A new, compact take on the CAO Amazon Basin is hitting store shelves today: the CAO Amazon Basin Dagger, a short, slender cigar measuring just 38 x 102mm (4″). Despite its smaller size, the Dagger features the same celebrated blend as the original Toro that debuted in August 2014. It sports an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil. Notably, the Brazilian component is Bragança tobacco, grown organically in the Amazon rainforest.
“Amazon Basin fans are some of the most passionate in the cigar world. We’ve seen how fast the original sells out and hear the same question every year: When are we getting more? The Dagger is our answer. It’s the same blend, same rainforest story—now in a bold new format,” said Cory Beardsley, brand manager for CAO.
This unique tobacco is cultivated on what Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) calls “unspoiled tropical land,” then hand-rolled into tubes known as carottes for fermentation under high pressure. Once ready, the tobacco is transported out of the rainforest by canoe.
The Amazon Basin Dagger is produced at STG Estelí in Nicaragua. While exact production numbers remain undisclosed, the release is being described as limited in quantity. The Dagger is priced at $24.99 for a five-pack.
Since its original release in 2014, the CAO Amazon Basin has seen several re-releases, including editions in 2016, 2022, 2024, and 2025. In January 2023, the Amazon Basin Extra Añejo was introduced, a special version aged for two years in a Spanish cedar-lined room at STG Estelí.
In addition, the CAO Amazon Basin Rothschild (50 x – 114mm / 4 ½”) has been made available specifically for the European market.