I recently got into “the Sorpanos.” After dismissing it as dated and lame for five years, I caught one or two episodes on A&E this year. I decided to purchase the whole first season to avoid the extremely annoying (and long) commecial breaks. By the end of the fifth or six episode, I was hooked, and I bought all six seasons on DVD. During my mo-mega vacation this year, I watched every episode, cigar in hand. Every time Tony Soprano lit up his “macanudo” — which was quite frequently — I would smile, if only because the idea that a mob boss would smoke Macanudos, as opposed to illegally-smuggled Cubans, always seemed laughable to me.

There’s an obvious connection between cigars and the underworld that “the Sopranos” personifies beautifully. Cigar Aficianado recognized this earlier this year when they put the cast from the show on the cover of the June edition. And CAO, with its ever-savvy marketing department, recognized it too when they put out a “Sopranos”-themed cigar. To my knowledge, it’s the only TV-themed cigar ever made, which makes it a novelty, to say the least.

Being a novelty, I avoided it at first, much like the TV show. Then I tried one. It was good. Not just better than your average CAO–which is by all accounts a very good cigar–but arguably better than any other CAO out there. For me, this cigar rivals a Padron 1964. It’s just as flavorful, nutty, spicy, and it’s even more leathery. And, like the Padron 1964, it’s impeccably constructed–an area that has traditionally caused problems for CAO.

Alas, the TV show is over. Aside from waiting for the final eight episodes to come out on DVD, there’s little left of the Sopranos (hell, even the Emmys are over), save for the hope that HBO might put out a movie someday. Until that time, CAO has given the show a good legacy in this fantastic cigar. Yes, it’s expensive (still cheaper than a Vision), but its worth it, in my book. My only real complaint is that the band is difficult to remove–hardly something to “whack” someone over.

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