CAO’s Steel Horse – a Biker Theme Cigar For Anyone

CAO is not afraid to experiment. This time the new Steel Horse cigar has a definite biker theme – the cap is perfectly round like the top of a piston; the band has a tire tread running horizontally across and in the center is a bike coming at you. Not finished with the theme yet – the 2 sizes have biker names – Bullneck (6 ½ X 66) and Apehanger (5 ½ X 58). CAO gave me an Apehanger at the 2015 IPCPR to review.
The Apehanger cap is distinctive – flat and perfectly round. The rest of the cigar is about average in appearance. The Apehanger has fillers from 3 countries, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua with a Brazilian Arapiraca binder, all wrapped by a Connecticut Habano Grueso. The Apehanger has a rush of leather and spice, followed by pepper and nuts. The Arapiraca binder delivers on a little sweetness and the Connecticut wrapper tones the flavor down a little.
The smoke volume is above average, the draw was good as was the ash. The burn line was slightly uneven and 1 relight was required. It took an hour and 15 minutes to smoke this medium bodied cigar that turned slightly bitter near the end. The MSRP for the Apehanger is $8.99, about the cost of filling a teardrop bike tank. I rate the cigar a 3.5 out of 5.