Dan Tobacco Re-Introduces Old CAO Blends

By Bob Tate

I have just found out that Dan Tobacco Manufacturing (DTM) has re-introduced the old CAO “U.S. Revolutionary Themed” pipe tobacco blends.

After speaking with Russ Ouellette from Pipesandcigars.com and Rich Gottlieb of 4noggins.com, I have received this information about the blends available from Dan Tobacco.

These are not old stock tins; they are new stock tins that are being manufactured and are now available for purchase. From what I have been told, they are the original tobacco blend recipes with the original tin art. The only thing that has changed is that they are no longer produced by Dan Tobacco for CAO International. They are produced by Dan Tobacco for Dan Tobacco. The blends became available about two weeks ago.
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CAO Eileen’s Dream - Pipe Tobacco Review

By Bob Tate

On the tin aroma of this blend I am picking up on Irish Cream. Not the sugary coffee creamer type but a good liquor type of Irish Cream. It is accompanied by a light chocolate aroma. It is weird, but the chocolate aroma smells like white chocolate to me. Those of you who have eaten white chocolate know that there is a difference in the aroma of white chocolate compared to other chocolate. Well, to be technical there is a difference in aroma of all different kinds of chocolate, but this is a tobacco review, not a chocolate review. The moisture content of this blend is perfect for smoking right out of the tin.
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CAO Moontrance - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

The tin aroma of this blend smells great. I am picking up on the vanilla and bourbon. There is also a very intriguing lightly fruity aroma accompanied by a coconut essence. I really like the complexity of the tin aroma. There is a lot there. The moisture content of this blend is perfect for smoking right out of the tin. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light.

On the charring light I was greeted by the aroma of vanilla and it also smelled like some kind of pastry. The flavors that I detect are predominately vanilla and there is also a light fruity flavor to it as well. I finished lighting the pipe and sat back seeing where this blend would go. Read the rest of this entry »

Interview with Tim Ozgener, President of CAO International

By Bob Tate

We’ve been intrigued with rumors circulating around the pipe community that CAO might become the new distributor of Dunhill pipe tobaccos in the USA. There have been comments that CAO would increase its presence in the pipe tobacco business in 2010, rumors of new tobaccos, possibly bringing back the old CAO tobaccos, CAO meerschaum pipes and possible Dunhill distribution.

We had a great conversation with Tim Ozenger, President of CAO International (he’s a very friendly and accommodating chap). We talked about the aforementioned rumors and a few other things. Find out which rumors are true and which are not. So without further ado, here is our conversation with Tim:

PipesMagazine (PM): Tim, at the beginning of 2009, there were a lot of rumors that CAO was getting out of the tobacco pipe industry. Is it true that CAO made the decision to no longer be involved in the pipe industry or was it more related to Scandinavian Tobacco Group merging with CAO and there being a switch from Dan Tobacco to Scandinavian Tobacco Group?

Tim Ozgener: Well, Scandinavian Tobacco Group acquired CAO and in the acquisition they stated that they were in the cigar business and were not interested in pipes, although they are the largest producer of pipe tobacco in the world. So pipe smoking is still of interest to them, but they wanted us to focus more on cigars and pipe tobacco in the future instead of pipes. My father retired from the business, but still has some pretty tight relationships with some of the more important carvers in Turkey and he continues to purchase pipes from these carvers in Turkey. It was just made clear that that was not a part of CAO and more of, a kind of, personal decision. So my father has continued to receive pipes from these carvers. Read the rest of this entry »

CAO Cherry Bomb - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

When I opened the tin and the aroma hit me, I heard a loud rumbling and then a crash. This guy had just busted through my wall!

The tin aroma smelled exactly like cherry Kool-Aid powder. The name Cherry Bomb is right as far as the tin aroma goes. It was a very strong cherry smell and although the tin description says there is vanilla, I smelled no vanilla at all. It was pure cherry. I detected no medicinal smell to the aroma that seems to accompany a lot of cherry flavored blends. It smelled quite good. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Tobacco Sweet Vanilla Honeydew - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

This is a blend that I have smoked in both the tinned and bulk versions. Both of them are exactly the same. The moisture content is perfect for smoking right out of the tin or pouch. The tin aroma is very nice. There is a nice sweet real vanilla smell and I think I picked up on a hint of chocolate as well. I do not pick up on any honeydew in the aroma. What I mean by a real vanilla smell is; the vanilla is like vanilla bean or a high quality vanilla extract, not a chemical vanilla smell that is associated with the cheaper tobacco blends.
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