Tasting Note

“The Sopranos” is such a cigar-friendly TV show that it even has its own cigar. C.A.O. International Inc. signed a licensing deal with HBO to produce a cigar named for the gangster series. The cigars come in three shapes, each named after familiar elements of mob life. The Associate, which measures 5 by 52, is (fittingly) not a mild cigar, but a gutsy, flavorful smoke with coffee, dark berry and charred wood flavors. To truly show off the cigars in style, C.A.O. went all out with the box, which is modeled after a car trunk, right down to the glossy cherry red exterior. If you don’t capisce the association between car trunk and mob life, perhaps this isn’t the cigar for you.