Stogie Reviews: Avo XO Trio Intermezzo
11 Sep 2007
From the fertile Cibao Valley in the northern region of the Dominican Republic comes the Avo XO Trio series, an attractive line of six cigars blended for a rich flavor with a smooth body. Unlike the ultra-mild Classic series, of which I am not a fan, Avo Uvezian created the XO Trio line for a slightly fuller taste.
The Intermezzo is a five and ½ inch by 50 ring gauge stick that’s soft and spongy to the touch. At about $7.60 apiece, it sports a clean Connecticut Shade wrapper adorned by the traditional mahogany-colored Avo logo.
I had no trouble establishing a nice, even burn with a few wooden matches. From there, the first few puffs are predominantly salty, a characteristic that leads me to believe the Dominican binder and filler is at least partly made up of Olor tobacco.
(Davidoff, which owns Avo, also uses Olor leaves to balance out the flavor in its wonderful Grand Cru series.)
Fortunately, the one-dimensional taste quickly matured to reveal light complimentary notes of syrup, butter, and ginger. Even as a spice builds into the final third, the stogie remains mostly mild-bodied. Some sour flavors get in the mix during the homestretch, but these can be minimized by taking your time.
While the ash is a bit flakey and unstable off the foot, the draw is clear and the burn stays even throughout the one hour and 20 minute smoke.
When you get right down to it, I find this stick to be very enjoyable – especially in the middle where a well-balanced, aromatic smoke dominates the palate. I noticed no chemical aftertaste, an unimpressive trait that’s all too common among Connecticut Shade stogies.
So even for its somewhat expensive price, I’m recommending the Avo XO Trio Intermezzo as a nice morning/mid-afternoon smoke, and giving it three and ½ out of five stogies.

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Good pick up on the salty taste. Maybe that's why I always have a drink handy whenever I smoke one of these.
It's weird. I feel like I've had at least something from all the major brands out there, but not Avo. These really aren't hard to come by. How did I let Avo slip through the cracks? 😉
The one to look for is the new AVO 787 which was introduced at the RTDA Show this year. That cigar is one of those cigars that made me stop in my tracks for a moment to pause and reflect, at an otherwise fast paced show.
Here it is over 2 years since the last comment about this cigar. I find the XO Intermezzo a very fine and delicious stogie and I have been smoking them for over 3 years. I get mine by the box at $4.96 a piece. A real go to cigar that I smoke regularly.