still a family company?
No. The Ozgener family sold CAO in 2007, and the brand moved to General Cigar in Richmond, Virginia, after a 2010 merger.
Where the CAO facts come from
- CAO Cigars: lines and blends, General Cigar Co.
- CAO Maduro blend and sizes, General Cigar Co.
- Cano Ozgener, 81, Dies, Cigar Aficionado
- General Cigar Company, Wikipedia