CAO

The CAO story begins with pipes, not cigars. According to Cigar Dojo, Cano Aret Ozgener launched the house in Nashville in 1968 and named it after his initials; it first made pipes and humidors. The trade press adds that Ozgener, born in Istanbul in 1937, an engineer, had worked at DuPont in North Carolina, where he repaired defective Turkish meerschaum pipes, and that he went full time into pipes in 1977: the two pages therefore do not give the same starting point (1968 or 1977).

The cigar comes later. Cigar Dojo writes that the house tried the premium cigar in 1980, then returned to it in the mid-1990s; the trade press dates Ozgener's entry into the cigar market to 1993 and the first CAO, rolled in Honduras, to 1995. By the early 2000s, the brand had made a name for itself with bold, contemporary blends.

CAO cultivated a register of its own, turned towards American imagery. The Flathead range, launched in 2013 according to Cigar Dojo, draws on the world of hot rods, pin-ups and custom motorcycles; its formats bear the names of engine parts (Carb, Camshaft, Piston, Big Block). The house's page, in October 2026, describes it as built on a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, without citing any motorcycle make.

In 2007, CAO was bought by Henri Wintermans, a division of ST Tobacco, according to the trade press; Cigar Dojo names today's Scandinavian Tobacco Group. The brand left Nashville for General Cigar's headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. Tim Ozgener, the founder's son, remained president until 2010; Cano Ozgener died on 9 June 2018 in Nashville, aged 81. In October 2026, the website caocigars.com carries the mention General Cigar Co., Inc.; depending on the line, the cigars are rolled in Estelí (Nicaragua), in Honduras or at General Cigar Dominicana (Dominican Republic).

Range Depth

• CAO Cameroon

  Wrapper Cameroon

  Cameroon wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler, according to the house's page in October 2026. Formats: Churchill 6.875 x 48, Belicoso 6 x 54, Toro 5.5 x 55, Robusto 5 x 50, Perfecto 4 x 48.

  Toro · Churchill · Robusto · Corona · Figurado

• CAO Flathead

  Wrapper Connecticut Broadleaf

  Range with hot rod and motorcycle imagery, with formats named after engine parts: V660 Carb, V554 Camshaft, V642 Piston, V450 Sparkplug, V770 Big Block (from a Stogie Press review). The house says it is built on a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper; for the 2019 V19, Cigar Dojo cites a Connecticut Habano binder and a Dominican and Nicaraguan filler, rolled at STG Danlí. Blends vary from one edition to another.

  V660 Carb · V554 Piston · V770 Engine · V507 Spark

• CAO Pilón

  Wrapper Ecuador (Habano Viso)

  Ecuadorian Habano Viso wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler, according to the house's page in October 2026. Formats: Churchill 7 x 49, Toro 6.25 x 54, Gigante 6 x 60, Corona 5.5 x 44, Robusto Extra 5 x 52. The pilón is the pile of leaves in which the tobacco ferments.

  Robusto · Toro · Churchill · Torpedo · Pyramid

🥃 Pairings

• Turkish coffee

  Coffee

  A nod to the founder's Istanbul origins: a thick, intense coffee, in keeping with a full-bodied cigar.

👤 Associated figures

• Cano Ozgener

  Born in Istanbul in 1937, an engineer, founder of C.A.O. International in Nashville; entered cigars in 1993, first CAO in 1995. The house was sold in 2007; he died in Nashville on 9 June 2018, aged 81, according to the trade press.

✨ Notable limited editions

• CAO Zócalo (2018, régulière depuis 2021)
• CAO Arcana (série annuelle depuis 2021)