Resurrecting Tradition: The Return of CAO Arcana Mortal Coil, Featuring Andullo Tobacco and More

Two years ago, STG/General Cigar Company released a limited-edition CAO Arcana Mortal Coil, a 6 1/8 x50 Toro with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a shade-grown Connecticut binder. What made the cigar special was the inclusion of Dominican andullo in the filler, in a combination with Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.

Andullo tobacco is wrapped in large pods, called yaguas. Then the tobacco is wrapped with ropes to compress the tobacco. This created a thick, dense block and slices are cut off. This tobacco is mostly used for pipe tobacco or chewing tobacco. This practice is also done in Indonesia, where they call it Tambolaka, and in the Amazon. CAO used the Amazonian version of Andullo for the highly praised CAO Amazon series.

The CAO Arcana Mortal Coil will now return in the same size and same blend as an annual limited edition. “The fans of CAO spoke, and we listened,” said Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager of CAO, in a press release. “We previously brought back Mortal Coil, yet the fans kept wanting more. So with this year’s release of the blend, we’re showing the fans of CAO that we’re willing to go the extra mile for them.”