CAO cigars

Cano Area Ozgener arrived in the United States from Istanbul in 1961 and eventually settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked as an engineer at DuPont. His love of tobacco led him to launch a meerschaum pipe business in 1968 — the initials C.A.O. standing for his own name — and the company spent its first decade serving the pipe market before Ozgener turned his attention to premium cigars in the early 1980s. CAO's transition into handmade cigars coincided with, and helped fuel, the cigar renaissance of the 1990s.

The brand built its reputation on blends with a distinctive personality: the CAO Brazilia brought a bold, earthy character using Brazilian Olor wrapper; the CAO Gold established a smoother, creamier Connecticut-shade profile that won over a broad audience. Ozgener's instinct for pairing unusual tobaccos with accessible price points made CAO one of the decade's fastest-growing premium brands, reaching distribution in over 100 countries before he sold it in 2007 to ST Group. General Cigar Co. assumed full ownership by 2010 through the Swedish Match and Scandinavian Tobacco Group merger.

CAO Under General Cigar

Under General Cigar, the brand has maintained its identity as a blender willing to take swings. The Flathead series — named for the classic flathead V8 engine and packaged with automotive-themed branding — attracted an enthusiast audience outside the traditional cigar market. CAO Pilon extended the brand's Honduran roots with a puro-style construction. Cano Ozgener passed away in June 2018 after a long battle with cancer, but the spirit of his eclectic, globally influenced approach to blending remains evident across the catalog.