"Buona Fortuna"

That is what you'll have if you get your hands on this cigar. Wow, that's all I need to say. Everyone knows the best cars, best food, best wine, best cheese, best fashion, best women, etc comes from the boot. hey, maybe their tobacco is right up there along with everything else. ciao

"You'll need a paddle for all the canoeing."

These seem to have an issue with burning evenly, I almost always have to correct it with the lighter, or worst case, cut it and relight it. Canoeing was the main battle trying to smoke this. The other big negative is how hard you had to pull just to get anything out of these sticks, the draw is pretty bad. As far as taste and appearance goes, fantastic. Reminds me of the N3K, I suggest looking into the N3K's instead.

"Nearly Perfect"

I had a few of these left in my humidor box and was making a trip home to spend a few days with my old man. We burned them on the back porch and the weather was nice and cooperative at around a mellow 60 degrees. These sticks smelled amazing when first lit and tasted even better. I smoked my down to the nub, and then something unexpected happened; when I stood up, I had the spins. This cigar basically kicked my ass with a wallop of a nicotine buzz. My only complaint was that despite my best efforts, it went out twice on me and had to be lit again. Other than that, it was the perfect cigar.

"Have Had Better From CAO"

CAO is my 2nd fav brand. However this Itaila might make me reconsider. The appearance is awesome, draw is OK, construction good, but the taste leaves something to be desired. This is my 3rd try at this, so there are my 2 cents. I would buy again though at a great price

"Agreed - Italians should stick to wine making"

I agree with another comment - Italians should stick to wine making. CAO makes many excellent cigars and would have my vote as the best overall maker - this is the only one I would not recommend to friends. If you are looking for spice, shop for a good Thai restaurant.

"Multo bene!"

The Brazilia was my favorite CAO until I tried this one. Excellent smoke!

"Hate to say...not on my Top 5 List of CAO Cigars"

Expection, high...Results, low. A little harsher taste than I expected. I love the Brazilia, which is a fuller flavored cigar. So I was surprised the Italia actually was not as smooth. As with the Brazilia, it is also a long smoke, which is nice unless you are short on time.

"Bad Stick?"

Can't say if I got a bad stick or not but this smoked very unevenly and stayed fairly bitter to about the halfway point at which point it started to mellow out a bit but still retained what I felt was an overly spicy flavor. Will give it another try but at this point would not recommend it to a friend. I must add though that this is the first CAO I have ever had an unpleasant experience with.

"Mama Mia - what a smoke!"

Fast becoming a favorite. Full of flavor, good draw, great construction - just an overall pleasure to smoke. Try 'em. I think you'll like 'em.

"Problems"

I really really wantd to like this smoke it's a good looking stick I like the italian flag colors but of three that I had smoked they burned really uneven. I got them from different locations and they burned the same. Like I said I really want to like this smoke I will try another before I give up on them.